Reusse: Holy Family sinks against juggernaut Stewartville in football playoffs

Holy Family Catholic was early into its third decade as a high school in Carver County and had found itself no longer competitive in the rugged art of American football.

Tanner Davis, now a senior for the Fire, said: "Holy Family hadn't won a game for two years … or maybe it was three. And football's a hard sport to get kids to play when you're losing."

Holy Family was looking for a coach in the winter of 2022-23, and Dan O'Brien had several stops on his résumé, the most recent being a 49-5 record in five seasons coaching St. Thomas Academy.

O'Brien was interested in moving to Holy Family, but only if he could get a pair of friends and "retired" prep coaching legends, Dave Nelson and Jeff Ferguson, to join him in this new adventure in the southwest suburbs.

They went for it, and by February 2023, O'Brien was on the job.

"Dan O'Brien was in the hallways every day, trying to convince guys to give football a try," Davis said.

The football numbers didn't explode with the Fire, but they did become workable. Holy Family went 7-4 in 2023 with O'Brien and friends as coaches. And this season, another notable veteran coach — Paul Miller, big success at Apple Valley, then St. Olaf — joined the coaching staff as offensive coordinator.

The Fire went 6-2 in this regular season, losing to Class 4A teams Byron and Zimmerman, then reached the Class 3A state tournament with section victories over Concordia/St. Croix Lutheran and Minneapolis North.

Awaiting in the state quarterfinals was Stewartville, winner of 25 consecutive games and the state Class 3A titlist in 2023 after moving down from 4A … where the Tigers were already a powerhouse.

All those Holy Family coaching brains, the legends and younger guys on O'Brien's large staff, spent long hours "looking at tape" — meaning video — and there was one thing they did not find:

"A weakness," O'Brien said. "We ground that tape every way imaginable and could not find a weakness where you might take advantage. There was not one."

Saturday's final: Stewartville 40, Holy Family 14.

Early on, there were strong hints it was going to be way more lopsided. The first of those was when looking at the sidelines, where Stewartville's muscled, mature athletes gave a scrawny look to the Fire.

The Tigers took the opening kick back to their 37. Five plays, whoosh down the field, with a delay penalty being no hindrance. Two-point conversion, also easy, and it was 8-0 in under two minutes.

The crowded stands on the Stewartville side at Totino-Grace in Fridley produced a celebration that came off as a roar of expectation.

Holy Family then went three-and-out. Parker Wangen, outstanding receiver, defensive back, star of a Tigers basketball team that was in the 2024 state tournament, almost broke a punt return. Instead, he was tackled at Holy Family's 23 and was soon catching a 9-yard touchdown pass.

On this two-point conversion, coach Garrett Mueller put one bunch of players far left, another far right, and then a pass was tossed to Jayce Klug — 16-0, almost instantly.

A couple of hours later, Mueller was asked about "all the creative" stuff his Tigers are running. "It's just a spread offense, with a lot of different movement," he said.

Yes, it is. And a lot of different weapons.

Next, it was Abdimalik Abdi, and Wangen was allowed to kick this extra point to make it 23-0 very late in the first quarter.

Right then, Holy Family could have packed it in — not as talented, not as strong, not as experienced. Somehow, there was actually a hunk of the second half when Holy Family had an outside chance to make it a game.

Down 33-14, Holy Family held the ball for eight minutes and drove to the Stewartville 4. The Fire then went 5 yards backward in two plays. After that, it was a given that the Tigers would be headed back to U.S. Bank Stadium — to play Albany in the Class 3A semifinals — with 26 victories in a row.

"I'm proud of the effort today because I know what the seniors went through to get this far," O'Brien said. "And our young players, a sophomore like Levi Trout, out there at linebacker, taking on big, strong, experienced blockers and making plays."

Stewartville going to repeat?

"I can't see a 3A team beating them," O'Brien said. "They'd be doing fine if they had a few more students and were still in 4A."