Journal Sports Editor

MINNEAPOLIS — Injuries finally caught up to the Springfield Tigers.

On Saturday, Mahnomen/Waubon took advantage of a Springfield squad that was already without several key starters heading into the game, then proceeded to use a balanced offense to end Springfield’s season with a 38-0 win in the Class A semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Tigers, who were seeded No. 3 in the Section 3A playoffs, end their season with an 8-5 record one year after winning just two games.

The Thunderbirds will play BOLD on Saturday for the Class A title.

“It was a difficult challenge, they were fast, physical, they execute really well,” Springfield coach Bob Fink said. ”We just couldn’t get that big play at the beginning of the game to get us going.”

Mahnomen/Waubon scored twice in the first quarter to establish the momentum early. Parker Syverson scored on a 14-yard run and about a minute later, Izaiah Asher broke free for a 55-yard touchdown to make it 16-0.

The Tigers, who were without standout receiver Isaac Fink because of a concussion, lost several more starters throughout the course of the game due to injury. That didn’t help and the Thunderbirds continued to put the pressure on in the second quarter.

“That’s what made it so difficult, we were already without six guys and we had guys playing out of position,” coach Fink said. “But make no mistake about it, they were the better team today.”

Jeffrey Cukla scored on a 1-yard run with 11:15 left in the second quarter and later, Treston Spalla scored on a 66-yard pass play and the Thunderbirds led 31-0 at halftime.

Spalla wasn’t done, scoring on an 87-yard pass from Jon Starkey with 11:04 left in the fourth quarter. Spalla had four catches for 212 yards and two touchdowns and Starkey threw for 212 yards. He also rushed for 82 yards. Asher had two carries for 59 yards and a score and Syverson had 11 carries for 57 yards and a touchdown.

Decker Scheffler led the Tigers on the ground with 37 yards rushing on seven carries. He also passed for 119 yards (14-for-25). Dylan Batzlaff caught three passes for 43 yards to lead the Tigers and Jordan Kieper caught five passes for 25 yards.

Defensively, Curtis Tauer had seven tackles to lead the Tigers. Mason Rummel, Ivan Hovland, Tyler Michel, Caleb Hauger, Shane Clemon and Jerry Majors had three tackles each for Springfield.