The debate about the best dual-threat quarterback in Minnesota never included East Ridge’s Cedric Tomes this season.

But in only his third game back, Tomes reminded everyone how much he deserved to be in that conversation before he was injured earlier in the fall.

A Gophers basketball recruit, the 6-1 senior kept his high school football career going with four touchdowns, including three in the first half, in a 28-20 victory over visiting Andover in the Class 6A playoffs’ first round.

It was the only home game Tomes played this season because of the broken finger on his non-throwing hand suffered in a season-opening loss at Minnetonka.

“It was amazing,” said Tomes, who led East Ridge to a 21-0 halftime lead. “Those are my brothers, and this was my senior year. I knew what we wanted to accomplish, and this group is so tight. We had to get this done.”

The fourth-seeded Raptors (5-4) advance to play defending state champion and No. 1 overall seed Maple Grove next weekend on the road, but they were too busy celebrating Friday night to look ahead.

“He’s a difference-maker,” East Ridge coach Dan Fritze said about Tomes. “There was a time when we didn’t think we would get him back. This is a blessing to have him back, and we’re grateful for it.”

A one-sided game early got tight after the Huskies (5-4) scored on back-to-back runs by talented senior dual-threat QB Joseph Mapson in the third quarter.

The momentum shifted after East Ridge fumbled on its first possession of the second half. That was an issue a week ago, when the Raptors committed five turnovers in a 24-15 loss against Woodbury, but they didn’t let the mistakes snowball again.

“Andover’s so explosive on offense and just a really good team,” Fritze said. “We went into the game saying that if we won the turnover battle we would have a chance.”

Another factor was the QB battle between Tomes and Mapson, who have a lot in common. They’re similar in size. They both wear No. 3. And they had similar stats passing and rushing combined last year as juniors: Tomes around 1,600 total yards and 20 TDs and Mapson about 1,500 yards and 22 TDs.

On Friday, Mapson combined for 226 yards and all of his three TDs in the second half. Tomes went 9-for-13 for 185 yards and a touchdown passing and had 19 carries for 76 yards rushing with three TDs.

“You have to pick your poison with him because he’s so good,” Fritze said of Mapson, who had five rushing TDs vs. Wayzata this year. “If he was going to beat us, we wanted it to be through the air.”

Mapson had 296 yards passing in a 62-61 win vs. Anoka and 255 yards throwing in a win vs. Rogers during a four-game win streak, but he averaged just 124 passing yards in Andover’s two consecutive losses to finish the regular season.

Tomes’ career-high 204 yards passing came in his first game back from injury this season, in a 21-13 win Oct. 10 vs. Stillwater.

Despite having 133 yards rushing vs. Woodbury last week, Tomes was frustrated about committing four turnovers in that loss. He had no turnovers Friday.

East Ridge made a statement early with Tomes’ 18-yard TD pass to Akeed Ali on fourth-and-7 in the first quarter. Tomes converted another fourth-and-7 with an 11-yard pass to Ali in the second quarter, which led to his 24-yard scoring run.

And Tomes’ 47-yard pass to Ali set up his 1-yard TD run to make it 21-0. He was just as impressed with East Ridge’s defense keeping one of the state’s best offenses scoreless by halftime.

“[Andover’s] quarterback is amazing, and they have a good offense,” Tomes said. “But I’m so proud of the way we executed and stuck together out there.”