Tigers’ defense shines in 3A win
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SPRINGFIELD -- The Sleepy Eye offense was able to march up and down the field pretty much at will in the first quarter, jumping out to a 14-0 lead against Springfield in the Section 3A football playoffs.
But the Springfield defense had seen enough and shut out the Indians the rest of the way. The Springfield offense also used a balanced running attack, led by Mason Rummel, and powered past Sleepy Eye 35-14 at Sticker Field.
The No. 3 seeded Tigers were off to a slow start offensively, but they scored 35 unanswered points to improve to 5-4 overall. They play at No. 2 seed New Ulm Cathedral at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Rummel had 128 yards on 17 carries and an 8-yard touchdown. Decker Scheffler threw for 86 yards and ran for 76 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown run late in the game. Isaac Fink had 99 yards rushing and two touchdowns and 44 yards receiving and Kadin Johnson had 45 yards rushing, including a 30-yard touchdown. The offensive line opened up the holes for Rummel and company all game.
"Our lineman have been working really hard in practice and they're getting their blocks, once they get that, I can see an opening and I can hit it hard," Rummel said.
Things didn't start well for the Tigers at all. After fumbling the opening kickoff, the Indians recovered. Jacob Berg had a pair of first-quarter touchdowns (2 yards, 3 yards) for the Indians. He and teammate Landon Strong were the focus of the Tigers' defense and they limited their production for most of the game.
Ivan Hovland had eight tackles to lead the Springfield defense.
"Coach said we had to pick up our intensity, we were a little flat to start the game," Hovland said. "Especially on the tough play right after the opening kickoff, we had to make our way to get back on top."
After Berg's touchdowns put the Indians up 14-0, the Tigers responded with TD runs from Johnson (30 yards) and Rummel with 8 seconds left. The PAT put the Tigers ahead 15-14 at halftime and they were just getting started.
That momentum carried over into the second half. There, Fink scored on a 12-yard run to make it 21-14. With Sleepy Eye marching downfield for the possible tying score, Rummel made consecutive big plays for the Tigers defensively, including an interception at the Springfield 3 to stall the drive.
"I dropped back, they were going with a pass play and I thought maybe they would roll out and I thought maybe they'd go to Landon [Strong], so I just sat there for a while and read the eyes, and I went up and made the play," Rummel said.
The Tigers marched down and scored again on another Fink touchdown, this time from 47 yards out. Scheffler then scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers turn their attention to Cathedral, a team that beat them last Wednesday in Springfield.
"I feel like we can beat them, either way it'll be a good game if it's them or Wabasso, it doesn't matter, it'll be a good game," Hovland said.