State championship shutout

Caledonia football win sixth title since 2007

MINNEAPOLIS — State championship games are supposed to be a matchup of the best of the best.

Friday afternoon at TCF Bank Stadium, it was top-ranked Caledonia High School’s football team versus No. 2-ranked Pipestone, which made it to the state semifinals last year. But, the Warriors proved they were at another level completely.

Caledonia thrashed Pipestone 40-0 to win its seventh state championship – sixth since 2007 – in nine state championship and 11 state tournament appearances.

In three-and-a-half games, the Warriors forced 19 turnovers. Three of those came in the first half of the Minnesota Class 2A state championship.

Two of those three fumble recoveries wound up Caledonia touchdowns – along with a turnover on downs that went for a TD – as the No. 1-ranked Warriors completed a 14-0 season.

Caledonia was up 33-0 at half thanks to a 26-0 second quarter. The Warriors’ defense held run-heavy Pipestone – which used a lot of three-halfback sets throughout the season – to a 1.2-yard-per-carry average and just 49 total yards rushing.

The Arrows (13-1) were without their top rusher, 6-foot, 200-pound Austin Moeller, who had 1,185 yards and 17 touchdowns on 162 carries.

Caledonia seniors Sam Stemper and Colton Lampert, along with junior Alex Goergen each had two touchdowns. Stemper gained 172 yards on 20 carries. Sophomore quarterback Owen King was 13-for-20 for 207 yards with four TD passes. Lampert finished with six receptions for 122 yards.

Caledonia’s biggest challenge on the day came after forcing a turnover on downs with 55 seconds to go in the half. The Warriors had called timeouts to stop the clock and get the ball back before half, though they were already up 26-0.

And, with just those 55 seconds to play with and zero timeouts, Caledonia took all of one play to find pay dirt. That’s when King hit Lampert on a 39-yard fly down the right sideline. They had the ball just six seconds.

It was that kind of day for the Warriors. Nothing seemed to go wrong. Pipestone had five turnovers. Of its four fumbles, Caledonia recovered three of them.

The Arrows found out early there was no room to run, and had to go the passing game, which was, of course, completely out of character. Quarterback Brayden Baartman was 5-for-13 for 71 yards.