Woodbury tops rival East Ridge, likely secures No. 2 seed in Class 6A playoffs

A handful of turnovers and big plays from Mark Mathis sent Woodbury into the postseason on a winning note Wednesday night The junior running back rushed for a pair of touchdowns and caught another as his squad recovered a fumble and recorded three interceptions en highway to downing crosstown rival East Ridge - at TCO Stadium in Eagan The Royals finished the regular season - likely locking up a No seed in the Class A playoffs They also clinched a tie with Forest Lake for the Metro East Sub-District title The Rangers who beat Stillwater - Wednesday are likely to get the No seed by virtue of their head-to-head win over Woodbury A No seed means the Royals path to state consists of two home games The Raptors who had won four of the last five meetings in the series finished the regular season - East Ridge is a good bet to get the No seed with Mounds View seeded third East Ridge held the ball for nearly minutes on the event s opening possession keeping the drive alive twice on fourth down but using all three of its timeouts And on th-and- at the Woodbury the Royals defense held strong stopping the Raptors for a loss of two Then on East Ridge s second possession Woodbury senior Cooper Crane recovered a fumble at midfield Each time however the Royals had to punt the ball away That luck changed on their third drive when a -yard catch by junior Nolan Freymiller set up an -yard touchdown run by Mathis that put Woodbury on top - with to play before halftime The Raptors managed to put together a late drive in the final minute-and-a-half of the first half advancing as far as the Woodbury yard line with under seconds to go But two-straight passes to the end zone fell incomplete From there it was Mathis making the plays scoring on a -yard run with to play in the third quarter then catching a -yard touchdown pass from senior Emmett Snuggerud one play after Freymiller picked off a pass for the Royals third turnover of the night East Ridge decisively got on the board when senior Cedric Tomes revealed junior Leo Stalsberg on a -yard touchdown pass that cut the gap to - late in the third quarter But Woodbury extended its advantage to - when junior Brayden Schmitz hit a -yard field goal with left to play The Raptors advanced to the Royals on their next possession but a false start penalty cost them five yards Then two plays later Woodbury picked up turnover No with an interception in the end zone East Ridge did get a late touchdown run by senior Vince Hurley with seconds left to play and converted the two-point conversion But the Royals recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal the win and with it prime postseason positioning Related Articles High School Football picks for Rosemount-Lakeville South Woodbury-East Ridge and more High school football Mahtomedi holds off Cretin-Derham Hall High school football Irish defense stout again in defeat of Eagan High school football Washburn shuts down Highland Park Prep football Mahtomedi runs roughshod over Tartan