Moorhead’s offense outlasted the Woodbury Royals on Friday night in a 64-48 victory to claim the Class 6A, Section 4 crown.
The teams combined for 112 points on a frigid, rainy night at Woodbury High School. Spuds junior quarterback Jett Feeney had six total touchdowns to lead Moorhead to a state tournament berth.
“Resiliency,” Moorhead head coach Kevin Feeney said, describing his team’s performance. “It wasn’t always pretty in a couple of the phases of the game. But ultimately, we got the big turnover on defense and then got the surprise onside.”
On the opening drive, the Spuds lulled the Royals to sleep with rushes and then Feeney connected with junior David Mack for a 37-yard touchdown.
Woodbury had an 8-play, 90-yard drive in response, capped by their top tailback Mark Mathis with a rushing touchdown. A 2-point conversion made it 8-7 Royals with 5:32 in the first.
The foes traded blows as Feeney found junior wide receiver Zak Walker for a 30-yard touchdown. The Royals answered back on the ensuing kickoff as Mathis returned it 90 yards for a score.
Moorhead turned around and posted a 43-yard rushing touchdown from junior running back Taye Reich.
Woodbury quarterback Emmett Snuggerud hit his tight end Ethan Hauser for an 8-yard touchdown. But Moorhead stood firm on Woodbury’s third 2-point attempt, keeping it 22-21.
Feeney found Mack again for another score and retook a 28-22 lead. A Woodbury touchdown and failed extra point knotted the score.
The Spuds had 28 seconds and three timeouts to work with in the half. Four plays later, all passes, Mack had his third touchdown 20 seconds later.
The only thing that stopped the two teams from scoring was the halftime horn. Moorhead posted 334 yards of offense, led by Feeney’s 180 passing yards and four touchdowns.
“Unfortunately, [Jett’s] season took a real sideways twist on this field, and he was ready to get back up on that horse on this field,” his father and coach Kevin Feeney said.
He was referring to a Week 2 injury Jett Feeney sustained against the Royals on Sept. 5th.
Woodbury came out of the half strong, Mathis on fourth-and-two in the red zone bounced outside and broke multiple tackles on a 17-yard touchdown rush. A successful 2-point try put Woodbury up 36-35, their final lead.
After having just two incompletions in the first half, consecutive misfires from Feeney made it third-and-10. Feeney then found the hands of Walker, who sprinted away for a 70-yard score with 7:48 left in the third quarter.
The Royals flinched first as a Snuggerud pass was intercepted by Mack. Moorhead capitalized with a reverse to Walker for a 20 yard touchdown, giving Moorhead the first two possession lead of the night at 49-36.
Woodbury got off the mat again and Snuggerud tossed a ball to the front pylon where it was deflected into the arms of Mathis for a 24-yard touchdown. A failed 2-point try kept it a 7-point game.
Reich capped another drive with his second score, and a 2-point conversion made it 57-42 Moorhead.
Moorhead recovered an onside kick but a three-and-out gave it back to Woodbury. The Royals handed it right back to the Spuds with a fumble providing the knock out blow.
Moorhead will face Centennial in the state quarterfinals.
“Our group chat name says ‘Road to the Bank’ so that’s the plan,” Feeney said about a trip to U.S. Bank Stadium with a win. “After that we got to keep winning and get that state championship.”
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