Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota's Kellen Bradley runs into the end zone for a touchdown in the second half against Dawson-Boyd Wednesday night in the final regular season game. The Vikings won 34-3. 

MINNEOTA — Prevailing through a defensively competitive first half, senior Kellen Bradley’s three second-half touchdowns led the top-ranked Minneota team to a 34-3 Class A top-10 victory Wednesday night, securing the Vikings’ third consecutive undefeated regular season.

“We needed a game like that, to show us that we’re not invincible and we can be punched in the mouth a little bit,” Bradley said. “That was a good, physical football game. Good on their part, they kept us honest.”

The Blackjacks were the first to get on the board with an Elvis Bellefeuille field goal, while Minneota’s Tristen Sussner and Brock Fier each had a touchdown to pair with Bradley’s three. Minneota held onto a 7-3 halftime lead before taking its second-half surge.

Sussner finished with 112 passing yards on four complete passes off eight attempts for Minneota, while Gunner Liebl logged nine complete passes for 118 passing yards for the Blackjacks.

Bradley finished with a game-high 132 rushing yards on 21 carries, while Fier led with 83 receiving yards on a trio of catches. Nate Hansen led the Blackjacks with 73 receiving yards on three catches.

The rivalry between the Vikings and Blackjacks has stayed prominent over recent years, as Dawson-Boyd handed Minneota its last loss three years ago on Oct. 13, 22-20. Since then, the Vikings haven’t dropped a game, with Wednesday being its 41st straight win.

“I think in the first half, Dawson did a nice job. They kind of came out and punched us in the face … They’re athletic, quick and they’re physical, and we’ve seen it on tape. They got penetration, and they defensively did a nice job early. Unfortunately, it seemed like every time we would get some momentum going, we’d turn the ball over,” Minneota head coach Chad Johnston said. “Fortunately, we recovered from those things … We did some better things offensively, and just got control of the game and did what we felt like we should have been doing from the get-go.”

Minneota and Dawson-Boyd each played with high intensity on the defensive end, both teams forcing a string of turnovers on downs throughout the first half.

The Vikings had four sacks and 12 tackle-for-losses. Joey Lacek and Hudson Thostenson each had four tackles, while Randy Sorensen had three. Dawson-Boyd’s Elijah Olson and Mason Bothun had four and three tackles, respectively.

Yet, Minneota changed the pace of the game in the second half offensively.

“I think we just got some fire lit under us,” Bradley said regarding Minneota’s second-half switch. “I think we actually started coming out playing more angry, and we just didn’t want [to repeat] the first half.”

The two teams again traded drives to open the half, before a Sussner long pass to Fier and a Bradley carry got the Vikings into Blackjacks’ territory.

Bradley ran on the next play for a 31-yard rushing touchdown, along with Ian Myhre’s field goal to build a 14-3 edge in the closing minutes of the third quarter.

Minneota’s defense showed up big in the fourth quarter to put the dagger on the win, sparked with a Lacek interception, eventually leading to a Bradley rushing touchdown, putting the Vikings up 20-3.

Minutes later, Easton Johnston tipped a pass into the hands of Quinton Anderson for an interception, which again led to a touchdown for Bradley, his third of the night.

Bradley had a pair of fumbles earlier in the night, and he credited his coaches and teammates for his turnaround in the second half by their continuing trust.

“We needed to see our kids battle adversity. I know Kellen was very hard on himself for the two fumbles … I talked about going in the fourth quarter, those [fumbles] are two quarters behind and we still have faith in you,” coach Johnston said. “He just took care of it. The kids responded well in the second half.”

Fier also found himself in the end zone shortly after, giving the Vikings a 34-3 lead, becoming the final score.

“To be fair, I think we might have come in a little overconfident,” Bradley said. “We didn’t come out and execute, including myself. I need to hold on to football, or else clean that stuff up.”

After a scoreless first quarter, the Blackjacks got on the board midway through the second quarter with a Bellefeuille 9-yard field goal.

Prior to the kick, Dawson-Boyd got into the red zone after recovering a fumble on Minneota’s 22-yard line.

A Liebl pass to Colten Bothun and personal carry brought the Blackjacks to the 8-yard line, followed with an assisted tackle by Minneota’s Sorensen and Fier to pass a 1-yard loss.

An incomplete pass brought the Blackjacks to fourth down, resulting in the field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 7:04 to go in the half.

The Vikings had a quick response on their next drive for the night’s first touchdown, run in by Sussner with a field goal from Myhre.

Minneota marched down the field to get in scoring position with carries by Bradley, a pass to Fier and a Sussner carry to get into the red zone at the 13-yard line.

A pair of short Bradley carries got the Vikings to the 3-yard line on third down, as Sussner pushed into the end zone on the next play to take a 7-3 lead with 2:32 to go in the half.

In Dawson-Boyd’s next drive to end the half, Minneota’s Sorensen ultimately came up with a sack on Liebl in the final second after the Vikings’ stripped the ball away on the play prior for a large loss of yardage.

Colten Bothun initially started the drive with a large punt return, sprinting down the field onto the Vikings’ 38-yard line.

Dawson-Boyd finishes the regular season 6-2, with its lone other loss coming from No. 2 Springfield on Sept. 19, 34-7.

The Vikings finish 8-0, with five of their wins coming by 60 or more points.

Both Dawson-Boyd and Minneota will next await seeding for the section tournament, to be released in the coming days. Quarterfinals are slated to begin next Tuesday at the school of the higher seed, while the team seeded first will get a bye into the semifinals next Saturday.

“This is a team [Dawson-Boyd], that barring something else [happens], you kind of expect a good chance that you might see them again in the section finals,” Johnston said. “We have some time to heal up a little bit and freshen up … But, it’s a whole new season. We said from this one, you can’t have bad games this time of year, so this was a learning point.”

Minneota enters the postseason on a quest to claim its fourth-straight state championship, and the Blackjacks look to earn a state berth for the fifth time in program history.

“We have to go into it [playoffs] with the same mentality. We have to hold ourselves honest,” Bradley said. “We have all the pieces we need.”