11/16/2025
Waseca earns trip to first state football finals in school’s history
Defeats DGF 14-13 in state AAA semifinals
Nobody said it was going to be easy.
But the Waseca Bluejays got the job done. Again.
The Bluejays advanced to the school's first-ever state championship football game with a hard-fought 14-13 victory over Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton in Saturday's state semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
The Bluejays kept their unbeaten streak and state title hopes intact, improving their record to 12-0 while DGF, the Section 8 champion, finished 9-3.
The big question coming into the game was whether the Bluejay defense could contain the Rebels' potent running attack, led by a huge offensive line. They did, many times, including two goal-line stands. The play of the game, though, may have been turned in by William Mansfield, who blocked the Rebels' second PAT kick to preserve the 14-13 lead. Brady McKenna sealed it with a sack of GFW quarterback Brady Wadena late in the fourth quarter.
The Bluejays move on to face Annandale in the Class AAA state championship game Saturday Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. at U.S. Bank Stadium. Annandale defeated Minneapolis North 36-20 in the other state semifinal.
"It was a great game," said Waseca head coach Brad Wendland. "We knew it would probably be a flip of the coin. I think we took advantage of our opportunities. Credit to them, too. But we've got a pretty special group this year."
"This is awesome," said Deron Russell.
The tone of the game was set early, with the Bluejays punting after four plays.
The Rebels moved the ball, but two penalties took them backwards and they too punted.
A holding penalty negated a nice return by the Bluejays' Jordan Johnston and, on their second play, DGF came up with an interception for Waseca's only turnover of the day.
Again, the Rebels drove, but a holding penalty left them with a fourth-down-and seven and they were forced to punt.
The Bluejays, starting on their own 14-yard line, picked up two first downs before punting as the first quarter ended.
Then the Rebels mounted their first scoring threat, driving from their own 49 to the Bluejays' 11 before Wadena's fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
After three plays the Bluejays punted again, this time from their own end zone, giving DGF the ball on Waseca's 30. Three plays later the Rebels faced fourth-and-two from the Waseca 7, but the Bluejays held and took over on downs at their own 5 with about 2 minutes left in the first half.
The Bluejays moved the ball with five straight running plays before facing third-and 3. Then Kellen Klinger hit Cyrett Long with a key 25-yard pass. A 16-yard run by Johnston put the Bluejays on the DGF 25. From there, Klinger found Russell in the end zone, and his leaping touchdown catch produced the first points of the game. One second remained on the clock as Owen Rupe kicked the PAT, and the Jays led 7-0 at halftime.
"It was the biggest play of the game," said Wendland of Russell's catch. "We had a call in mind. Then I saw Deron out of the corner of my eye and said, 'We're going to give him a shot.' Kellen made a great throw, and Deron's the best player in AAA football. And we'll find ways to get him the ball next week too, I promise you."
Said Russell, "When your coach has that much confidence in you, you just play better in the game. It's been that way my whole career. That's what makes me play as well as I do."
The teams exchanged punts to start the second half before the Rebels engineered an 11-play 62-yard drive that ended with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Wadena to Nolan Verdi on fourth-and-14. Guillermo Collado's PAT kick tied it at 7.
The Jays then took it the other way, the key play a 35-yard pass from Klinger to Ethan Hiller, and Waseca was knocking on the door as the fourth quarter began. Klinger ran for the final 4 yards on fourth-and-1 and Rupe kicked the PAT, capping an 11-play, 66-yard drive.
But the Rebels refused to fold, and just three plays later, Jace Baumgartner scored on a 20-yard run. A penalty on GFW, caused by a defender clapping in the face of an offensive lineman, moved the ball back 5 yards. That's when Mansfield stepped up and blocked the PAT kick, and Waseca led 14-13 with 8:42 remaining.
The Jays picked up one first down before punting, and Deven Parpart made it a good one, pinning the Rebels on their own 6. DGF made it interesting in the final minutes, running 11 plays to the Waseca 28 before McKenna's sack on fourth-and-four.
The Bluejays then went into victory formation as the Waseca fans, players and coaches celebrated, finally able to breathe easy.
Afterward, Wendland said he had confidence in his defense, and his offense if it would have been necessary.
"I always feel confident in our defense," said Wendland. "Our offense can kind of come and go, but it's there when we need it. With this team, don't put anything past anyone. If they would have scored, I would have had confidence our offense could go down and do that."
Johnston, coming off back-to-back ACL injuries, said he felt grateful to be in this position.
"I'm really proud of the team and how much we battled through adversity," said Johnston. "It feels great."
"I've coached for 30 years and never seen this before," said Wendland of Johnston's recovery. "There's probably .01 percent of the population that could do what he did, overcoming that mentally and physically. He deserves so much credit."
Wendland also commended the Rebels on playing a tough game.
"That's a heck of a football team," he said. "They're big and strong and physical, and we haven't played anyone like that. Their personality comes from their offense, and they're really good at it. And they're not just ground and pound. You saw in the second half, they schemed up some nice pass plays to get guys open, and they made plays."
Wendland also praised his coaching staff and, of course, his defense.
"I think we had a lot of confidence in our players and our coaches," said Wendland. "We feel confident that when the game is the biggest that we're going to be at our best. We're going to be our best when the best is required. That's a phrase we use a lot."
