Simley's Spartans Shut Down by St. Thomas Academy

St. Thomas Academy combined a stifling defense with an opportunistic offense in a 42-0 win over host Simley High School on Friday.

In the season opener for both Classic Suburban Conference teams, the Cadets, a perennial powerhouse, showed they’ll be a force again this season.

“The victory is nice, but we’ve got a lot to clean up,” said Cadets head coach Dave Ziebarth. “We’ve got to get more discipline. We had way too many penalties, we had too many fumbles. But we played hard. And it’s the first game; you’ve always got to work out some stuff. So we have plenty of stuff to work on.

“I was happy with the way we responded to adversity,” Ziebarth added. “I was very happy with the defense, the way they played. They played better and better as we went along. Offensively we did some nice things; we just have to be more consistent. That’s really the key. We can’t hurt ourselves with stupid penalties and mistakes.”

The Cadets scored on four of their first seven possessions of the first half, building a 28-0 halftime lead. Simley, on the other hand, couldn’t get much going against the St. Thomas defense—with the exception of a promising second possession that drove 50 yards before a fumble.

“There’s no way that they’re 42 points better than us,” said Simley head coach Rex King. “No way. And everybody here saw it. We had our mistakes. They’re a good team. There’s a reason they’re No. 1 and that they’re looking at a state championship. But you know what, our boys can play football. And we know that. We just have to eliminate our mistakes and play our football.”

Led by University of Minnesota recruit lineman Isaac Hayes, the Cadet defense was tough to penetrate Friday.

“Their defense was dialed in,” said King. “They’re got a big, strong, fast defense.”

In retrospect, that second drive was crucial for the Simley Spartans. Running their new option offense, the Spartans connected on four straight first downs, moving from their own 20 to the STA 31 before turning the ball over. It was their best drive of the night.

Simley’s defense only stopped St. Thomas Academy once in the first half. The Cadets scored on four possessions, while two others ended in turnovers.

But it was the Cadets' passing game that hurt Simley the most Friday. Junior quarterback Keegan Zimprich threw touchdown passes of 10, 50 and 45 yards in the first half, the last a devastating strike just before the half-time whistle.

The Spartans turned the ball over to the Cadets at midfield with nine seconds to go in the first half, and Zimprich connected with Thomas Sjoberg on a 45-yard scoring strike to make it a 28-0 game at the break.   

STA scored on its second possession of the second half on a 20-yard run by Charlie Kyle for a 35-0 lead.

“I’m happy with the way our kids played,” said King. “They lay everything on the line every time. They suited 75 or so, we suited about 36. Yeah, they get tired, but they dig down deep every time. They’re troopers. They’re Spartans. We’re Spartans ... It’s 300 against 10,000. Just like Thermopylae.”

Simley (0-1) plays at ninth-ranked Mahtomedi at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9.