ST. CLOUD - It's not often in sports where an athlete gets a second chance, but that's exactly what happened to Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop's Josh Boyda.

Boyda appeared to have a 33-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that would have tied the game at 20. But a holding call brought the play back and instead, the Thunderbirds were later forced to punt.

But on Maple Lake's next possession, Boyda caught a loose ball from the Maple Lake running back and took it into the end zone from 32 yards out. That tied the game, and GFW used that momentum to put the Thunderbirds into the state tournament with a 33-20 win over Maple Lake in the Section 4AA championship at St. Cloud State University.

The Thunderbirds outscored Maple Lake 19-0 in the second half as the defense came up with big play after big play.

GFW (8-3) will face the Section 3AA champion Luverne at 1 p.m. Nov. 14 at Gustavus Adolphus College.

"I saw the fumble and I thought I was going to try to get it," Boyda said. "Jacob Holmquist knocked the ball into the air and it went right into my arms. It was just pure adrenaline and I just ran. It felt good, it was the first defensive touchdown of the season."

"Our guys are warriors, I can't say enough about Jay [Rogotzke, senior running back] and our line just believes in him so much," GFW head coach Pat Hentges said. "With Zak [Neubarth, senior fullback], I knew we were going to give it to him when we had the lead. He's just a phenomenal back.

"I'm so proud of how our kids just didn't quit," Hentges said. "They didn't panic, and I'm very very proud of what they've done."

While the first quarter saw only one touchdown on Cameron's Knudson's 2-yard quarterback sneak, the second quarter was the equivalent of a home run derby for both teams.

GFW struck first when Zak Neubarth powered his way in from 1-yard out to make it 7-6 Maple Lake after the two-point conversion failed.

On the ensuing kickoff, Maple Lake's Brian Redemski ran the kick back 80 yards to put the Irish up 14-6.

After a three-and-out by the Thunderbirds, Maple Lake struck again with the big play, this time with Knudson finding an open Redemski, who scored from 55 yards out to give the Irish a 20-6 lead with 5:49 left.

"Maple Lake's got a good team," Hentges said. "They have more speed than we had and it does make it frustrating [with the big plays] so you gotta be sound. But what I really liked is we had some kids step up."

But GFW answered on a 47-yard pitch to Rogotzke four plays later and the Thunderbirds trailed 20-14 after the two-point conversion.

Maple Lake had a chance to add to the lead, bringing the ball deep into Thunderbird territory late in the half. But the Irish missed a 21-yard field goal with four seconds left and the score remained 20-14 at halftime.

In the third quarter, it looked like the Thunderbirds were going to tie the game when Boyda had a 33-yard touchdown run, but GFW was called for holding, negating the play.

"Obviously I was kind of mad," Boyda said. "I got there untouched and I turned around and there was a holding call. I don't think the refs knew I had the ball, and I was frustrated because that right there could've been the game."

The Thunderbirds were forced to punt, and on Maple Lake's first play from scrimmage, Boyda got another chance as he stripped the Irish ball carrier and ran the ball back 33 yards for a touchdown, tying the game at 20.

GFW finally took its first lead on the second play of the fourth quarter. Rogotzke took the handoff and went left, the spotted an opening in the Maple Lake defense and ran across the field, avoiding the tacklers and reaching the end zone from 30 yards out.

That gave GFW a 27-20 lead after the PAT.

The Thunderbirds added to that lead when Rogotzke again found the end zone, this time on a 27-yard run, to put GFW ahead 33-20.

The loss ended Maple Lake's season at 6-5.

Rogotzke led the way for GFW with 26 carries for 193 yards and three touchdown.

Neubarth had 22 carries for 84 yards and Lucas Seehaffer was 4-for-7 passing for 56 yards.

Boyda had 12 tackles, three sacks and fumble recovery.

It's the first state tournament for the Thunderbirds since 1995. Obviously, the team was thrilled about playing in the state quarterfinals next Saturday at GAC.

"It's amazing," Boyda said. "I played here two years ago and we lost 7-0 to Norwood [Young America] and last year we didn't get this far. So this year we gotta come out and I knew we were going to be pretty good. I honestly just want to know who we play next."