“Just pumped up,” Springfield’s Isaac Fredin said. “Trust our guys. Excitement for sure. The interception got the place going. It was crazy.”

Fredin helped seal the victory with an interception when Springfield held a 22-16 lead with 2:36 to play the game.

Also key for Springfield was quarterback Parker Kuehn, who had 197 yards passing with two touchdowns on the day. Gavin Vanderwerf had 115 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Aiden Moriarty had six receptions for 62 yards and one touchdown run. Fredin had five catches for 43 yards and a touchdown, and Brayden Sturm had six receptions for 52 yards. Madden Lendt added a 13-yard touchdown catch.

Springfield will now play Minneota for the third consecutive year in the championship game Friday at 10 a.m. at U.S. Bank Stadium. Minneota shut out Parkers Prairie 45-0 Saturday afternoon to earn their third consecutive state final appearance.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Springfield's Madden Lendt catches a touchdown during the Class A State Football Tournament Semifinals game against Mahnomen/Waubun Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium

Springfield head coach Adam Meyer said that his team didn’t necessarily make any changes schematically, they were just able to put the little things together to stage the dramatic comeback.

“Honestly, not a lot of adjusting going on,” he said. “Play fast, play the way we know how to. That’s something within the next week we’ve got to figure out how to get that going a little sooner. As a play caller I know I need to be a little bit more aggressive early, get into the flow of the game and make sure we’re comfortable. We’ve also had a few missed steps early and a few things with execution that we need to change. But not a lot of adjusting going on with the coaching. These kids just continue to step up, and when their number is called, they make plays.”

Vanderwerf added that when Springfield is able to see what the opponent is doing, it can move the ball much easier.

“I think in the first half we were still trying to learn the team,” Vanderwerf said. “We base our second half based on what we see in the first half and we can grow on what plans work and what plans don’t work. Where to send pressure, where we need some help. It’s just easier to be able to flow and be able to move the ball down field when we know where the pressure’s coming from.”

The second-half surge has become a pattern for the Tigers in the past two weeks, as last game’s matchup with Goodhue also didn’t see a touchdown from Springfield until the second half. Meyer said the team needed to still find a way to start games strong and not rely on the comeback.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Springfield's Aiden Moriarty dives for the end zone during a Class A State Football Tournament Semifinals game against Mahnomen/Waubun Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“When you come into games like this, you want to play well from the very first kick,” he said. “That’s something we’ll have to look at this week, because we know prep bowls, we can’t fall behind and give that other team that head start like we have the last couple of games. But these kids, they’re going to come ready. They’ve risen to the occasion multiple times throughout the season, and just proud of their resolve, regardless of the situation.”

The Thunderbirds scored first in the first quarter with a 6-yard rush by Blake McMullen. McMullen made it a 16-0 game in the second quarter with a 5-yard rush before the halftime break.

The Springfield defense was able to stop Mahnomen/Waubun on its opening drive of the second half, and the offense responded by going nine plays and 74 yards, with several strong runs by Vanderwerf and some throws underneath from Kuehn for catch-and-run opportunities. The drive ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Kuehn to Fredin to cut the lead to 16-8 as the clock ticked over into the fourth quarter.

The score seemed to flip a switch for Springfield, as everything started to click.

“I think we practice how we play,” Moriarty said. “In the first half, we can get stuff moving, but we struggle to finish sometimes. You see that first one go in, and it just takes off from there. Especially when we know we have the pace on these guys. We can play fast and they might slow down a little bit.”

Springfield forced a four-and-out on the Thunderbirds’ next possession, and the offense went 44 more yards on a drive that ended with a diving 3-yard score from Moriarty. The 2-point conversion was no good, however, so Mahnomen/Waubun still held a 16-14 lead with 6:10 left in the game. That proved to be plenty of time, however, as Springfield forced a three-and-out and Kuehn threw a 13-yard fade to Lendt to take a 22-16 lead. Fredin’s interception sealed the game, and Vanderwerf punched it in from 7 yards out to put it away entirely as Springfield advanced to the state championship.