ST. FRANCIS, Minnesota - For the first time during the Matt Cleary era, the Forest Lake Rangers advanced to the section 7AAAAA semi-finals with a hard fought 14-12 victory over the St. Francis Fighting Saints. The game conditions were almost as big a story Tuesday night as the teams played through off and on rain, tempuratures hovering around 40 degrees and a wind that was 30mph gusting to 45mph at times.

During the regular season, both teams relied heavily on the running game and Tuesday's weather pushed each team to ratchet that dependence up another notch. Forest Lake kept the ball on the ground on 36 of their 40 offensive plays while St. Francis ran on 47 of 52 plays.

Following a Forest Lake punt on the game's opening possession, St. Francis drove 51 yards in 12 plays to take a 6-0 lead when junior QB Warren Bauman scored on a 7-yard run. Bauman, who was playing in place of injured starter Tanner Aho, finished with 16 yards rushing along with the TD run.

Forest Lake responded on their next possession by driving 67 yards in 13 plays. Tommy Tyson scored on a 7-yard run to cap the long drive and a 2-point conversion gave the Rangers an 8-6 lead. That was the way the 1st half ended as each team used a multi-pronged rushing attack to keep the clock running. For Forest Lake, it was a 3 pronged attack featuring Tyson, C.J. Franklin, and sophomore Glen Miron, while St. Francis was paced by junior Jake Engnell, who had rushed for 1,003 yards during the regular season, with Bauman and Michael Scardigli providing balance.

Forest Lake pushed it's lead to 14-6 late in the 3rd quarter when Franklin, a junior, scored on a 3 yard run. That capped a 10 play, 61 yard drive for Forest Lake.

The weather became a factor in the 4th quarter. St. Francis was forced to punt early in the quarter, but had the wind at their backs and Jake Engnell launched a 61 yard punt that was downed at the Forest Lake 9 yard line. The Rangers lined up to punt on 4th and 9 from their 10. Instead of punting into the gale force wind, punter C.J. Franklin ran a fake, but was forced out short of the first down.

St. Francis took advantage of the short field and scored on a short plunge by senior fullback Jon Lucas. The Fighting Saints were unable to tie the score when Engnell was taken down short of the goal line on the 2 point attempt.

The wind kept Forest Lake bottled up in their own end and they were forced to punt again and Franklin was able to only get the ball out to his own 39 yard line with 4:14 to play. St. Francis picked up one first down, but stalled out at the Ranger 17. They let the clock run down to 1:11 before calling a timeout and lining up for a potential game winning field goal. With the behind him, Lucas had plenty of distance on the 34 yard attempt, but pushed it wide right.

The loss ends the Fighting Saints season with an overall record of 4-5, following a 3-4 North Suburban conference finish. The home playoff game was the first for St. Francis since the early '80's and shows continued improvement under head coach Chris Lindquist.

The victory improves Forest Lake to 4-5 overall and moves the Rangers into a 7AAAAA semi-final game against top seed and #2 ranked Blaine on Saturday in Blaine.

Players of the game:
Forest Lake - C.J. Franklin: 12 rushes, 71 yards, 1TD
St. Francis - Jake Engnell: 25 rushes, 65 yards