Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota's Kellen Bradley (34) celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter while Kyson Arndt (64) and Dalton Orvis (back) come up to congratulate in the Vikings' 28-14 win over Mahnomen/Waubun Saturday morning in the Class A state semifinals. Minneota is returning to the prep bowl for the fifth straight year on a quest for its fourth consecutive title. Below: Easton Johnston scores a touchdown. Below: Kellen Bradley (34) is hugged by teammates after scoring a touchdown. Below: Adam DeVlaeminck splits the defense on a carry.

MINNEAPOLIS — Powered by a pair of Tristen Sussner rushing touchdowns, the top-seeded Minneota football team is returning to the Class A prep bowl for the fifth-straight season. The Vikings defeated No. 2 Mahnomen/Waubun 28-14 in the Class A semifinals Saturday morning in a battle of two teams who entered the game 11-0 on the season.

Minneota is now one win away from its fourth consecutive state title and third consecutive undefeated season.

“We got such high standards as a community,” Minneota senior Kellen Bradley said. “Being able to go back for a fifth time in a row feels pretty good. I am very happy with our performance.”

Minneota had a slight edge on total offensive yards on the day with 242 to M/W’s 240. The Vikings’ run game was too much for the Thunderbirds, however, as Minneota finished with 215 rushing yards to M/W’s 170.

“I thought we did a lot of good things. Offensively, that’s a good, physical football team. Lot of pride and tradition in Mahnomen,” Minneota head coach Chad Johnston said. “They do what they do well, and I thought our kids made some adjustments, especially on the offensive line, against their three-man front, looking very good… We had to make some adjustments on defense, and knew that we were not going to keep them out of the end zone and knew that we were probably going to give them a touchdown or two … I’m proud of our kids continuing to battle and just fight throughout that whole game.”

Saturday was the closest margin of victory for the Vikings since Minneota defeated Class 2A Eden Valley-Watkins by 7 points in the second game of the season.

“[Minneota] won 45 [games] in a row now, and you can see why. They are really big up front, and they won the line of scrimmage today,” M/W head coach John Clark said. “We tip our hats to a good team, but I’m proud of my boys, too. They know I have genuine love for them, and I told them that, and I couldn’t be prouder. Didn’t end how we wanted to, that’s life, that’s sports, but tip our hat to Minneota. Amazing team.”

Sussner, Minneota’s junior quarterback, ran in his two touchdowns between the second and third quarter, and completed two of his five pass attempts for 27 yards. He ran the ball seven times for 45 yards.

Bradley had a team-high 146 rushing yards along with a touchdown in the second quarter on 27 carries. Senior Easton Johnston scored the first touchdown of the day in the opening quarter and sealed the Vikings’ win with a fourth-quarter interception with just over a minute to go.

The semifinals matchup was also a battle between a pair of top-5 Class A teams, as Minneota has held the No. 1 spot in the Minnesota Associated Press poll all year while M/W was tabbed No. 4 in the final poll. This is also the Thunderbirds’ fifth-straight state tournament appearance.

The Vikings opened state play with a comfortable 42-6 win over No. 4 Lester Prairie in the quarterfinals last Friday, as the Thunderbirds held off No. 3 Upsala/Swanville 17-8.

M/W received the ball first, but was not able to break into Minneota territory following tackles from Adam DeVlaeminck, Caleb Bottelberghe and Kyson Arndt. The Vikings took over at the 42-yard line after limiting the Thunderbirds to 17 yards on the drive.

Defensively, Bradley finished with a team-high 10 tackles, while Ian Myhre, Randy Sorenson, DeVlaeminck and Bottelberghe each finished with 6.

A pair of carries each from Bradley and Sussner put Minneota on the 24-yard line, followed by a big gain from Bradley for 17 yards to bring the Vikings in the red zone on M/W’s 7-yard line. Johnston rushed right on the next play into the corner of the end zone for the game’s first score.

Both teams traded turnovers on their next drives, but M/W turned things around on its first drive of the second quarter after getting to the 1-yard line with a string of carries by senior quarterback Blake McMullen.

McMullen pushed into the end zone and completed the 2-point conversion to put the Thunderbirds ahead, 8-7, with just under nine minutes to go in the half.

Yet, the Vikings only allowed their deficit to last about five minutes as Bradley broke through for a 3-yard rushing touchdown on the next drive to give Minneota back a 13-8 lead.

“Myrv’s [assistant coach Matt Myrvik] always got something up his sleeve [calling offensive plays]. I know I trust in him, and he actually does listen to us sometimes, which, as a coach with a bunch of little kids, I don’t know, [maybe that’s] a gutsy move, but he listens to us. He definitely pulled some things out that were really good plays,” Bradley said, laughing. “Like what they’re lining up in, what would be good to run in this formation, stuff like that. I’m speaking for the [offensive] line, because they do a really good job of telling Myrv all those things that he can’t see from there.”

Minneota marched down the field from their own 19-yard line on the drive, powered by carries by Bradley, Joey Lacek and a 27-yard pass from Sussner down to Landon Esping.

The Vikings tried for 2 after the touchdown, but Johnston fell just short of the end zone on the attempt.

Arndt came up big defensively, shifting the momentum, blocking the Thunderbird’s punt to immediately take the ball back on the Thunderbirds’ 22-yard line.

Following another pair of carries by Bradley, Sussner broke through for a 15-yard rushing touchdown up the middle, also crossing the plane for the 2-point conversion to build the Vikings’ lead to 21-8 as the half came to a close.

“Honestly, it felt like he [Sussner] was a little off with his arm today, and we need him in his situation, but he brought his legs and like you said, that was key a couple times,” coach Johnston said. “He got a little rushed, and instead of panicking and maybe making an ill throw, he just took off and used his legs, and that’s a smart move on his behalf … If the throwing game is not there, sometimes you’ve got to find other ways.”

The Vikings had 147 total offensive yards to M/W’s 110 in the first half, with 120 rushing yards. Bradley also tallied seven first-half tackles to Bottelberghe’s five.

Sussner kept the stride going, opening the first half with his second touchdown of the day on a 2-yard rush after Brock Fier and Bradley ran the Vikings into scoring position, just shy of the goalline.

Minneota held onto its lead the rest of the way while holding the Thunderbirds off defensively, cheering with one another following the win after officially punching its ticket back into the championship with the help of Johnston’s interception to close the game.

“It felt pretty good [getting that interception]. They had some momentum going into that last drive they had there, and taking a pick like that is a huge takeaway,” Easton Johnston said. “That kind of sealed it for us, and that put a lot of momentum just to take those couple knees and seal the game.”

For the Thunderbirds, Brody Lhotka led with 94 rushing yards on 20 carries, while McMullen had 52 passing yards with four complete passes on nine attempts. Tanner Stech was the leading receiver with 52 yards on four catches.

While this was the first meeting between the two since the Class A quarterfinals in 2021, where the Vikings came away with a 34-0 win, the two programs have combined for decades of section championships and state tournament experience.

Mahnomen and Waubun combined teams in 2018, the same year the Thunderbirds won the state championship for the first time as a merged program, and have been in the tournament every year since 2021. Prior to the two programs coming together, however, Mahnomen had 26 state appearances with eight championships, while Waubun’s nine-player team had four state berths and one championship in 2007.

The only team that has gotten in M/W’s way the past two years of reaching the championship has been Springfield, which did not make it to state this year after a loss to Murray County Central in the Section 3A championship.

Minneota (12-0) returns to the state championship next week and will face No. 1 Breckenridge from the North division. The Vikings are looking to bring home their 11th overall championship during their 18th tournament run.

“I would say it feels familiar,” Arndt said. “As a freshman, we were here watching it on the sidelines a little bit, and just taking it step by step, and year by year, watching it just all come together.”

MCC, with the third seed in the South Division, fell short to Breckenridge in the semifinals 28-21 following the Vikings’ game.

The Cowboys (13-0) are back in the state tournament after a two-season hiatus, and were tabbed No. 6 in the final Class A Minnesota AP poll. This will be Breckenridge’s first time competing in the prep bowl since 1995.

The Cowboys are led by third-year head coach Carson Yaggie, a former North Dakota State University wide receiver and a 2017 graduate of Breckenridge High School.

“When I came back [to] coach, I was coaching because I really love football and I didn’t want to be done with it when I finished college, and the second I started coaching, a switch just flipped in me … I love Breckenridge and want to bring pride to it,” Yaggie said. “You celebrate it [the win] tonight, you celebrate with your teammates … When we wake up tomorrow, we got we got a new mission. We got to refocus, reflect, and let’s figure out what we got to do to find a way to get another one.”

The prep bowl is slated for Friday back at US Bank Stadium with a 10 a.m. kickoff.