Staff photo by Ari Selvey Sleepy Eye United’s Austin Uecker (5) looks for more yards as Springfield’s Russell Beers (16) tracks him down during a Southwest District, South Subdistrict football game at Sleepy Eye High School.

SLEEPY EYE — Sleepy Eye United held Springfield to its season low in points scored as they defeated the Tigers 16-14 in a Southwest District, South Subdistrict football game Friday at Sleepy Eye High School.

SEU did so with the help of five turnovers — three interceptions and two fumble recoveries — including two fourth-quarter interceptions by Talan Helget to help seal the game.

“We’ve just got good athletes on the back end,” SEU head coach Brent Kucera said. “Our DBs did really well. That’s probably the No. 1 offense in the state right now and we held them to two touchdowns. I’ve got give the credit to our players. They wanted it.”

SEU got the win to cap off Sleepy Eye High School’s Homecoming week as they remained undefeated with a 5-0 record, while Springfield took their first loss of the season, dropping ot 4-1.

Caden Evers had 115 yards passing, a TD and an interception for United, while Jon Petermann had 86 yards rushing and a TD. Austin Uecker had 70 yards receiving and a TD. Defensively for SEU, Helget had two interceptions, Peterman had one interception, While Uecker and Gaige Bauer each had a fumble recovery.

For Springfield, Jakob Nachreiner had 345 yards passing with two TDs and three interceptions, while Carter Olson had 14 receptions for 158 yards and a TD, while Brayden Sturm had seven receptions for 164 yards. Sam Rummel had 79 yards rushing, while Ashton Toll had a receiving TD. Defensively for the Tigers, Joe Nachreiner had two sacks, while Sam Pidde forced a fumble that Gavin Vanderwerf recovered. Olson also had an interception.

Springfield head coach Adam Meyer said that SEU gave them trouble finding consistency on offense.

“They’re obviously a very good defense,” Meyer said. “And we did a really nice job balancing run and pass, trying to keep them off balance a little bit. They have really good players and good scheme. We just hit ourselves in the foot a few to many times, turning the ball over, fumbles, penalties in bad times.

“Those will set you behind the chains, and when you have a really good defense like that, downs and distances where they know what you’re most likely to do, they’re pretty tough to convert on. We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities tonight, and that’s a credit to their defense and something we have to work on now.”

Springfield had 10 penalties on the game, while SEU had nine.

After rain caused a short delay to start the game, Petermann took the first play to the house on a 70-yard touchdown run to give SEU the lead, with a throw from Evers to Uecker for the 2-point conversion making it a 8-0 game. Springfield responded by marching deep into United territory, but a tipped ball in the end zone landed in Petermann’s lap as SEU got its first turnover. United took over at their own 20, but a trio of penalties soon saw them in a second-and-30. They were unable to convert, punting the ball away.

Springfield got a good return by Pidde to start their drive at the 50, but a tackle for loss by SEU’s Winsten Nienhaus on fourth and 2 stopped their drive short. On the next play, Pidde forced a fumble that Vanderwerf jumped on, giving the Tigers the ball once again. This time the capitalized with a seven play drive ending on a 8-yard pass from Nachreiner to Olson for the touchdown. A run by Rummel for the 2-point conversion evened the score at 8-8.

The Springfield defense forced a three-and-out of SEU, and they quickly took advantage with another touchdown from Nachreiner, this time to Toll to take a 14-8 lead. However, the 2-point attempt failed, keeping it a 6-point game.

United punted on their next drive, but Springfield fumbled once again as Uecker stole the ball out of the hands of the Springfield ballcarrier to give SEU the ball. SEU carried the momentum on a six-play, 28-yard drive ending on a short-right pass from Evers to Uecker, who took it the rest of the 17 yards for the score with 6:55 left in the half. Another conversion from Evers to Uecker gave United the 16-14 lead.

Neither team scored for the remainder of the game. The next two drives ended in punts for both teams, then they traded turnovers on downs before the end of the half.

Springfield opened the second half on another turnover on downs as SEU’s Jacob Meidl got a sack on fourth down, then a penalty-filled drive resulted in a turnover on downs on a fourth-and-21.

Springfield was looking at a fourth-and-1 to continue their next drive, but a botched snap led to a fumble that SEU’s Bauer jumped on for Springfield’s third turnover of the game.

SEU found some life on offense on a deep shot from Evers to Helget, which Helget pulled down through some tight coverage by the Tigers. However, Evers’ next pass sailed long and was intercepted by Olson to give the ball back to Springfield at their own 3-yard line. Springfield made it past midfield before SEU forced another turnover when Helget intercepted the ball and returned it to Springfield’s 45.

United was unable to make much of the opportunity, however, as Springfield’s defense tightened up for the three-and-out. The teams traded punts on the next two possessions, but Petermann, SEU’s punter, landed the ball at Springfield’s 2-yard line with 3:27 left in the game to make it hard on the Springfield offense.

Springfield did their best, however, and had their longest drive of the day, driving to SEU’s 14 yard line. Their, Nachreiner thew a fade to Sturm in the endzone, but did not see the lurking Helget, who came over from his safety position to make the play on the ball, coming down wit the interception with 47 seconds left on the clock.

An 11-yard run by Schultz on the next play sealed the victory for United, as Evers took the knee to bring home the win.

SEU travels to Martin County West on Friday. Springfield hosts St. James Area on Friday.