Three touchdowns in final seconds propel Minnesota high school to victory

Take a look at that score above. St. Michael-Albertville (Minn.) was leading Maple Grove with 68 seconds to go. Now, guess who won.

In one of the more astonishing comebacks you’ll ever see on a football field, Maple Grove scored three touchdowns in a minute to knock off St. Michael and advance in the Minnesota Class 6A state playoffs.

It’s tough to even begin to list how many strange things had to happen all at once for such a result, but here are just a few:

• A slow, plodding Maple Grove offense—they were running up the middle and huddling with 90 seconds left in the game—suddenly caught fire with one breakaway touchdown.

• A one-play, 49-yard catch-and-run, with a total defensive breakdown, for the second touchdown.

• An astonishing one-handed grab near the end zone set up the winning touchdown.

• Two straight onside kicks, one perfectly executed, the other perhaps a wee bit less so.

“Just like we drew it up,” Maple Grove coach Matt Lombardi said after the game. “It just shows as bad as things might seem for you, you can never give up. You have to keep playing and hope things fall in your favor.”

Here’s video of the complete game, including the miracle comeback, starting at about the 1:55 mark. Listen to how the announcers are already proclaiming Maple Grove over and done with, as well they should:

“This game will be remembered in Maple Grove for a long time,” Lombardi said, and he’s right about that. What a finish.
____
Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.