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“I saw the score was high, they were pressing.” Fredin said. “(Springfield head coach) Adam (Meyer), my dad, he’s the guru. That seam was perfect. As I was going through there, he (the defender) hit my heel, so , I was trying not to fall. Parker threw a perfect ball. It’s hard to explain the feeling, but there’s just pure joy.”

Going into the drive, Fredin said he had complete confidence in Huddle before breaking on the first play.

“We are confident.” he said. “This is part of Thursday’s script day. That’s our biggest deal. Our staff is calm, calm, and ready to get the job done and know what to do. I know. I don’t know any other team that can do that because they’re so focused. It’s just a great group.”

It was just one of three touchdowns the Tigers scored in the second half after a scoreless first half, turning the game around.

Staff photo by Ali Selvey Springfield’s Aiden Moriarty reaches to catch a pass during the Class A football state tournament opener against Goodhue on Tuesday at Mayo-Rochester High School.

“The receivers made a great play on the ball.” Kuhn said. “We just want to go and give them a chance to play against them. We feel like we’ve got really good receivers that can outplay them, and we want to give them a chance to play against them. I called the plays, so I was able to get those looks. I ended up scoring a touchdown with a great play call. I loved it.”

Springfield struggled offensively in the first half, hampered by Goodhue’s strong defensive line. However, some senior leaders stepped up in the second half to calm the team down and start scoring.

“A few team leaders say something and everyone listens.” Fredin said. “(Braeden) Sturm, Aiden (Moriarty), (Russell) Beers, Cody (Bust), Gavin (Vanderwerf), all the seniors, they’re a great group. They tell us what to do. So we listened to them. The coaches locked us in and said everything was fine. We knew we could turn it around in the second half and get the job done. is calm.”

Meyer added that he thought the team handled the adversity in the first half well.

“I’m very proud.” he said. “I think our seniors did a great job of calming everyone down. I think a lot of the things that needed to be fixed are things that can be fixed. The pre-snap penalty was a great way to get everyone nervous in a big game.” Little things that I think can happen sometimes when things get high, but I thought our kids did a great job of settling in on both sides of the ball. But we just fumbled our way a few times. I thought our kids did a great job of settling in and playing our style of game.”

Staff photo by Ali Selvey Springfield’s Parker Kuehn gives his all during the Class A football state tournament opener against Goodhue on Tuesday at Mayo-Rochester High School.

All three of Springfield’s touchdowns came from Kuehn. Madden Lent gained 31 yards for the first run, and Kuehn hit it himself from the final two yards for the first run. Kuhn and Fredin’s relationship ended.

Kuehn also passed for 181 yards, and Gavin VanderWerf had 122 yards on 28 carries. Fredin had five receptions for 67 yards.

Defensively, Moriarty had 10 tackles and one forced fumble, while VanderWerf had nine tackles. Joe Nachreiner and Sturm each had eight tackles.

The game started with two three-and-outs, and Springfield’s Kolten Sell pounced on the loose ball, forcing a turnover on a team that had given the ball away just five times in the regular season. Despite having the ball at Goodhue’s 39-yard line, Springfield was unable to get a second first down and punted out to Goodhue’s 3-yard line.

Goodhue connected on some good plays, including a 53-yard run by Nathan Beck, but a tackle by Moriarty stopped the Wildcats short of fourth down and the game was reversed. Springfield fell short on fourth down on the resulting drive, setting up Goodhue for a 12-play, 81-yard drive that allowed the Wildcats to control the line of scrimmage. The drive ended with Beck’s 6-yard touchdown run, giving Goodhue a 7-0 lead. Springfield tried to tie the game before halftime, but a penalty put the Tigers back in a first-goal situation from their 20-yard line. Kuhn’s pass to Sturm went 15 yards, but it didn’t reach the goal line, and time expired in the first half.

Springfield still got off to a slow start in the first half, going back on downs and going 3-and-out on its first two possessions. Kuehn picked things up on his third drive, connecting with Kadyn Anderson for 10 yards to start a five-play drive that ended with a 31-yard fade by Lent for a touchdown. However, Springfield got an extra point with a penalty, but it unfortunately missed to the left, making the score 7-6.

Goodhue punted on the next drive, but Springfield fumbled on the first play of its next possession. The Wildcats scored on a 14-yard touchdown run by Luke Roshen to take a 14-6 lead with 7:33 left in the first half.

Springfield responded with an 11-play, 70-yard drive that included Kuehn’s 15-yard run and a 15-yard pass from Kuehn to a fallen Moriarty, setting up Kuehn’s 2-yard touchdown run. Kuhn converted the two-point conversion to tie the game at 14:00 with 3:10 left.

Goodhue was able to get two first downs on his next drive, but Springfield’s defense held out and he was forced to punt with 49 seconds left. From there, Kuhn and the Springfield offense drove down the field with Vanderwerf’s 12-yard run and Sturm’s 15-yard catch, along with an unnecessary roughness penalty, setting Kuhn and Fredin up for the game-clinching play.

“I was just getting into it.” Kuhn said. “It was great.”

Springfield will wait for the results of the remainder of the first round of the Class A state football tournament to determine who will play in the next round and when. The game will be held on Saturday, November 16th at U.S. Bank Stadium.