The Becker Bulldogs football team knocked off previously unbeaten Princeton last week and will play in the state tournament for the 18th time in the school’s  history with the quarterfinals kickoff set for  Nov. 7 in Brainerd against #4 Holy Angels.

The Bulldogs clinched another trip to the state tournament after a 28-7 win over Princeton Friday night in the Class 4A, Section 8 championship game in St. Michael. Becker senior wide receiver and defensive back Carter Reckelberg scored three touchdowns and had an interception on defense in the win for the Bulldogs.

The Princeton Tigers end their season with 9-1 overall record.

Last Friday, the Bulldogs notched one TD in each quarter to gain the victory as the defense stood tall once again and shut down a potent opponent. Reckelberg’s first came on a 66-yard completion from Tristan Kowalkowski with 3:41 to play in the first quarter. His second TD came on a 28-yarder from Sawyer Brown with 3:10 left until halftime.

Running Back Landen Kujawa got in on the mix in the third quarter when he scored on an incredible 75 yard run to put Becker up 21-0. Reckelberg capped the night with an 18-yard TD from Kowalkowski after Princeton finally broke through in the fourth with a one-yard score from QB Brayden Oliver Shafer.

Becker finished the game with 357 yards gained compared to 245 for the Tigers (all on the ground). Princeton ran  64 plays compared to Becker’s 42, but Hokan Bengtson’s defense bent but did not break.

Kowalkowski went seven-of-10 through the air for 236 yards and three TDs. Isaac Daluge carried the bulk of the workload on the ground, amassing 42 yards on five carries for an 8.4 average.

Reckelberg had four catches for 124 yards and the three touchdowns.

On defense, Kaden Nicolas had 10 total tackles while Daluge had eight.

Holy Angels has a record of 7-3 and one of those losses was a 14-0 loss to Becker back on Sept. 13. They’ve beaten Mpls. North, Richfield, St. Paul Academy/Minnehaha Academy/Blake, Benilde-St. Margaret’s (2x),  Hutchinson and Minneapolis Roosevelt. Their three losses have been to Becker, Totino-Grace and Rocori.

The winner of the Becker/Holy Angels game will move on to play in the semi-finals at U.S. Bank Stadium Nov. 14 at 10:30 a.m.. Final game for the state title will be Nov. 22 at 1 p.m.