The Hastings football team dominated the second half as they earned a blowout victory over New Prague to start the 2026 season Thursday evening, winning 38-12 as heard live on KDWA and the KDWA YouTube stream. The Raiders got ahead early with a Zach Shatek 37-yard touchdown score to lead 6-0, and got another Shatek touchdown in the second quarter from three yards out to lead 13-0. New Prague missed a touchdown in the first half on a dropped touchdown pass, and got another on a two-yard touchdown rush as the Raiders led 13-6 at the halftime break.
The third quarter was dominated by Hastings however, as Shatek scored on an 11-yard rush to lead 18-6, then a 7-yard rush by Marlow Strain found the endzone, and just six seconds later after a recovered kickoff, quarterback Carter Hanson found Strain in the endzone on a 23-yard pass as the Raiders blew the game wide open 30-6 as the Raiders held New Prague to just five yards in the third quarter to their 138.
Shatek would earn his fourth score on the day in the fourth quarter on a 31-yard rush and Hastings would empty the bench and run out the clock to get to the final tally. Shatek led the offense with 240 yards on the ground and four touchdowns, while Strain got the two touchdowns.
Hastings improves to 1-0 on the season, and will host Bloomington Jefferson on Friday next week.
The Hastings girls soccer team mounted a comeback against Kasson-Mantorville at home Thursday evening, winning 3-2. The Raiders trailed heading into the final minutes 2-1 with their lone goal coming on a penalty kick by Sienna Sanchez, but Olivia Levine tied it up with another penalty kick with 4:39 remaining. Sanchez then scored her second goal of the night to put the Raiders up 3-2 and held on for the victory. Hastings is now 1-2 on the season, and will take on Burnsville on Tuesday.
The Hastings Raiders girls tennis team fell to South St. Paul in Metro East Conference play 7-0. The girls are back in action today against Red Wing on the road.
The Hastings boys cross country team competed at the Grey Cloud Invitational hosted by East Ridge on Thursday, placing third with 60 team points. David Tireman was the leader for the Raiders in 6th place overall, with Benjamin Schwanke right behind in 7th, James Jensen placed 13th, and Brian Mann was 15th, while Owen Tireman and Landon Zajac were 20th and 21st respectively.
On the girls side, they placed third with 65 team points. Clara Hochmuth had the best run of the day placing 3rd while Elliana Lucking was just behind in 4th, Annika Hauck was 15th, Paisley Grunzke was 22nd, and Savanna Barlow was 24th.
Both teams will head to the Dewey Minnaert Cross Country Invitational on Thursday at St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park.
And the Prescott boys and girls cross country teams were both in action at Somerset Thursday, the girls placing 3rd with 62 points and the boys 3rd with 70. Kyra Dix took home meet medalist honors with a 1st place finish a full near 30 seconds ahead of second place, Emma Schmitz was 10th, Kyla Gotzinger was 14th, and Brooklyn Huppert was 17th. The boys were led by Dawson Langer with a 4th place finish, Quinn Justen was 11th, Rowan Bauman was 16th, and Connor Anderson was 18th. Both teams are back in action on September 12th at the Saint Croix Central meet.