By Jim Bastian

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM - Maybe it was destiny that New Ulm Cathedral and Springfield would meet for the Section 2A football title at 7 p.m. Friday at Johnson Field.

But more than likely, destiny had nothing to do with this meeting between the Greyhounds and the Tigers. It is because these are the best two football teams in the section - no arguments needed.

Cathedral enters with a perfect 10-0 record and the No. 1 ranked team in the state in Class 1A.

Springfield comes into this meeting with a near-perfect 9-1 mark with its only blemish coming at the hands of the Greyhounds 21-13 in the first game of the season for both teams.

Since then, both teams have dominated Southern Minnesota Conference opponents and carried that into the playoffs with similar statistics.

Cathedral has out-scored opponents 371-42 with Springfield out-scoring their opponents 335-61.

Both Cathedral coach Denny Lux -who saw his team's season end last year with a 20-8 loss to the Tigers in the playoffs - and Springfield coach Paul Dunn know that this game will be something special for the fans and for both teams.

"We have been following Springfield throughout this season," Lux said. "It looks like they are changing their offense slightly but it still comes down to the veer and that is their bread and butter and that is what we need to stop on Friday."

Lux said that the meeting between the two teams in the first game of the season was a long time ago.

"For the majority of our team that was their first varsity game," he said. "We have grown since then and we are doing things differently and playing now with more confidence. I think that this game comes down to your own confidence in what you have been doing to get to this point."

Stopping Springfield's veer offense means keying on quarterback Jordan Milbrath.

"He is their leader - he is a three-year starter," Lux said. "When things get on the line, they put it on his shoulders. That is why defensively it is going to be so important that we stay disciplined in our assignments."

Lux said that the Tigers may play a few more players both ways than Cathedral does.

"One thing that we have been able to do is keep the kids healthy," Lux said. "We have had some younger players step in and play some spots. Depth for us is huge and it generates more energy within the team."

Lux said that the memory of last season's playoff loss to the Tigers in the state playoffs hasn't been talked about.

"Every year is different," Lux said. "This has nothing to do with last year. This has to do with this year's seniors and how well they have played all year along with their dedication to Cathedral football."

Springfield coach Paul Dunn said that his team is excited to play Cathedral again and since that first game of the season, the Tigers are playing with fewer mistakes.

"Our intensity is better - we had some key players out in that first game that are now back with us up front," he said. "We had two of our linemen out of that game and they are coming back has helped us a lot.

"We are now playing a lot fewer players both ways and it has made a difference."

As Lux said, the key to the Tigers offense is Milbrath who runs the show.

"He is our field general," Dunn said. "He is the one making the play-to-play decisions - he reads the veer and option offense for us. He needs to play well."

Dunn said that the key for his team is to tackle.

"It sounds pretty basic but we need to tackle and do a lot better job on first contact than we did last time," he said.

Dunn said that this is a game that will be determined in the trenches.

"If you look back at the last four or five football games that we played against Cathedral it has always come down to turnovers," Dunn said. "This game in August was no different than the one in the playoffs (won by Springfield). That is the key to this game."