ST. CLOUD-Charlie Geraets rambled 55 times for 265 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Brainerd Warriors defeated the St. Louis Park Orioles 24-7 in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state tournament Saturday night at Husky Stadium at St. Cloud State University.
The victory advances Brainerd to the state semifinals at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis against Owatonna. The Tigers beat Mahtomedi 59-34 in another quarterfinal Saturday night.
Geraets caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joe Stolski to open the scoring with 32 seconds left in the first half.
On the first play of the second quarter, the Orioles' Ryan Klaers hooked up with quarterback Jonny Sorenson for what turned out to be St. Louis Park's only points. Skyler Rudelius-Palmer kicked the extra point and the Orioles led 7-6 at the half.
It was all Brainerd's defense and Geraets in the second half. Geraets ran a yard for a score with 4:41 left in the third. Max Zimmerman caught the 2-point conversion pass from Geraets for a 14-7 Brainerd lead that it never relinquished.
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On only his second field goal attempt of the season, Brainerd's Zach Henke connected from 21 yards out and a 17-7 Warrior edge with 9:32 left in the game.
With 3:02 left, Geraets concluded the scoring with a 2-yard run and Henke kicked the extra point for the final score.
Brainerd's defense forced the Orioles to turn the ball over on each of their first three second-half possessions. Max Boran ended the first two with interceptions. Defensive lineman Isaak Hines ended the other series with a fumble recovery.
The Warriors finished with 388 total yards to St. Louis Park's 218.
Look for complete game story and photos in Sports Monday.
