HOUSTON, Minn. - It wasn't the prettiest way to win, but a win is a win, especially when a loss means your season is over.

The Houston High School football team's season isn't over, and it can thank Nick Henderson in part for that.

The obvious: The 6-foot-3, 228-pound senior kicked a 32-yard field goal with 1:29 remaining to give the Hurricanes a 24-21 win over Spring Grove in an MSHSL Class 9-man section semifinal on Saturday night.

"We joke around with him that maybe one day he'll have to kick one to win a game, and here it was," said Houston coach Ryan Gatzlaff, whose team will play at top-seeded Grand Meadow at

7 p.m. Friday for a bid to get to state for the third year in a row.

The sort-of-obvious: Henderson's forced fumble that teammate Shane Loken recovered, his interception after a quarterback hurry by Loken and his fumble recovery, though that was called back because of an inadvertent whistle.

"Nick is an incredibly talented kid," Gatzlaff said. "He's a great player, and we're yet to see his best, but he has a way to step up at the right time."

The not-so-obvious for Henderson was his play on both the offensive and defensive lines.

He set up his field goal on the last drive with a critical block that allowed Loken to bulldoze his way for a 9-yard gain.

Three plays later, Henderson converted the field goal, and with just 1:29 left, things looked good for Houston (8-2) and bleak for the Lions.

A minute later, that changed.

Spring Grove (5-5), which turned the ball over in Houston's end zone twice in the first quarter, went on a drive that left the crowd holding its collective breath.

Cody Colsch, who had 40 carries for 258 yards and two touchdowns, started the drive with a 21-yard run.

A few plays later, quarterback Dakotah Rostad hit Aric Elton for a 31-yard gain down to Houston's 33.

A pass interference call gave the Lions the ball on the 23, and Rostad hit Joe Morken for a 10-yard gain to the 13.

With 7 seconds to go, a false-start penalty moved Spring Grove back to the 17.

Spring Grove called timeout with 2 second to go and sent kicker Jonas Petzenig, German foreign exchange student, out for a 35-yard field goal - the first field goal attempt of his career.

Petzenig had nailed extra points with ease and only missed one all season. This field-goal attempt looked good, too. It was long enough, but it sailed wide left.

"It was pretty crazy," Henderson said of the game's finish. "Spring Grove made a lot of good plays, and we got lucky there."

"That was (Petzenig's) first field-goal attempt, but in practice, we've gotten back to where he's kicking 40-yarders," Spring Grove coach Zach Hauser said.

The Lions pounded their way to 305 rushing yards and 23 first downs. Houston did its damage on three plays - all in the second quarter.

Down 7-0, Tye Carrier tied the game with a 77-yard run. Chris Stackhouse gave Houston the lead with a 22-yard reverse for a score. And, with just 35 seconds left in the half, Troy Sires hit Carrier on a 62-yard touchdown pass to go up 21-7 at halftime.

"It's tough," Hauser said. "Those big plays, turning the ball over and getting down 14 at half were backbreakers."