Zack Shatek scores seven touchdowns as Hastings beats Saint Thomas Academy
Zack Shatek, a star football running back, plays for the Hastings High School Raiders. Photo by Sarah Wasvick
The senior’s 277 rushing yards and seven scores power a 47–28 victory, keep the Raiders unbeaten and give coach Dana Strain his first win over the Cadets.
By HastingsNow.com • October 9, 2026
HASTINGS, Minn. — Zack Shatek scored every Hastings touchdown Thursday night, delivering a performance that brought the Raiders their sixth straight victory and a breakthrough for head coach Dana Strain.
The senior scored five times on the ground, caught a touchdown pass and returned an interception for a score as Hastings defeated Saint Thomas Academy 47–28 on October 8 at McNamara Stadium/Todd Field.
Shatek finished with 277 rushing yards on 24 carries, an average of 11.5 yards per attempt, and added three catches for 19 yards. His seven touchdowns accounted for 42 of Hastings’ 47 points, according to the game statistics Richard “Dick” Cragg supplied to HastingsNow.com.
Hastings improved to 6–0. Saint Thomas Academy fell to 3–3. Cragg, the Hastings football statistician, identified the victory as Strain’s first against the Cadets.
That result carries extra weight when set beside last season’s meeting. Saint Thomas Academy defeated Hastings 48–13 in 2025, holding Shatek to 80 rushing yards and one touchdown, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune’s coverage. On Thursday, the Raiders turned that matchup around.
The final margin conceals how competitive the first half was. Hastings had to answer Saint Thomas Academy repeatedly before taking control after halftime.
Ian Turnbow put the Cadets ahead on a 3-yard touchdown run with 5:48 remaining in the first quarter. Seventeen seconds later on the game clock, Shatek had answered with a 70-yard scoring run. The opening Hastings scoring drive required one play.
Shatek’s next touchdown came on defense. With 2:55 left in the quarter, he returned an interception 60 yards for a score, as recorded by Cragg. The extra-point attempt failed, leaving Hastings ahead 13–7.
Saint Thomas Academy reclaimed the lead early in the second quarter on Turnbow’s 11-yard touchdown run. Shatek responded with another long scoring run, putting Hastings back in front 20–14.
The Cadets answered again. A 42-yard touchdown pass from Grant Keeley to J.J. Greeley and the extra point gave Saint Thomas Academy a 21–20 advantage with 6:34 remaining before halftime.
Hastings’ next response changed the direction of the game. The Raiders drove 90 yards, finishing with Carter Hanson’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Shatek with just nine seconds left in the half. The two-point attempt failed, but Hastings had a 26–21 lead it would keep for the rest of the night.
The Raiders then created separation in the third quarter. Shatek scored on a 9-yard run with 5:53 remaining and added a 26-yard touchdown run with 1:40 left. Hastings outscored Saint Thomas Academy 14–0 in the quarter, turning a five-point halftime edge into a 40–21 lead.
The stretch from Shatek’s late first-half catch through his second third-quarter touchdown produced 20 unanswered Hastings points. Holding the Cadets scoreless in the third quarter gave Hastings room to build that cushion.
Turnbow’s third rushing touchdown, a 2-yard score with 9:48 remaining, brought the Cadets within 40–28. Shatek supplied the final answer with a 54-yard touchdown run at the 2:56 mark. Cragg’s scoring summary credits Irwin with five successful extra-point kicks for Hastings.
The seven-touchdown total invites a look at the state record book. MaxPreps’ Minnesota records compilation, updated January 30, 2026, lists eight as the individual single-game touchdown mark, shared by Gerald Simonsen of Franklin in 1966 and Peter Warren of Cook County in 2012. Shatek finished one touchdown short of that listed standard.
His production also depended on the players around him. The Pioneer Press game report, republished by Apex Football, highlighted Hastings’ offensive front of Ethan Meyer, Adrien Culp, Charles Colvin, Carter Johnson and Xavier Timm. The report also noted a 34-yard reception by Marlowe Strain before the late first-half touchdown and contributions from Strain and Gabriel Ferdig on the opening drive of the second half.
Hanson delivered the touchdown pass that put Hastings ahead for good, the offensive front helped sustain a 277-yard rushing night for Shatek, and the defense held the Cadets to seven points after halftime.
The Raiders had already shown they could recover from trouble. Six days earlier, Hastings overcame deficits of 14–0 and 21–7 to beat Two Rivers 35–21, as KDWA reported. Against Saint Thomas Academy, they again answered early setbacks and finished strongly.
For Strain and his staff, Thursday adds a meaningful victory to a season that remains unbeaten. Across the field, Saint Thomas Academy head coach Travis Walch leads a program with recent experience on the state’s biggest stage: the Cadets reached the 2023 Class 5A championship game, falling 34–31 to Chanhassen, according to the Minnesota Football Coaches Association’s Prep Bowl history.
Hastings has its own championship history. This fall marks 25 years since the Raiders defeated Blaine 28–9 for the 2001 Class 5A title. The same association’s records preserve that result, while Hastings Football’s program history traces games at Todd Field back to 1934.
The 2026 Raiders are adding their own results to that history. Thursday’s win sends them into the final weeks of the regular season with an unbeaten record and a victory over an opponent they had struggled to beat.
Hastings is scheduled to visit Burnsville at 6 p.m. Wednesday, October 14, at Pates Stadium. See the published matchup schedule and Hastings Football for schedule updates.
TEAM 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th
HASTINGS 13 | 13 | 14 | 7
SAINT THOMAS ACADEMY 7 | 14 | 0 | 7
FINAL 47 - 28
Game statistics and scoring chronology: Richard “Dick” Cragg, Hastings football statistician, provided directly to HastingsNow.com. Historical and additional reporting sources are linked above.
