Staff photo by Ari Selvey Springfield’s Kadyn Anderson (10) and Parker Kuehn (12) celebrate together after Kuehn scores the game-tying 2-point conversion during the opening round of the Class A State Football Tournament against Goodhue on Nov. 7 at Rochester Mayo High School.

SPRINGFIELD — Last Friday, Springfield played its toughest game of the year, coming away with a 20-14 win over Goodhue in the first round of the Class A State Football Tournament. In that game, the Tigers saw themselves come back from a 14-6 deficit, not scoring until there were 56 seconds left in the third quarter. Despite the slow start, Springfield showed remarkable energy in the second half to storm back and win the game.

It was perhaps the most adversity that the team had dealt with in a single game all season, and the way the Tigers responded shows great promise for a team with championship aspirations.

“I wouldn’t say we learned anything new about the team,” Springfield head coach Adam Meyer said. “But I think it confirms the belief we had going in that we can play at a very high level when the situation calls for it. We played fairly well in the first half but suffered a few to many mental errors that have been uncharacteristic for us so far this season. Once we overcame those, we were able to move the ball and continue to get stops against a really quality opponent in Goodhue.”

Springfield will have another quality opponent in this Saturday’s semifinals game against Mahnomen/Waubun. The two teams also met in last season’s state tournament, with the Tigers coming out on top with a 36-12 victory. As the teams rematch at U.S. Bank stadium at 9 a.m. on Saturday, the Thunderbirds are returning many players from last year’s team, which offers both advantages and disadvantages for Springfield.

“They return a lot of experience from last year’s team, so it’s no surprise to see them advancing this deep into the state tournament again,” Meyer said. “It’s nice that we can go back and look at what we did last year as far as scheme and fit it to what our team does well.”

Mahnomen/Waubun runs a run option offense, something that Springfield saw twice this season in games against Murray County Central. That preparation should also help the Tigers in this week’s matchup.

“Playing MCC twice this year, who runs a similar offense, also helps with our players being able to translate some of the schemes and rules that were put in against them,” Meyer said. “On the flip side, they’ve also seen us a year ago and can make adjustments to their schemes to fit what we do well and how we attacked them last year. We will have to be ready to adapt to different looks.”

Mahnomen/Waubun is coming off of a 14-6 win over Deer River in the opening round of the state tournament and are 11-0 on the season, just like Springfield. They key to last year’s win for Springfield was to force the run-heavy Thunderbirds to pass the ball more, which resulted in three interceptions for the Tigers. Replicating that gameplan will be key to slowing down Mahnomen/Waubun.

“We’ve told our defensive backs that if we can get them to pass the ball 10-plus times this week, we’re probably feeling pretty good about our performance on Saturday morning,” Meyer said. “It really starts with coming out playing really fast and setting the tone at the line of scrimmage early. Putting them in situations like third-and-longs or playing behind like we did a year ago aren’t positions that suit their style of play very well.”

Leading the charge for the Thunderbirds will be Easton Bevins, who recorded 709 yards on 116 attempts, 6.1 a carry, along with nine touchdowns in the regular season. Bevins was one of 20 players who ran the ball for Mahnomen/Waubun this season, with seven different players getting over 100 yards on the ground.

“They have two very physical runners in Easton Bevins and Brody Lhotka,” Meyer said. “Both ran the ball against us a year ago and have had really strong seasons so far this year. They also mix Tanner Stech into the run and pass game offensively and he plays free safety defensively.  Also, their front on both sides of the ball does a great job of playing physical and giving their running backs or linebackers alleys to run.”

Lhotka carried the ball 40 times for 226 yards with a touchdown in the regular season, while Stech ran the ball 45 times for 297 yards and five touchdowns. Blake McMullen is a red zone threat running the ball as the quarterback, recording 238 yards on 73 carries with nine touchdowns. And Zach Zima figures to contribute as well, getting four touchdowns on just 26 carries with 199 yards in the regular season.

Defensively, the Thunderbirds tend to switch between multiple looks, playing disciplined defense out of several formations.

“They do a great job of mixing up looks,” Meyer said. “They switch it up between a three and four front defensively, they’ve played some man to man defense as well as zone this year, and they also have played with one high safety and a two high safety look. They’re a well coached team that will force our players to stay mentally sharp and identify the different looks they will throw at us.”

This may present a challenge for sophomore quarterback Parker Kuehn in his first year starting, but Kuehn has shown he can rise to the occasion before. So far, Kuehn has recorded 1,948 yards and 28 touchdowns to just six interceptions. His and the offensive staff’s ability to diagnose the Mahnomen/Waubun defense may play a big part in executing explosive plays, something the Tigers want to do against any defense.

“As we do every week, we want to put our guys in matchups to create some explosive plays down the field,” Meyer said. “If we’re unable to get down the field, we want to get our athletes in space and allow them to make some plays for us to spread the defense out. We will also lean on our run game as we have all year to hopefully put us in favorable down and distance situations.”

Gavin Vadnerwerf has been doing just that for Springfield all year. The senior running back has amassed 1,369 yards on the ground this season, along with nine touchdowns. Vanderwerf’s production and efficiency (7.4 ypc) have a lot to do with getting Springfield to an 11-0 record this season.

Meyer believes his team must start hot if they want to create a game script that favors passing over running, which will play into the Tiger’s favor.

“This won’t be a game that we can come out of the gate slow,” Meyer said. “We need to bring our very best right away. I think the first quarter will be a quarter that defines how the rest of the game will be played. The line of scrimmage will also be very important for both teams to establish. Whoever can run the ball more effectively will probably have the best chance of coming out with a win this Saturday.”