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Messerschmidt's 4th Quarter Pick 6 Carries Rothsay Past Hillcrest

By Craig Olson, 10/18/23, 11:15PM CDT

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Rothsay took their only lead of the game late in the fourth quarter when Landon Messerschmidt intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown, putting the Tigers ahead 28-20 in their game against Hillcrest Lutheran Academy.  That lead stood up as the Comets turned the ball over on their next possession.

 

Hillcrest scored the first touchdown of the night just 1:03 into the game as Ethan Swedberg connected with Leo Nordick on a six yard pass.  Swedberg then hit Gabe Swedenburg with a 3-yard pass for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead for the Comets.  Rothsay responded with a 2-yard TD run by Karson Jensen to cut the lead to 8-6.  The Comets increased their advantage to 14-6 after one quarter when Nordick caught a 21 yard TD pass from Swedberg.

In the second quarter, Swedenburg hauled in a 6 yard TD pass from Swedberg for a 20-6 Hillcrest lead.  Jensen then scored on runs of 65 yards and 2 yards, and Matthew Danielson scored on a two-point conversion run as the Tigers tied the Comets, 20-20 heading into halftime.

After Messerschmidt’s interception return, Jensen scored the final two points on the conversion run.

Rothsay had a huge rushing night with Jensen gaining 175 yards on 21 carries and Danielson running for 160 yards on 25 attempts.  The Tigers finished with 405 rushing yards and 46 passing yards.  Peyton Kadel led the Tigers defensively with 5 tackles, while Danielson picked off two passes and Messerschmidt had one interception.

Hillcrest was led by Swedberg with 14 completions on 26 attempts for 207 yards and 3 TD’s.  Swedenberg (8 receptions, 126 yards, 1TD) and Nordick (6 receptions, 81 yards, 2 TDs) were the top receivers for the Comets.  Sam Reese recorded a sack and Zander Johnson had an interception for the Comets.  Leading Tacklers were Thor Ewan (10), Reese (9) and Nordick (7).

Rothsay (3-5) and Hillcrest (1-7) will now await the seeding to see who they will match up with in the first round of the Section 4 9-Man playoffs which begin on Tuesday.