Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Springfield’s Brayden Sturm, 17, locks up his arm as Sleepy Eye United defender Nolan Weicherding, 14, shakes off a tackle and runs into the end zone for a touchdown. Springfield during a Section 3A football tournament semifinal game at Riverside Park last Saturday afternoon.
SPRINGFIELD — With a near-balanced offense for a football team, the top-seeded Springfield Tigers dominated Saturday to earn a spot in the section finals for the third straight season.
The Tigers (9-0) will play third-seeded Murray County Central at 10 a.m. Friday at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall. On Saturday, MCC (8-2) defeated Adrian Ellsworth 38-8 to advance to the final.
SEU finished the season with 6 wins and 4 losses.
Brayden Sturm is frequently announced during games. “Blanket Sturm” Thanks to his tight coverage on defense, he was a threat in the secondary Saturday as well, with two interceptions against the Tigers. He also had success on the offensive end, catching six passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns, as well as a two-point conversion catch.
“Our coaches give us great opportunities.” Sturm said. “They bring me out wide. We switch it up in the slot sometimes, we switch it up a little bit in the backfield too, and they mix it up and give us great opportunities.” And especially for the team. We couldn’t do it without everyone else. The talent of this team is something I will never forget, and the family I formed there will stay with you forever. I couldn’t have done this without the receivers, the line, the quarterback. But our offensive scheme set us up with great opportunities to make plays, get us into space and just play football. ”
Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Springfield’s Gavin Vanderwerf, 28, runs the ball during the second half of Saturday’s Section 3A semifinal game against Sleepy Eye United.
Sturm has been dealing with a hamstring injury since a Sept. 20 road game at Wabasso, but he said he’s feeling much better now thanks to Springfield trainer Sheena Dauer.
Tigers quarterback Parker Kuehn had 145 yards and three touchdowns through the air, and running back Gavin VanderWerf rushed for 141 yards and a touchdown.
Aiden Moriarty again contributed to Springfield’s defense in this game, leading the way with eight tackles and one sack, while Joe Nariner had seven tackles and Nick Wester had a fumble recovery. VanderWerf also made a successful interception.
Gavin Fisher led SEU with 48 yards on 15 carries, and Cody Schultz ran for 28 yards on 10 carries. Quarterback Carson Uecker threw for 28 yards and a touchdown to Wyatt Pollard.
Nick Tauer leads the SEU defense with nine tackles and one fumble recovery, Schultz has six tackles and Brandon Brolick and Keyan Netzke each have one fumble recovery. did.
Taran Helget, SEU’s top target all season, attracted Springfield’s attention throughout the game and was limited to one catch for six yards as he was guarded by Sturm as usual.
“I knew before we even went into the game that they were going to put a lot of guys on me and try to stop me.” Helget said. “Our game plan was to get as many guys on me as possible and go the other way and leave others wide open.”
The problem for SEU, however, was that despite paying special attention to Helget, Uecker was pressured into several throws during the run by the strong Springfield defense, leading to several takeaways. That was it.
After starting the game with a three-and-out, the Tigers made a 27-yard throw to Sturm with 7:59 left in the first quarter and a contested catch in the end zone for a touchdown. The extra point was blocked and the Tigers took a 6-0 lead.
SEU appeared to tie the score on Fisher’s 36-yard TD run, but was countered by a hold and a deep pass intended for Helget was intercepted by Sturm at the Tigers 5. The Tigers didn’t gain anything from this recapture, but they did gain something. VanderWerff passes for 1,000 yards rushing on the season and ends the quarter with the ball on the SEU 4.
“I wasn’t really worried about 1,000 yards. It comes with playing football.” Vanderwerf said. “I was more worried about beating Sleepy Eye and getting to the next stage of the season and keeping it going.”
After a false start pushed Springfield to two points from the 11, Isaac Fredin caught a wide-open touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter to give the Tigers a 12-0 lead. The two-point conversion throw was incomplete.
Springfield pushed the field again late in the second half, but SEU’s defense remained tough, forcing Springfield to go from one first-and-goal to three fourth-and-goal runs. After a timeout for both teams, Springfield made the decision. The shot was denied by a dropped ball in the end zone. SEU then took a knee with seconds left on the game clock and led 12-0 at halftime.
After forcing a SEU punt to start the second half, the Tigers got two first-down catches from Fredin and Sturm, and a SEU pass interference set up Sturm’s catch, which forced Sturm to lock up a defender and rush down 14 yards. He scored a touchdown on the sideline for an 18-0 lead. Sturm then made a two-point conversion catch with 6:24 left in the third quarter to take a 20-0 lead.
SEU recovered an onside kick in the 50th minute and reinvigorated its attack with its second drive of the first half. After benefiting from a facemask penalty and Uecker’s 10-yard keeper, Uecker finished the drive with an 11-yard TD pass. Pollard scored with 2:44 left in the third to make it 20-6.
Springfield then recovered an onside kick to begin its next possession, also pulling its facemask to help the offense, and reached the end zone again at 11:19, with VanderWerff scoring a 1-yard TD run. I decided. The extra point kick was scored by Madden Lent to make it 27-6.
“It’s coming out on Saturday after the bye week, so it might be delayed.” Sturm said. “But we focused on our job and talked well for about half the time. We knew we started slow and the score shouldn’t have been like this, but the game What happens sometimes?
“And we have to have them be leaders and lead the team. The next play mindset, the next play is the only thing that matters. What happened has already happened and now we have to get them to lead the team.” Just play brand ball.”
Helget, a senior at Sleepy Eye St. Mary and one of 12 seniors at SEU, has been a leader since the beginning of the program last season. He said he has enjoyed his time playing for United and is grateful for all the support from the community each week.
“I think it was great for Sleepy Eye to have your friends join in and play together and meet new people and things.” Helget said. “This is good for the community and Sleepy Eye have done everything for us and cheered us on at every game so we appreciate everything they do. And we kind of paved the way for the young players for the next few years, and I hope they continue to do that.”
LEICESTER PRAIRIE — Top-seeded Leicester Prairie defeated fourth-seeded Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 39-6 on Saturday afternoon.
WABASSO — The fourth-seeded Wabasso Rabbits lost to fifth-seeded Renville County West on Friday night.
