“Stopping them on that first drive and then going 95 yards was a huge confidence and momentum swing for both teams,” noted New York Mills Head Coach Matt Radniecki.  “The boys played very crisp and we did an excellent job of executing on offense.”

The 95 yard drive was capped off by a 2-yard TD run by Eathan Ruther early in the second quarter.  A 14 yard interception return by Brayden Ehnert and a two-point pass from Bren Salo to Noah Noffsinger gave the Eagles a 14-0 lead.  Deer River responded with a 97 yard TD run to cut the halftime lead to 14-6.

The final touchdown of the game came on a 12 yard run by Salo in the fourth quarter.

Ruther led the Eagles with 61 rushing yards, Salo had 48, Jonah Johnson 47 and Dane Niemi 21, giving New York Mills great balance in their ground game.

“We played an outstanding game in all three phases of the contest,” said Coach Radniecki.  “If you take away the long touchdown run they barely had 100 yards of offense.  Our defense has played well and responded to every challenge.  I am extremely pleased with how we were able to continue to eat up clock and not give them a chance at the end of the game.  Thanks to our fans who were awesome on Friday night.  It has been great and we hope to see even more fans on Saturday!”

New York Mills will now face Section 2 champion, Mayer Lutheran, at 11:30am Saturday, November 20 at US Bank Stadium in a Class A semifinal contest.  The winner will play for the championship on Friday, November 26 at 10:00am, also at US Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis.