Cardinals out of it, lose to Rocori in Fargo

FARGO, N.D. — Senior Zach Johnson caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Brad Olson with 8:48 left and Rocori converted the two-point conversion on its second attempt to beat Alexandria 8-6 in the Section 8-4A championship Friday at the FargoDome.
Rocori (6-5) had the PAT attempt after the touchdown go off a goalpost no good, but the Cardinals (7-4) were called for roughing the kicker to set up a second opportunity. The Spartans took a timeout and rushed in for the two-point conversion.
The Spartans (6-5) play at 7 p.m. Friday at New Prague in the state quarterfinals. New Prague beat Orono 7-6 for the Section 6 title to advance.
"We are so happy," Rocori head coach Rick Theisen said. "We are so proud of our seniors. They've led us through this Cinderella story and we could not be prouder of those guys."
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Spartans senior cornerback Nick Fabel intercepted two passes, including one with Alexandria driving in the closing minute.
The Cardinals took a six-point lead into the fourth quarter at on field goals of 30 and 28 yards by kicker David Vinje.
"It was a big defensive struggle," Alexandria head coach Dennis Kalpin said. "We had a couple of turnovers and we shot ourselves in the foot. We had to settle for field goals instead of getting the ball into the end zone."
Kalpin said Rocori's size was a problem for his team. He stated his team couldn't keep up, wearing his team down, enabling the Spartans to score in the game-winner. Kalpin also said that a big key to Rocori's success was stopping his running back Woody Wagner.

Postscript from John Herdan:
Stan, The senior from Rocori, Zach Johnson, that caught the winning touchdown is the son of phy-ed teacher and former head football coach Mark Johnson. Mark is the one who disarmed the student that shot the two other students two years ago. Great kid from a great family.