But once the fourth quarter rolled around, the Bulldogs knew Mason Rummel was getting the ball. And they had no idea how to stop his punishing running attack.

The junior back rushed for 95 yards in the fourth quarter, setting up a 30-yard field goal that Scheffler hit with 5:23 left in the game to give the Tigers a 24-22 lead. Springfield’s defense got an interception from Fink, his second of the game, with 4:53 left and the Tigers (8-4) advanced to U.S. Bank Stadium next week.

Rummel had been contained by the Bulldogs for the first three quarters and he had 2 yards rushing at that point. But the fourth quarter rolled around and he took center stage, running with power and looking like he had fresh legs.

“It was really frustrating, at halftime I was really questioning myself,” Rummel said. “After that half, I talked to the linemen, I told them that we’re going to move our feet right now, we’re going to get down the line and that opened up so much stuff for me to get going.”

Staff photo by Steve Muscatello Springfield’s Isaac Fink jumps to make a catch between a pair of Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity defenders during the Tigers’ win in the opening round of the Class A State Tournament Saturday in Shakopee.

Rummel ran strong in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers opened up the playbook in the first three quarters. After going three-and-out on their first three drives, the Tigers’ offense got going.

LP/HT got on the board in the first quarter after Dylan Ruzicka scored from 4 yards out with 2:09 left in the first quarter to make it 8-0 after the 2-point conversion.

Springfield’s offense struggled early and the Bulldogs scored again, this time on a 9-yard pass to Nathaniel Hausladen to make it 14-0.

But the big-play Tigers got a 36-yard touchdown pass from Scheffler to Fink with 4:23 left in the first half to cut it to 14-7. After Fink got his first interception of the game, he dove in from 1-yard out and cut it to 14-13 with 13 seconds left in the half.

LP/HT put the pressure on once again in the third quarter, taking a 22-13 lead on a drive that consumed 6 minutes and 45 seconds to open the second half. Down by 9, the Tigers didn’t panic.

Fink and Scheffler switched roles and Fink, who was a quarterback as a freshman, threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Scheffler with 31 seconds left in the third quarter and suddenly the Tigers were down 22-21 after the 2-point conversion.

“It was just amazing, after we were down 14-0 in this kind of weather, it just kind of sucked, but we weren’t going to give up, we were going to do our best to fight back and that’s what we did,” Scheffler said.

It was Scheffler’s first career varsity receiving touchdown.

“We just put it into the formation less than a month ago, it finally paid off,” Scheffler said.

Rummel’s run game took over in the fourth quarter. He broke off runs of 22, 13, 10 and 13 yards in the quarter. The Tigers got the ball down to the LP/HT 18 and Scheffler connected on the field goal.

“We kick field goals before practice and I’m one of those guys,” Scheffler said. “Coach [Bob] Fink told me that if it’s not a PAT, I’m kicking the field goal. When I heard them say ‘Decker, you’re kicking the field goal’ I was a little scared. But I just went with it.”

The Tigers now play Mahnomen/Wauban (10-0), a 42-0 winner over Deer River in another quarterfinal game. The teams meet at 11:30 a.m. next Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“This is unreal actually,” Rummel said. “We were thinking [U.S.] Bank and all of them doubters out there, they were thinking no way. We kept it right here in our hearts and we knew we were going to get here.”