The battle along the lines was nearly even, both teams made big plays and both defenses made impressive stands.
Then, with 3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the game rested on the foot of a kicker.
He didn’t disappoint.
Cannon Falls senior Spencer Krinke calmly booted an impressive 35-yard field goal with 3 seconds to play, lifting the Bombers to a 17-14 come-from-behind victory against the Eagles in a matchup of two of the top teams in the Southeast District and Section 1AAA.
“Credit to Cannon Falls,” Lourdes coach Mike Kesler said. “It was a heck of a game.”
Lourdes hadn’t defeated Cannon Falls since 2016, when the Eagles beat the Bombers twice en route to a perfect 13-0 record and the program’s fourth state championship.
The Bombers had gotten the better of Lourdes in their last two meetings, though, Cannon Falls winning 12-7 in the 2019 regular-season finale, then rolling to a 34-7 win in Rochester last fall.
“Our effort and execution were better” than in Week 1, said Kesler, whose team opened the season last week by falling 23-8 to a powerful Triton team. “We still had too many mistakes. We played well. To hold them to 17 points… We just have to make a few more plays.”
The No. 3-ranked Bombers (2-0 Southeast District, 2-0 overall) took an early lead, just 3:26 into the game, when Colton Otto threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Beau Zimmerman for a 6-0 lead.
Lourdes (0-2, 0-2) responded, though. The Eagles tied the score on a 24-yard touchdown run by Seth Haight with 3:25 to go in the first quarter, then they took their only lead of the night on a 3-yard run by Eli Haight with 9:26 left in the second quarter. Seth Haight added the two-point conversion for a 14-6 Lourdes lead.
The Bombers answered just before halftime, though, when Otto broke free around end for a 41-yard scoring run and Colten Black ran in the two-point conversion to tie the score 14-14.
That’s how it remained until Krinke booted the game-winning field goal as time ticked down.
“If we can clean up our mistakes, we’re a heck of a football team and we’re going to be a heck of a team,” Kesler said. “Right now, we’re not disciplined enough and it eats at all of us. … If we get that cleaned up we’ll be a good team.”
Cannon Falls finished with 335 yards of offense, to 218 for Lourdes.
Abe Gapinski led Lourdes with 104 rushing yards on 22 attempts, while Seth Haight had 10 carries for 59 yards.
Carson Hammel led a balanced Cannon Falls attack with 18 carries for 84 yards. Colton Loeschke added 81 yards on 15 attempts, and Otto ran 10 times for 57 yards. Otto also passed for 82 yards and a TD.
Lourdes plays at Lake City next Friday, while Cannon Falls plays at Pine Island.
CANNON FALLS 17, LOURDES 14
Lourdes 6-8-0-0—14
Cannon Falls 6-8-0-3—17
First Quarter
CF — Beau Zimmerman 44 pass from Colton Otto (kick failed) 8:34.
LOU — Seth Haight 24 run (kick failed) 3:25.
Second Quarter
LOU — Eli Haight 3 run (S. Haight run) 9:26.
CF — Colton Otto 41 run (Colten Black run) 2:04.
Fourth Quarter
CF — Spencer Krinke 35 FG. 0:03
TEAM TOTALS
LOU — CF
First Downs 15 — 18
Total Net Yards 218 — 335
Rushing Yards 187 — 253
Passing Yards 31 — 82
Comp.-att.-int. 3-8-0 — 3-10-1
Penalties-Yds. 6-47 — 3-15
Punts-avg. 3-36.3 — 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
LOU: Abe Gapinski 22-104; Seth Haight 10-59; Eli Haight 5-17; Braden Mlenar 2-7. CF: Carson Hammel 18-84; Colton Loeschke 15-81; Colton Otto 10-57; Riley Keenan 7-17; Jonathan Banks 3-12; Colten Black 3-2.
Passing
LOU: Braden Mlenar 3-7-0, 31 yards. CF: Colton Otto 3-10-1, 82 yards.
Receiving
LOU: Eli Haight 1-13; Brendan Davick 1-11; Gannon Fix 1-7. CF: Beau Zimmerman 1-44; Riley Keenan 1-20; Colten Black 1-18.
