Big-Hearted Comets Stand Tall in a Thrilling 40–38 Victory

The November air at Buffalo High School carried the chill of playoff tension, and the Hillcrest Comets met it with a big-hearted team that showed courage, trust, and the unshakable belief that they could fight for one another in a thrilling 40–38 win that tested every ounce of their resolve and sent the Comets punching their ticket to U.S. Bank Stadium.

Head Coach Korey Fry called it perfectly afterward:

“Amazing game start to finish. Hats off to Mabel-Canton—they came out ready to play and really controlled the trenches early against us. Offensively, we played lights out—Ethan and Sean put on another show. This was an all-around, four-quarter, gritty win for our players and coaches. That stop on the two-point conversion was amazing. Our fans came out and supported us big time. Now we have an opportunity to play at U.S. Bank Stadium.”

The game began with Mabel-Canton asserting their power on the ground. Their running back tandem pounded through the Comet front, capping an opening drive with an 18-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion for an 8–0 lead. Hillcrest’s sideline didn’t waver.

On the ensuing possession, the Comets calmly orchestrated a drive that stretched the field horizontally and vertically. With the offensive line setting the tone, Eli Walkup pounding the ground between the tackles, and Sean Berge finding space on quick outs, the Comets moved with rhythm. Then, from the 8-yard line, Ethan Swedberg zipped a pass to Drew Fischer across the middle for the Comets’ first score. Swedberg followed with a three-yard conversion run to tie the game, 8–8, ending a drive that sent a strong message that the team with the ball at the end of the game would likely march from Buffalo to US Bank Stadium.

However, the Comets defense stiffened on the next series, as Levi Bowman, Jerry Oleson, and Eli Walkup began to find their reads against Mabel-Canton’s heavy set, slowing the run game just enough to keep the Comets even as the first quarter expired.

Mabel-Canton struck first in the second quarter with a nine-yard touchdown run and another conversion to go up 16–8. The Comets responded immediately, as Swedberg launched a 30-yard rainbow to Berge down the right sideline, perfectly timed and perfectly caught in stride for the score.

The Swedberg-to-Berge connection has been lethal all season, but this one reignited the Comet offense. “Ethan and Sean put on another show,” Coach Fry said later, and in this stretch, it was evident why. After the touchdown, Swedberg again powered in the conversion to even it 16–16, a score that held into halftime.

Mabel-Canton controlled the clock for much of the half, winning time of possession and grinding out 118 rushing yards before the halftime buzzer, but Hillcrest’s defense refused to bend when it mattered. Xander Knutson and Luke McGuire made crucial stops on third downs, while Maverick Peterson and Isaac Hamilton provided coverage that forced two incompletions in the red zone.

And though the Comets turned it over once on a fumble, their defense and special teams sparked life into the team, with a fire igniting in the Comets following a Bowman 53-yard kick return that flipped the field before the half. The second and third phases of the Comets’ arsenal gelled to build the confidence they’d need heading into the locker room.

The halftime huddle was short on speeches and long on solutions, and the Comets came out of the locker room ready to seize control of the game.

Opening the third, Swedberg went to work with surgeon-like precision. After connecting with Fischer for a 15-yard gain, the Comets leaned into a run-pass rhythm that left Mabel-Canton’s defense scrambling. Then, on a designed keeper, Swedberg broke free on a 17-yard touchdown run. His two-point conversion that followed gave Hillcrest its first lead, 24–16.

Moments later, the Comets struck again. After a defensive stop anchored by Walkup and Oleson, Hillcrest regained possession near midfield. On second down, Swedberg dropped back and fired deep to Berge, who calmly sprinted for a 58-yard pass-and-catch touchdown that electrified the stands. Swedberg’s third two-point run of the night made it 32–16.

In the third quarter, Hillcrest piled up 143 yards of offense while holding Mabel-Canton scoreless. Walkup chipped in crucial short-yardage gains, and Isaac Hamilton’s edge blocking freed Swedberg for key runs. Defensively, Oleson and McGuire shared a sack, and Berge added a thunderous open-field tackle that stopped a fourth-down attempt cold.

The final frame tested Hillcrest’s will. Mabel-Canton roared back with two scores to narrow the gap to 32–24. Each time the Cougars struck, the Comets answered.

With under five minutes left, Swedberg capped an 8-play drive by slicing through defenders for a 10-yard touchdown, his fourth total score of the night, and then powered in another two-point conversion to stretch the lead to 40–24.

But Mabel-Canton wasn’t done. Behind their bruising quarterback, they scored twice more, the second cutting the lead to 40–38 with less than a minute to play. With no time left on the clock, the Cougars loaded up the line for a two-point conversion, looking to force overtime as neither team had a failed conversion attempt to that point of the game. Instead, the Comet defense dug in, Walkup and Oleson shot the gaps, McGuire shed a blocker, and Berge closed the edge. The stop was emphatic. The sideline erupted. Hillcrest’s season continued.

“That stop on the two-point conversion was amazing,” Fry said. “Our fans came out and supported us big time.”

Every Comet had a hand in the win. Swedberg’s night, with 21 carries for 124 yards and 2 TDs, plus 14 completions for 245 yards and 3 TDs, was a masterclass in poise. Berge’s 191 receiving yards, two touchdowns, and 11 tackles made him unstoppable in the primary phases of the Comet attack. Walkup’s 57 rushing yards and nine tackles embodied grit. Fischer’s four catches for 41 yards and a score provided balance, and the key play of the night may have been his bruising reception of the Cougars' onside kick in the fourth quarter that allowed the Comets to burn off time on the clock.

The defense leaned on its anchors: Oleson and McGuire combined for a sack and ten tackles in the trenches, while Bowman, Knutson, and Hamilton sealed the edges. Special teams shone from Kian Stender’s booming kickoffs repeatedly pinned Mabel-Canton deep, while Peterson’s returns provided sparks when the Comets needed them most.

In the box score, Hillcrest’s 426 yards of total offense stand out. But numbers only tell part of the story. What mattered most was the togetherness that carried them through adversity. The Comets faced a physical opponent, overcame turnovers, and stayed faithful to each other’s strengths.

Now, they’ll take that same unity under the bright lights of U.S. Bank Stadium, believing they belong among Minnesota’s best.

“This was an all-around, four-quarter gritty win for our players and coaches,” Fry reflected. “Now we have an opportunity to play at U.S. Bank Stadium.”