History has been made! On November 22nd, 2025, the Spring Lake Park Panther High School Football Team won the Clas 5A State Championship 24-21 Over Chanhassen at US Bank Stadium.  This is  the first time the SLP Panther Football team has won the state championship since 1991!

Spring Lake Park started their 2025 an underestimated team. They ended the 2024 season with a 4-6 record, to an undefeated 13-0 season (the first in school history) in 2025. What changed? Head Coach John Stewart said “We had 30 seniors on the team, who changed the vibe. They decided to do something different, to do great things. We trained hard, and they held each other accountable.”

The momentum started with the Homecoming game against Armstrong. This was the first homecoming game SLP won (34-13) since 2019. This ignited the future energy for the rest of the season. Spring Lake Park then defeated the highly favored, Alexandria team in overtime to win the semifinals(13-12).  Calen Truckenbrod’s one-handed catch from QB Nolan Roach secured that win.

This created a buzz in the school, community, and team. The team had a goal to “bring honor to the program, school, and community”. And that they did. First defeating  St Thomas Academy (39-23) in the State Tournament, and then defeating Chanhassen (24-21) in the state championship game, taking down two powerhouse teams.

The state championship game was an electric, action-packed game. The community showed up BIG time for Team, which motivated the team to an all-star performance. Nolan Roach finished with 162 Rushing yards and three total touchdowns. The final play for Chanhassen was intercepted by Cade Skelly on the forth-and-10 from the Spring Lake Park 33-yeard line, with 6 seconds left. Ensuring the win. This was Cade’s first interception in his career. “This is what you dream of” Skelly said “You just picture yourself as a little kid in that situation. Time is running down, and it’s up to you to make the stop.”

Besides being great Athletes, SLP Panters won the MFCA Gold award for team academics. One player, Brandon Hemquest, was notably recognized for individual academic all-state award. Head Coach John Steward was named Coach of the Year by the Minnesota Vikings.

All Team Members were regularly recognized by officials for outstanding sportsmanship.