7 October 2023
For the first time since 2006, Hill-Murray is a conference/subdistrict champion.
The Pioneers claimed that honor all to themselves Friday by downing South St. Paul 35-14 at Ettinger Field in South St. Paul to clinch the Skyway-Gold subdistrict title outright.
Hill-Murray’s conference title in 2006 was a shared Classic Suburban Conference crown, split with St. Thomas Academy. This is the Pioneers’ first outright title in more than 20 years.
Hill-Murray got the scoring started Friday with a 32-yard scoring strike from Jackson Reeves to Gavin Berg in the first frame.
That pass came off of play-action. South St. Paul had no choice but to honor the run fake, given how effective the Pioneers (4-2) were on the ground all evening.
Hill-Murray made positive gains up the middle and on the outside. The Pioneers flashed a physicality they perhaps haven’t been known for in the past. Xavier Daniels set the tone. He was a punishing running back in Hill-Murray’s backfield, while also creating havoc on the other side of the ball. Daniels delivered a strip sack that ended a South St. Paul second-quarter drive.
Turnovers were the story of the contest. South St. Paul turned the ball over on downs at the Hill-Murray 12-yard line in the first quarter. But on the very next play, Elonzo Simmons returned an interception to the end zone to cut the Packers’ deficit to 7-6.
But it was a South St. Paul giveaway in the third that truly turned the game’s tide. Trailing 14-6, the Packers (2-4) were in the midst of a lengthy drive and had the ball inside the Pioneers’ 10-yard line. But the ball was dropped on a simple pitch play and recovered by Hill-Murray’s Alex Gross. Less than a minute later, Reeves hit Berg again, this time for a 55-yard touchdown pass to put Hill-Murray up 21-6.
South St. Paul returned the ensuing kickoff into Pioneers territory but could do nothing with the offensive possession. A turnover on downs was quickly followed by a 71-yard rushing touchdown by Gophers commit Simon Seidl.
Seidl scored a second time in the fourth quarter, recording an impressive one-handed snare of a Reeves’ pass to make it 35-6 Hill-Murray.
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The Pioneers have now won four straight games after starting the year 0-2, and look like a team capable of making some noise in the Class 4A playoffs.