Minneapolis Miracle II: New London-Spicer wins state championship with wild touchdown
MINNEAPOLIS – A miracle finish to win a Minnesota state football title has the sports world buzzing.
New London-Spicer beat Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 27-26 Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, on a wild touchdown as time expired.
Blake Schultz completed a deep pass to Grant Paffrath, who then pitched it to Brycen Christensen as he was being tackled. Christensen, a senior, ran in the championship-winning touchdown.
"I was kind of surprised of how wide like open it was to the endzone," Christensen said.
Schultz, a sophomore, says it was the best moment of his life.
"It was definitely surreal," Christensen said. "I've dreamed about going to the state championship my entire life."
Coach Chad Gustafson says he knew early on in the season this team could be special. They proved him right.
"A couple of us coaches woke up and said, 'Was this a dream? Did this really happen?'" Gustafson said. "I said, 'Well, the trophy's here so it must've really happened.'"
The team's mantra this season was "all gas, no brakes."
"They have just continued to push and push and never give up, always believe in each other," Gustafson said.
They needed every inch of that belief in the title game when Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton scored to take the lead with just 24 seconds left.
"It's like, 'We just lost the state championship!'" Gustafson said. "'No, we just won the state championship!'"
Adding to the magic, Gustafson says the lateral was improvised.
"I didn't even see Brycen run to the endzone, but I could just hear the fans screaming," Paffrath, a junior, said. "I got up and I just couldn't believe what happened. This will bring a lot of momentum into next season, and it will pump the guys up a lot to work all summer and get ready for next year."
The play has gone viral and was shown on ESPN's "Sportscenter."
It even impressed Vikings legend Randy Moss, who tweeted the team his congratulations.
