St. Thomas Academy football's stellar backfield propels it to victory over Mahtomedi

The number on their jerseys are one and two, yet both Love Adebayo and Savion Hart were equally instrumental in St. Thomas Academy's 28-14 win over Mahtomedi. 

Hart and the Cadets scored first with a 2-yard touchdown run, and Mahtomedi answered with a 10-yard touchdown run by Corey Bohmert, but the Zephyrs missed the two-point conversion. 

Adebayo caught the next touchdown. He ran up the seam and quarterback Maximus Sims hit him for a 25-yard touchdown pass. The Cadets took a 14-6 lead into halftime.

"I know my quarterback is the GOAT, so pretty much I just knew he was going to put it where only I could catch the ball, and I just went up and said. ‘It’s me vs. anyone,’ and I got myself up there," Adebayo said.

Neither team scored in the third quarter. Both defenses forced turnovers on downs, and Mahtomedi's defense looked like it might've had the answers to St. Thomas Academy's running attack. But the Cadets drove down the field and into the red zone. Love carried the ball toward the goal line, but a Zephyr defender knocked it loose and Mahtomedi recovered it at it's own two yard line. 

On the next play, Mahtomedi quarterback Charlie Brandt threw a deep ball in the direction of wide receiver Michael Barry, who had success going deep all night, but Cadet safety Jake Borman intercepted the pass, and the Cadet offense had the ball near the red zone once more. 

"At halftime we were just talking about how [Barry] had been gashing us," Borman said. "We had to make some plays. We decided we had to put some [safeties] over the top. … I just saw [Barry] going hard, so I went over the top and saw the ball coming."

Hart then scored on a 9-yard touchdown run to put the Cadets up 21-6. 

Mahtomedi cut the lead to 21-14 with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Brandt to Andrew Breien, who also caught the 2-point conversion. 

On the next drive, and with only three minutes on the clock, the Cadets faced a third and three in their own territory up one touchdown. Sims dropped back, and once again found Adebayo in the seam to complete the crucial conversion. 

Hart finished the job with a 47-yard touchdown run to give the Cadets a 28-14 win. 

Both backfields shine

St. Thomas Academy and Mahtomedi are run-first teams. They dominate on the ground and have the talent in the backfield to do so. Both teams have running backs with reasonable cases to make the All-State team. 

Hart had four runs over 25 yards in the game, and he finished with just under 200 yards rushing on 19 carries. Adebayo was crucial in the running attack as well. He finished with just over 140 yards on 14 yards. 

"Whenever I’m tired he goes in," Adebayo said. "Whenever he’s tired I go in. A defense can’t really stop it because you’re getting a guy who is fresh."

All the attention on Adebayo and Hart should not distract from Corey Bohmert's performance. The Zephyrs running back was the no. 1 option on offense all night. 

He finished with 109 yards on 25 carries and one touchdown. 

The running game was the priority, but Mahtomedi's big plays came from the passing game, as Barry had multiple receptions for over 40 yards. He finished with 140 yards on three receptions. 

St. Thomas Academy's passing game made key contributions when it mattered. Wide receiver Luke Dobbs was a threat for the Cadets, and his five catches for 40 yards might not jump out on the stat sheet, but many were when the Cadets faced a third down and needed a conversion. 

But of course, Adebayo's big plays in the passing game are indicative of the talent on the Cadet's offense. 

Sizing up Class 5A

Both teams entered Friday night's game undefeated. Class 5A is loaded with teams that could contend for a state title, but this was a key game in setting the pecking order with only two regular season games remaining. 

Mahtomedi finished as the Class 5A runner-up last season while St. Thomas Academy fell in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Mankato West. 

St. Thomas knew this year could be a special year, and the win at Mahtomedi is proof they could be right.

"We knew last year we were going to have momentum because most of the guys were juniors," Adebayo said. "We knew that this year was our promise year, for sure."

The Cadets also know any celebration looking beyond what occurred Friday night is premature, but it still feels good. 

"We played a great game, but we saw mistakes we can fix and we know we can fix them," Borman said. "It’s just so exciting knowing [Mahtomedi's] an undefeated football team, and we can play even better."