File photo by Travis Rosenau Springfield quarterback Brendon Buerkle (12) was unanimously named the 2021 All-Journal Offensive Player of the Year on Saturday as voted on by The Journal’s sports staff.

SPRINGFIELD — After finishing the 2020 season on a high note, Brendon Buerkle and the Springfield Tigers had big expectations for the 2021 season.

The Tigers finished the 2020 season with three straight wins and finished 6-2, good for third in Section 3A. With Buerkle back in his second year at the quarterback position, the Tigers were prepared to make a deep run in the playoffs.

Buerkle and company finished the 2021 season with a 7-3 record, losing in the second round of the Section 3A playoffs. But in the process, Buerkle went on to lead the state with 3,082 passing yards and 43 touchdowns. His yardage total was good for seventh all-time in state history, while his TD total was good enough for fifth all-time. In 10 games this season, Buerkle completed 204 of 332 passes (61.4%) and threw 14 interceptions.

For his career, Buerkle finished with 4,170 yards passing, 59 TDs and 17 interceptions.

Buerkle was named the 2021 All-Journal Offensive Player of the Year by the Journal’s Sports Writing staff.

Buerkle said that from Day 1 of practice, the Tigers were on the same page and it helped speed up the learning process.

“I know coming into the season, we thought we were going to be one of the better ones in the area,” Buerkle said. “It’s really fun to go to practice every day, knowing that your team is in the same place every day and trying to get to the Bank [U.S. Bank Stadium]. We played a lot of tough teams in this area and it was a lot of fun.”

Springfield lost the season-opener to Lakeview, 34-32. But after that, it won six straight before a loss to Minnesota Valley Lutheran at the end of the regular season. Springfield defeated Sleepy Eye in the opening round of the playoffs, but the season ended five days later at home against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton.

Buerkle, like so many athletes, had to overcome a difficult season in 2020 where nobody knew for sure when the season would end because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With that in the rearview mirror this year, he said it was easier to prepare for games.

“Last year was really hard, knowing that it could be done at any moment with one outbreak or the other team having Covid,” Buerkle said. “Mainly, I think it’s just coming to play your hardest and play like it’s your last every game. We did that last year, even though we didn’t get to have a section final game or a state.”

The Tigers had a potent offense, led by Buerkle and a strong offensive line. Receivers Macoy Krick and Carter Olson, along with running back Ashtin Johnson, were also weapons available for Buerkle. Together, that offense averaged 36.7 points per game.

“We had a lot of depth at our wide receiver position, and we had a lot of young guys and those Comfrey kids are amazing, all-around great athletes,” Buerkle said.

Buerkle got to work with offensive coordinator Adam Meyer, one of the more creative play-callers in the area. The two were in sync all season.

“It’s always a good time with coach Meyer around,” Buerkle said. “I’ve had him since seventh grade and he’s followed this senior class all the way up. We’ve been with him a long time. You never really know what to expect with him, he always tries to mix it up and have some creative and fun plays and he keeps everyone interested.”

Buerkle took over the position after one of the program’s most successful quarterbacks graduated in Decker Scheffler. It didn’t take him long to pick up where the offense left off in 2019, when the Tigers finished 10-1.

This year, Buerkle was even more impressive, leading the state in passing yards, something not a lot of Class A kids, where the offense usually runs the ball, can say.

“It’s really cool for a Class A team to put up the stats that we had all-around,” he said. “We had two receivers lead the state in categories as well [Krick led the state with 16 touchdown receptions, Olson led the state with 90 receptions], that’s really cool and it’ll be fun to look back at when I’m older.”