Photo Gallery: Fridley vs. SMB
“Automatic. You can’t guess,” Fridley coach Justin Reese said of the decision to hit. “We trusted our first-year player and he came through.
First, Fridley had to trust senior quarterback MJ Newton and junior receiver Isaiah Watson with the play on the line in overtime.
The Tigers faced a fourth-and-goal from the 8-yard line and trailed 14-8 after SMB, a fourth-year co-op made up of St. Paul Academy, Minnehaha Academy and Blake, got the first possession in OT and scored on a 9-yard run by Landon Dillon. Dillon’s two-point attempt on a designed run down the gut, however, was inches short.
Fridley took possession and after three plays for two yards, the Tigers called a timeout.
Returning to the field with a chance to tie the game, Fridley won. Newton stepped out and calmly played the ball back to Watson, who pulled it clean as it went to ground. Zentella’s heroics followed.
“I realized the corner turned his hips too early, so I decided to go deep into the slant and go for the corner,” Watson recalled.
Watson had his hands on the ball often. He had two interceptions and also hauled in a 35-yard reception.
Senior Kerome Thompson also touched the pigskin. After teammate Tykeilan Moore dropped the ball on a quarterback pressure, Thompson stretched back into position to scoop it up and return it for a 60-yard touchdown.
He broke SMB’s opening possession and secured the only points until the final minutes of regulation.
“I was slow playing it,” Thompson said. “I saw my teammate, Tykeilan, he went out and kept it out. He got to the quarterback, I saw him in the air and ran and caught him.”
From there, it was an offensive stalemate. Fridley completed one pass in the first half and SMB none until late in the third quarter.
SMB converted three plays of 30-plus yards, but finished with 177 total yards. Five turnovers, including three interceptions, plagued the Wolfpack and allowed Fridley to win the possession battle.
The Tigers settled for a team-high 149 yards. Newton, a 1,000-yard rusher in 2021, was limited to 66 yards on 32 attempts.
“Amazing,” SMB coach Chris Goodwin said of his defense. “Keeping that guy in check, the quarterback. Our team speed on defense is amazing keeping up with that guy. I’m really proud of those guys.”
The Wolfpack tied the game in the fourth quarter on a 38-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Merrick Woods to senior Kobey Sandifer with 4 minutes, 1 second on the clock.
“I think starting out hot, we set the tone with six, but we learned a lesson not to be complacent,” Reese said. “We learned how to persevere and be resilient. That was the key the first week. “How do you react going into overtime when you thought you had won the game?”
The Tigers answered this question emphatically.
