KASSON, Minn. - The breakthroughs were promising but short-lived. Bryan Ripley made sure of that.

Ripley was the La Crescent High School football team's nemesis Friday night. The Kasson-Mantorville senior quarterback threw for 168 yards and three touchdowns in the KoMets' 30-14 MSHSL Class AAA section championship game.

But it was the timing of two of those touchdown passes, both of which came in the second half, that went a long way toward the Lancers seeing their season end with a 9-2 mark. Both of their losses came at the hands of Kasson-Mantorville (11-0).

And Ripley, who rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another in the KoMets' 38-20 win over La Crescent on Oct. 20, once again made life difficult for the Lancers' defense.

Ripley's 44-yard touchdown pass to Shane McWhirter with 4 minutes, 9 seconds left in the third quarter gave the KoMets a 21-7 lead. It also happened less than two minutes after La Crescent quarterback Troy Traxler (196 yards passing, 58 rushing) had scored on a 2-yard run.

Ripley's 52-yard touchdown pass to Nate Bauer with 8:21 left in the game gave the KoMets a 28-14 lead. It also came less than two minutes after Traxler connected with Nick Marnach on an 85-yard touchdown pass.