The Monument Trophy, hoisted by the winner of the century-old eastside rivalry between St. Thomas Academy and Cretin-Derham Hall, was frozen in time.

Since 1991, the spoils of war had remained in the hands of the Raiders, unchallenged for two decades after shifting conference alignment derailed the regular rivalry game.

But for Cadets seniors like running back Dominic Baez, the Monument Trophy has never left the St. Thomas Academy trophy cabinet — unless it was for the purpose of being paraded around after a win like Friday’s.

At TCO Stadium in Eagan, the Cadets beat Cretin-Derham Hall 27-14 to win their fifth straight matchup since the rivalry reignited in 2021. St. Thomas Academy is 45-29-4 all-time against Cretin-Derham Hall.

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“[The rivalry win] means everything. I’ve been here since eighth grade. I’ve seen countless players … win it,” Baez said. “It means something to me and something to this community, to have that be here and be a symbol of our hard work and dominance.”

Coming off a 1,187-yard season for the Cadets, Baez picked right back up, rushing for 121 yards on 27 carries and making three catches for 41 yards in the matchup of two of last year’s Class 5A quarterfinalists.

He barreled into the end zone for a 2-yard rushing touchdown to open the first-quarter scoring, then scrambled free to dash up the left sideline for a 33-yard reception as the 2023 Class 5A state runner-up pulled away in the third quarter.

“I was a running back of that kid’s height and weight, and every time you leave this football field carrying it 25 times, it feels like a small car accident,” said St. Thomas Academy head coach Travis Walch, praising 5-foot-7 Baez’s durability.

If St. Thomas Academy wants to reach the state tournament for the seventh consecutive season, or better yet, reach the title game like in 2023, or better yet, win as it did in 1975, the Cadets will need to build options around Baez, Walch said.

“We are not going to be able to just run at people,” he said.

“We have to continue to grow our offense and trust other people, otherwise we’re going to run into some trouble with injuries.”

In the first half, the Cadets defense set them on the right track, repeatedly setting up short drives by breaking through for three sacks on senior quarterback Izaak Johnson.

“We couldn’t have gotten better field position,” Baez said. “We feed off their energy.”

Johnson answered Baez’s first score with a scrambling 8-yard touchdown pass into the hands of senior running back Ja’Dale Thomspon.

But if the Cadets’ pass rush was the star in the 10-6 first half, it was the secondary in the second. Big pass breakups from senior defensive backs Sam McNellis, Todd Rogalski, Manny Sims and Cody Kronberg forced three consecutive third-quarter three-and-outs for Cretin-Derham Hall.

“We love getting pressure up front, make him release it early, and then secondary, we take it from there,” Rogalski said.

St. Thomas Academy pulled ahead with touchdown passes from junior quarterback Tristan Karl to Baez and senior receiver Grant English. Then, the Cadets ground down the clock with a nine-minute drive in the fourth quarter, leaving little time to orchestrate a comeback for the Raiders’ new head coach, Cretin-Derham Hall alum and former Gopher Kim Royston.

By the time Cadets junior kicker Toren Piltingsrud had booted his second field goal of the night and Cretin-Derham Hall had the ball back in its hands, a final 13-yard passing touchdown from Johnson to senior receiver Sam Heath was only a nice, if unsatisfying, end note for the Raiders.