Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Springfield’s Carter Olson takes a pass from quarterback Brendon Buerkle towards the end zone against Sleepy Eye in Section 3A playoff football action Tuesday at Riverside Park. The Tigers won 37-12.

SPRINGFIELD — Brendon Buerkle’s five touchdown passes guided Springfield to a 37-12 win over Sleepy Eye in Section 3A football playoff action Tuesday at Riverside Park.

With the win, the Tigers will now host Tracy-Milroy-Balaton at 3 p.m. Saturday. TMB defeated Adrian Area 48-19 on Tuesday to advance to Saturday.

Buerkle passed for 267 yards, with Carter Olson pulling in five catches for 75 yards and a pair of TDs. Sam Pidde also had three catches for 112 yards for the Tigers, while Ashtin Johnson ran for 74 yards and a TD.

Ashton Toll led the Springfield defense with 12 tackles and a pair of fumble recoveries, while Caleb Hauger had 12 tackles and a fumble recovery.

Buerkle’s scoring night started with 5:25 left in the first quarter on a 39-yard pass down the sideline to Olson. The extra point kick from Hauger was good to give Springfield a 7-0 lead.

Pidde had an interception late in the first quarter to set the Tigers up at their own 46, which was quickly followed with a 54-yard TD pass from Buerkle to MaCoy Krick for a 13-0 Springfield lead with 2:05 left in the first quarter.

After Sleepy Eye’s Trey Heiderscheidt and Austin Uecker combined to sack Buerkle on third down in the second quarter, the Tigers were forced to punt from inside their own 10. The Indians drove down the field and got to the Springfield 31-yard line but couldn’t convert and turned the ball over on downs on an incomplete pass on fourth down.

Buerkle was picked off by Jackson Huiras late in the second quarter, but the Tigers forced a short punt that went to the Sleepy Eye 49 with 42 seconds left in the half. A 42-yard reception by Pidde put the Tigers inside their own 10 before Buerkle spiked the ball with 14 seconds on the clock. After an incompletion, Johnson caught Buerkle’s third TD pass of the game as time expired, giving the Tigers a 19-0 lead at halftime.

Sleepy Eye starting quarterback Mason Myers was forced out of the game early in the second half due to an injury on a tackle that led to a fumble and recovery by Springfield. Caden Evers came in at quarterback for the Indians after that.

Isaak Lothert grabbed Buerkle’s fourth TD pass of the game after pulling in a 15-yarder over a Sleepy Eye defender in the end zone. That gave the Tigers a 25-0 lead with 8:30 left in the third quarter.

Evers did a nice job in place of Myers, completing three passes on the following drive to get the Indians to the Springfield 8-yard line. But a snap was fumbled at the 8 and recovered by the Tigers to further delay Sleepy Eye’s goals of getting on the board.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, the Tigers went up 31-0 after a 3-yard run from Johnson.

Sleepy Eye got on the board minutes later on a 4-yard TD run from Huiras to make the score 31-6. The Tigers quickly answered after a long kick return by Pidde set up a 26-yard shuffle pass TD to Olson for a 37-6 lead.

The Indians got their second TD of the fourth quarter and game on a 4-yard run from Heiderscheidt with 3:22 left in the game. There were four PATs blocked in the game, with Sleepy Eye blocking three.

For Sleepy Eye, Arian Saenz had 122 yards rushing and Huiras had 31 yards rushing.

The Indians ended their season with a 2-7 record, while the Tigers moved to 7-2.