The Mahnomen/Waubun Thunderbirds were go Saturday morning as quarterback Jon Starkey scored three touchdowns, including the game winner with 5:12 left to play that led them to a 22-21 win over the BOLD Warriors in the Class A championship game at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
It was the first state title under the new co-op between the two northwestern Minnesota communities. Mahnomen made 26 trips to the state tournament and won eight state championships.
The scoring went back and forth in the first quarter. First to break in the scoring column was the Warriors as Jordan Sagedahl, facing second and 14 threw a 43 yard touchdown pass to Gavin Vosika to give them the early lead. Starkey would strike first for the Thunderbirds as he scored on a one yard run, following up a six yard run. BOLD, which stands for Bird Island, Olivia, Lake Lillian and Danube utilized the Sagedahl-Gavin Vosika combination as Sagedahl threw a 50 yard pass toward the left sideline and Gavin Vosika hauled it into the end zone with :42 left to give the Warriors a 14-6 lead.
Both teams scored in the second quarter. Mahnomen/Waubun tied the game on a two yard run from Parker Syverson. BOLD would score following a 37 keeper run by Sagedahl and two plays later he ran the ball into the end zone for a three yard touchdown run. The Warriors led 21-14 at halftime.
Neither team would score in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Thunderbirds would cap a 13 play drive that ate up 6:06 on Starkey's 10 yard keeper run. The senior quarterback made the two point conversion to put Mahnomen/Waubun ahead. Could BOLD bring the championship trophy down Highway 212? The answer would be no as Jayden Heisler recovered a Dawson Vosika fumble and that wouldbe the clincher.
Syverson led the Thunderbirds with 30 carries for 189 yards. Sagedahl led the Warriors completing 14 of 19 passes for 251 yards. Gavin Vosika had seven receptions for 140 yards.
Mahnomen/Waubun ended their season 14-0 and BOLD finished with a record of 12-1.
It would also be the final game for Warrior head coach Steve Solem, who is retiring after heading the BOLD program for 33 years.
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