Staff photo by Fritz Busch Springfield’s Ashtin Johnson carries the ball during a Section 3A playoff football game against Sleepy Eye in Springfield on Tuesday night.

SPRINGFIELD — Seniors Ashtin Johnson and MaCoy Krick each scored two touchdowns for second-seeded Springfield on Tuesday night in the Tigers’ 42-21 Section 3A quarterfinal football win over seventh-seeded Sleepy Eye.

The Tigers blew open a 12-8 game, mixing passing and running to take a 7-2 record into the section semifinals against Martin County West at 3 p.m. Saturday in Springfield.

“When the ground game got going early, it really opened up the pass game,” Springfield head coach Adam Meyer said. “We have a couple injuries, but nothing serious. I’m proud of the way our kids played. We battled hard and things came out well.”

Johnson rushed for 140 yards to lead the Tigers on the ground.

“It was a good experience. We hope to take it to the next game,” said Johnson.

Krick added that he thought the team played hard and was aggressive.

“We played pretty well, pretty hard,” Krick said. “Our defense played well the first half. We played aggressive.”

Sleepy Eye ended its season 2-7 despite three touchdowns on short runs by senior fullback Arian Saenz.

“We played hard,” said Sleepy Eye head coach Joe Hoffmann. “That’s what we wanted. It was the big plays that got us tonight. Springfield is explosive. The first time we played them, we limited them on those big plays. This one they got more of them on us.”

Saenz said he’s interested in playing college football. He’s interested in physical therapy and said some colleges have shown interest in him.

Springfield scored first on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jakob Nachreiner to Krick. Nachreiner ended with 211 yards passing.

Johnson’s 14-yard touchdown run put the Tigers up 12-0 early in the second quarter.

Evan Thompson, a 255-pound Sleepy Eye lineman, recovered a Tiger fumble at the Indians 46-yard line. Sleepy Eye junior quarterback Cadan Evers hit junior Austin Uecker for a 29-yard pass to the 3-yard line, setting up the first of Saenz’ three touchdowns. A Mason Myers pass to Gaige Bauer was good for 2 points.

After another Nachreiner TD pass and a 2-point conversion catch by Krick, the Tigers went up 20-8. Johnson’s 2-yard touchdown and Sam Pidde’s PAT run made it 28-8 at halftime.

Pidde added 83 yards receiving for Springfield, while Carter Olson had 68 yards receiving and a TD.

Ashton Toll led the Tigers’ defense with 12 tackles and a sack, while Pidde had a 56-yard interception return for a TD. Brayden Sturm and Daniel Rogotzke also each had an interception for Springfield.