Lakeville South's Power-T offense has been well chronicled for its role in the Cougars' arrival among the state's elite football programs.
A 30-13 victory against Shakopee in Friday's Class 6A second-round playoff game, however, owed to power D, as in defense. The Sabers managed just 168 rushing yards and completed only five of 14 passes.
No. 3 Lakeville South (9-1) advances to the state tournament quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Friday at St. Michael-Albertville and will face East Ridge.
Safety Callan Oxendale led the charge with six solo tackles, many of them at or near the line of scrimmage. Oxendale's shoulder pads were the place Shakopee's pitch attempts repeatedly ended.
"The message was, 'Play free,'" Cougars coach Ben Burk said. "Sometimes when you're defending an option offense like Shakopee runs, you're hesitant. To see Callan run like that was awesome."
Burk had an interesting view of Oxendale and the defense while playing scout team option quarterback in practice this week. It's a role Burk played a couple of times at St. Cloud State when an option team was on the schedule.
"Actually I'm better now at making the read," Burk said. "I can't throw it, but I can run the pitch."
Burk's relaxed demeanor after the game owed to his defense posting five tackles for loss as the unit kept No. 10 Shakopee (6-4) in check for 2½ quarters. South led 16-0 at halftime and looked poised to record its third shutout in four games.
Then the Sabers, dogged by special teams misfires and penalties, became a different team to start the third quarter. The Sabers executed an impressive scoring drive over a span of about seven minutes. Ben Holte took the pitch and ran 7 yards to pay dirt, and the score read 16-6.
Shakopee kept making plays to stay in the game. Facing fourth-and-17, Leyton Kerns hit Brayden Kleine for a 45-yard touchdown and the Sabers cut their deficit to 23-13.
Connor Cade kept the Cougars in control by running for two of his three scores in the second half. Cade finished with 173 yards as South rolled up 285 yards rushing. Teammate Jonah Shine added 66 yards.
• To see the the section tournament brackets in six classes and the state tournament bracket in Class 6A, click here.
