Photo courtesy of Mary Woitas Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s running back Trent Steffensmeier is tackled by the Ortonville defense during Tuesday’s win at St. Mary’s.

SLEEPY EYE — Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s overcame a 14-point deficit and defeated Ortonville 46-22 on Tuesday in Section 2A, 9-man football action. The Knights are ranked sixth in the State of Minnesota 9-Man polls.

The Trojans scored first when Daunte Fetters ran up the middle, broke to the right side of the field for a 75-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Carter Brown tried to throw the ball for a 2-point conversion, but it was no good.

Ortonville added to its lead with 3 minutes remaining in the first quarter when Brown scored on a 1-yard run. Brown pitched the football to Fetters for two extra points, making it 14-0 Trojans after one quarter.

St. Mary’s answered in the second quarter when Mark Anderson found Caleb Wait for a 3-yard touchdown pass. Wait bobbled the football and he caught it in the corner of the end zone. Anderson found Wait again for the 2-point conversion, making it 14-8 Ortonville.

With 9:33 left in the first half, Anderson threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Wait on a screen pass play. Wait broke several tackles to score. The Knights went for the 2-point conversion, and it was successful, giving St. Mary’s a 16-14 lead.

Ortonville answered when Fetters ran 59-yards with 8:05 left in the first half. Brown handed off the ball to Nathaniel Gustafson who ran for another 2-points for the Trojans. It was the Trojans’ final score of the contest.

The Knights regained the advantage for good when Anderson handed off the ball to Steffensmeier, who scored on a 1-yard run with 30 seconds until halftime. Wait passed the ball to Anderson for the 2-point conversion. It was 32-22 for St. Mary’s at halftime.

Anderson threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Talan Helget with 5 minutes left in the third quarter. Anderson tossed the ball to Owen Weiss for the 2-point conversion. It was 40-22 for the Knights.

St. Mary’s got its final score of the game when Anderson handed the ball off to Steffensmeier who ran for a 4-yard touchdown. Anderson threw the ball to Wait, who caught the ball, but he was out-of-bounds so the 2-point conversion was not good.

Ortonville had at least three chances to score throughout the remainder of the game. It was shut down when the Knights’ defense became tougher as the game progressed.

St. Mary’s (8-1) and the No. 3 seed, will travel to play No. 2 seed Renville County West on Saturday.