A diving catch and a last-ditch push gave Spring Lake Park a 13-12 victory over Alexandria in overtime Saturday in a Class 5A football quarterfinal at Monticello High School.

The big catch came when Calen Truckenbrod stopped a route in the middle of the end zone. Nolan Roach’s pass was nearly out of reach, but the big senior receiver dived and tipped the pass back into his body with one hand to give the Panthers the first score in overtime.

“The play was designed to go to the left side. I was crossing across [the field]. I saw [Roach] was in trouble, so I cut back,” Truckenbrod said. “I dove for the ball and caught it. It was the best play I’ve ever made in my life.”

Truckenbrod was used primarily as a blocker, but he made the play the Panthers needed him to make at the most crucial time.

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“[Calen] found space as Nolan was scrambling. He just made a great play,” Spring Lake Park head coach John Stewart said. “He’s been an unsung hero all year. It’s great to see him have that moment.”

The Cardinals (9-2) had an opportunity to answer. They did, in two plays. Senior quarterback Talan Witt ran the ball both times to get the Cardinals within a point. Stewart figured he knew what Alexandria would do.

“They go for two. Their MO is that they are going to put the pressure on you to go for two throughout the year,” Stewart said. “We had a feeling since that’s what they do. They said, ‘We’re going to go do it.’ Then it was like, ‘Here comes the ballgame.’ Here comes your year. We’ve got another week or not in one play. It’s funny that way.”

Witt sprinted left, looking for the edge, on the two-point try. He got to the sideline, but a swarm of Panthers defenders pushed him out of bounds just before he reached the pylon.

“That tackle at the end there and the whole game, it was the whole defense, you can’t give credit to one person,” Panthers senior linebacker Cade Skelly said. “Everybody played their butt off. [We made] that awesome play at the end and the celebration, man. We’ve been waiting for this moment for years.”

Alexandria struck first with a 1-yard touchdown run by Brody Berg late in the third quarter. The two-point attempt was stopped short.

The Panthers answered with a 17-play, 72-yard touchdown drive that used 8 minutes, 44 seconds. Tyler Wilkinson capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. The extra-point kick was blocked.

Spring Lake Park (11-0), seeded third in Class 5A’s North bracket, will play St. Thomas Academy (11-0), seeded first in the South, in the Class 5A semifinals Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

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