COLD SPRING, Minn. — Albany’s senior quarterback Cohen Habben had not taken consistent offensive snaps since getting sidelined in an early-season loss to Pierz.
Junior Emmett Rushmeyer stepped up significantly all season long in his absence, but with his thumb hurting and the team in desperate need of an offensive spark, the switch was made back to Habben.
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“It was unexpected, [but] I was ready,” Habben said. “I love Emmett; he’s a great quarterback and he had a couple of huge deflections [on defense].”
Before the third quarter could even end, Habben led three unanswered scoring drives to get the Huskies back into the game and completed the comeback for a 42-35 win over New London-Spicer in the Section 6AAA Championship.
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Albany senior quarterback had seven carries for 100 yards and a touchdown in a comeback win vs. New London-Spicer in the Section 6AAA Championship.
As the Husky offense returned to the field in the second half, down 21 points, Habben instantly ignited a spark into the offense and life back into the home crowd as he took off for 63 yards down the sidelines to paydirt.
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“That run felt great to break out like that,” Habben said. “We all pick each other up and rally together. Huskies pull together.”
Two drives later, he would find senior running back Judah Allen on a 31-yard pitch-and-catch to set Allen up for a touchdown on the ensuing play.
After an interception from junior defensive back Charlie Simon, Habben connected with Allen once again before fumbling prior to the end zone, where senior ATH Nick Van Heel was at the right place at the right time to recover the loose ball.
As the game matured into the fourth quarter, junior running back Hunter Henkelman found his workload increasing, scoring the go-ahead touchdowns on consecutive drives to put the Huskies up for good.
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“Cohen is a great leader on the field, and he brought all of us up,” Henkelman said. “No matter the score, we never gave up once this year. We lost our quarterback, we lost our head coach, we lost one of our best players on defense and offense, but we kept fighting and made it to state. No one thought we would have done that.”
Albany returns to the state tournament for the third time in the last four seasons, losing to Stewartville in the 2024 Class 3A Semifinal and to Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton in the 2023 state quarterfinal.
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“If we keep rallying together, we can do whatever we want,” Habben said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
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The other Class 3A sectional champions include Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Dassel-Cokato, Waseca, St. Croix, Annandale, Pierz and Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton.
State quarterfinal games will be played on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14 at Monticello High School, Alexandria High School, New Prague High School and Apple Valley High School.
You can reach St. Cloud Times sports reporter David Jacobs and send story ideas and tips to djacobs@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @By_DavidJacobs, and on Instagram @ByDavidJacobs.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Albany was down 21 points, then Cohen Habben came in at quarterback
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