In 2004, Minnetonka found success it sought when it hired coach Dave Nelson

The Star Tribune is celebrating 50 years of high school football state tournaments one day at a time for 50 days.

Year: 2004

Three years. Three football seasons. Thirty-six months. Minnetonka climbed the mountain all that while, waiting to benefit fully from the arrival of coach Dave Nelson.

And the last step of the journey was a beauty, with the Skippers holding off Classic Lake Conference neighbor Wayzata 23-14 in the Class 5A state championship game. It's Minnetonka's lone state title. Nelson had come to Minnetonka with state championship success at Blaine on his ledger.

Minnetonka running back Jalon Hopkins carried 27 times for 224 yards and had touchdown runs of 84 and 82 yards. Teammate Sam Buckman kicked three field goals. Buckman's final kick, from 20 yards with 5 minutes, 18 seconds to play, put the Skippers in front 16-14, and Hopkins sealed things by running 82 yards for a score with 1:08 left.

Defensively, the Skippers' Matt Risinger tied a championship game record with three interceptions.

"We knew they were going to be tough to stop," Minnetonka coach Dave Nelson said. "We fell behind, but we didn't panic. We knew we could find a way to win at the end."

In other finals:

• The word was out on East Grand Forks quarterback/defensive back Nick Mertens, and he still couldn't be stopped. Mertens was one of the best-kept secrets in the state for most of the season despite leading the Green Wave to an undefeated record.

Mertens passed for 224 yards and two touchdowns, ran 59 yards for another score, kicked a field goal and three extra points, ran for a two-point conversion and intercepted a pass in the Green Wave's 31-14 victory over Becker in the Class 3A championship. It's the program's only state title.

"I thought we had a great scheme against him," Becker coach Dwight Lundeen said. "But he ran through tackles, made great throws. He lived up to his billing as the best player in the state."

• Pierz coach Leo Pohlkamp took stock of his team in the runway beneath the Metrodome stands before the Class 2A championship game and knew it was going to be a fun afternoon.

"They were restless as cattle in a trailer," Pohlkamp said. "They were bouncing off the walls. They were ready to go."

Clearly, Pohlkamp knows his team well. The Pioneers scored three first-quarter touchdowns en route to a 39-14 victory over Eden Valley-Watkins to win the first championship in school history.

• In Class 1A, Rushford-Peterson's Tyler Drinkall picked off three passes in a 20-6 triumph over Otter Tail Central.

State championship games

Class 5A: Minnetonka 23, Wayzata 14

Class 4A: Totino-Grace 27, Sartell-St. Stephen 6

Class 3A: East Grand Forks 31, Becker 14

Class 2A: Pierz 39, Eden Valley-Watkins 14

Class 1A: Rushford-Peterson 20, Otter Tail Central 6

Nine-Man: Stephen-Argyle 25, Bertha-Hewitt 6