DICKINSON - Fargo Shanley did it all in the second half of Saturday's Class AA football semifinal against Dickinson Trinity.

The Deacons scored 27 points. They had big plays on offense, including three long touchdowns. They had big plays on defense, including a critical goal-line stand. They even had big plays on special teams, with two blocked kicks.

But on a day chock full of highlights, the biggest play of all may have been the last one of the first half.

That was when the Deacons stuffed the Titans on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1. That stop kept Shanley's deficit at 14 and set the wheels in motion for the Deacons' dramatic 27-23 comeback victory.

"That was real big," Shanley coach Steve Laqua said. "If we don't get that, we don't see the outcome that we do now."

Sophomore quarterback Myles Montplaisir ran for 140 yards and two touchdowns for Shanley. He also threw for 133 yards and two more scores, both to Josh Rodenbiker, helping the Deacons advance to their first state championship game since 1983.

"We haven't been here in a long time, so it feels good," Montplaisir said.

The first half was pretty even everywhere but the scoreboard. Trinity (9-1) grabbed the lead when Robbie Morey turned a simple pitch into a 49-yard touchdown run. Morey scored again with 1:17 left in the first on an 8-yard run, and Trinity led 14-0.

The Deacons were threatening to get on the board midway through the second when Trinity's Dylan Fridrich stripped the football from Montplaisir at the Titan 3-yard line.

The score was still 14-0 when Trinity put together its longest drive of the game. A 36-yard pass from Aaron Grinsteinner to Morey set up the Titans at the Shanley 6 in the final minute of the half.

But Shanley stuffed the Titans on four straight plays, the last two from inside the 1-yard line, to end the half.

"That was a big momentum shift for us" Rodenbiker said. "... We needed something to get us going into the second half, and that really helped."

Shanley opened the third quarter with a 65-yard scoring march, culminating in a 1-yard keep by Montplaisir.

The Deacons then forced Trinity to punt, and Stefan Webber came tearing around the right end to block Grinsteinner's kick.

"(Webber) is a guy that's got phenomenal athletic ability," Laqua said. "He was able to get ahold of one. That was a game-changer."

Two plays later, Rodenbiker and Montplaisir hooked up on a 19-yard touchdown, and the game was tied. Rodenbiker and Montplaisir connected nine times for 99 yards.

Trinity responded with a 66-yard touchdown march of its own. Facing a fourth-and-2 on the Shanley 10, Grinsteinner hit Tommy Peters with a swing pass for the score. But Webber blocked the PAT, and Trinity's lead was 20-14.

When Shanley got the ball back, the Deacons snapped off three straight big plays, the last a 29-yard keeper by Montplaisir around right end. Dan Jordan's PAT made it 21-20 with 11 minutes left.

Time appeared to be running out on the Titans until Grinsteinner hit Christian Olson for a 60-yard gain. That play got Trinity to the 9. Unable to punch it in, the Titans turned to Scott Gordon, who booted a 20-yard field goal, giving Trinity a 23-21 edge with 3:03 left.

That was too much time for Montplaisir. As he did throughout the second half, the Deacon QB found big yardage running outside, breaking off a 51-yard run.

Two plays later, Montplaisir ignored double-coverage and threw a 28-yard TD pass to Rodenbiker with 1:08 to go.

"Myles threw a really good ball outside of the corner so only the receiver could get it like he's supposed to," Rodenbiker said.

The Titans tried to mount one last comeback, but an interception by Rodenbiker put an end to Trinity's hopes.

"Overall, I'm really proud of our kids," Trinity coach Randy Gordon said. "They came back as many times as Shanley did. We just ran out of time."

Shanley 0 0 14 13 - 27

Trinity 14 0 6 3 - 23

First Quarter

DT: Robbie Morey 49 run (Scott Gordon kick), 6:19.

DT: Morey 8 run (Gordon kick), 1:17.

Third Quarter

FS: Myles Montplaisir 1 run (Dan Jordan kick), 7:55.

FS: Josh Rodenbiker 19 pass from Montplaisir (Jordan kick), 5:13.

DT: Tommy Peters 10 pass from Aaron Grinsteinner (kick failed), :02.9.

Fourth Quarter

FS: Montplaisir 29 run (Jordan kick), 11:00.

DT: Gordon 20 FG, 3:03.

FS: Rodenbiker 28 pass from Montplaisir (run failed), 1:08.

Team Statistics

FS DT

First downs 19 16

Rushes-yards 43-251 44-193

Passing yards 133 157

Comp-Att-Int 11-17-1 6-15-2

Punts-avg 2-27.0 4-25.3

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0

Penalties-yards 6-33 2-5

Individual Statistics

Rushing: FS - Myles Montplaisir 19-140, Stefan Webber 14-77, Tyler Rivard 6-26, Mike Jones 4-8. DT - Robbie Morey 13-86, Tommy Peters 14-61, Aaron Grinsteinner 17-46.

Passing: FS - Montplaisir 11-17-1, 133 yards. DT - Grinsteinner 6-15-2, 157 yards.

Receiving: FS - Josh Rodenbiker 8-99, Dylan Dunn 2-22, Mike Jones 1-12. DT - Christian Olson 3-98, Morey 2-49, Peters 1-10.

Interceptions: FS - Rodenbiker 2. DT - Olson.

Records: FS 9-2, DT 9-1.