Jaxon Mitchell made his first two varsity touchdowns ones to remember Friday night.
And that was well before a pretty unforgettable ending.
Mitchell, a speedy sophomore who began the year on Mahtomedi’s B-squad, hauled in a 70-yard touchdown catch and scored again on a long kickoff return – all in the second quarter.
Then he and his teammates withstood a furious Cretin-Derham Hall rally that came up just short.
As a result, the Zephyrs – ranked No. 5 in the state in Class 5A – held on for a 28-27 road win at the University of St. Thomas’ O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
Mahtomedi improved to 7-0. The Raiders (5-2) – ranked No. 7 – fell for the first time since a loss to top-ranked St. Thomas Academy in their season opener, snapping a five-game winning streak.
“This one was crazy,” said Mitchell, who moved up to varsity after an injury to another starting receiver last month. “It was a good ballgame. But we hung on to take it home.”
That they did. But not without some awfully tense moments getting there.
After Mitchell’s kickoff return put the Zephyrs in front 21-14 at halftime, they expanded their lead to 14 on a 5-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Mark Graff that capped an over-six-minute drive to start the third quarter.
Mahtomedi had a chance to put the game away late in the fourth, but came up two yards short after electing to go for it on fourth-and-3 at the Raiders’ 7.
That gave Cretin-Derham Hall the ball back at its own 6 with 3:43 remaining and the Raiders – who cut the gap to seven on a 22-yard touchdown catch by Sam Heath earlier in the fourth quarter – marched 94 yards to score on a 10-yard run by senior Ja’Dale Thompson.
“The trust was there on that drive,” said Thompson, who carried the ball 17 times for 92 yards and two touchdowns and added an 11-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.
“We told everybody to pick it up for their brothers.”
But after the Raiders elected to go for two, junior Frank Schwieters initially halted Thompson, and senior Alex Haase helped bring him down just short of the end zone.
“I thought they executed extremely well down the stretch,” Mahtomedi coach Dave Muetzel said. “But our kids kept fighting. They had every reason to hang their heads with some of the things that happened. But they kept fighting, and when you’re hustling and being around the ball, good things happen.”
Good things happened again after Cretin-Derham Hall recovered the ensuing onside kick at the Zephyrs’ 43 with 1:25 remaining. After the Raiders completed a pass on the first play of the drive, junior James Theuninck recovered a fumble at the 29, and Mahtomedi was able to run out the clock.
“They had every reason to hang their heads too, and they kept fighting to the end,” Muetzel said. “Both teams battled out there tonight.”
The wild ending came after the second-quarter show from Mitchell.
With his team trailing 7-6 and pinned deep in its own territory, he hauled in a long pass from Graff down the Mahtomedi sideline and outraced the Cretin-Derham Hall defense into the end zone.
The two-point conversion put Mahtomedi on top 14-7 with 6:02 to play before halftime.
Thompson then scored his second touchdown of the night as the Raiders tied the score at 14. But Mitchell returned the ensuing kickoff over 90 yards for his second varsity score to put the Zephyrs up by seven at halftime.
“It’s going to be hard to top those, but I’ll believe it if he does,” an impressed Graff said. “He’s a pure athlete and one of the fastest guys on this team. He has a lot more touchdowns ahead of him. He’s going to be a great player.”
More of those scores might be needed should Mahtomedi and Cretin-Derham Hall meet again in the section playoffs as they’ve done in each of the past four seasons.
It’s a rematch both sides were itching for after the final gun sounded Friday.
“This one is upsetting, but I know we’ll see them again,” Thompson said.
“This maybe was just round one, and we know they’ll come back harder if we play them again in sections,” added Graff, who threw for 128 yards and a touchdown Friday. “That would be another tough game. They’d be playing hard and so would we.
“It will be a lot of fun if it happens.”
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