The last seconds of a Minnesota high school championship game on Saturday featured a play so jaw-dropping that it might go down in the history of U.S. Bank Stadium.
The New London-Spicer High School football team played Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton High School at the Minnesota Vikings' home stadium for the Class 3A state title on Saturday, and New London-Spicer pulled off a last-second Hail Mary that almost went wrong before turning into a game-winning (and state title-winning) touchdown.
Down 26-21 with four seconds left in the game, New London-Spicer quarterback Blake Schultz reared back and launched a giant pass from the 48-yard line, which flew all the way down the field and somehow into the arms of receiver Grant Paffrath at the 20-yard line. Paffrath was surrounded by DGF defensemen and was quickly taken down in what could have been the game-ending tackle, but what happened next saved the game and the season for New London-Spicer.
Paffrath and Christensen told Michael Lyne of the West Central Tribune that their exchange was not planned or designed; they were just reacting to what as happening in the moment.
Paffrath lateraled the ball to senior Brycen Christensen before he hit the ground, and Christensen ran it in the final few yards for a championship-winning touchdown, just the second in NLS history.
"I knew that I could throw him the ball, so I threw him it. Then I got tackled," Paffrath said. "I didn't even see the end of the play. I just heard everyone yelling."
Christensen added, "It was a perfect throw from Blake to Grant. I saw (Grant) was getting tackled, so I was yelling his name and he found me."
That heads-up final play received one of the highest honors a viral sports clip can get: it was No. 1 on the SportsCenter Top 10.