Staff photo by Ari Selvey Springfield’s Sam Rummel breaks a tackle in the rain during a Section 3A Football Tournament game against Martin County West Tuesday at Riverside Park in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD — No. 3-seeded Springfield battled through the elements to take a 22-0 victory over No. 6-seeded Martin County West Tuesday in the first round of the Section 3A Football Tournament, advancing to play at No. 2-seeded Tracy-Milroy-Balaton on Saturday.

The rain fluctuated from a drizzle to a downpour throughout the contest, with players frequently slipping on the grass of Riverside Park. Despite the weather, Springfield remained aggressive with their potent air attack, with Jakob Nachreiner connecting for two touchdown passes, including a downfield pass to Carter Olson that ended in an 79-yard score.

“We just wanted to stay balanced,” Springfield head coach Adam Meyer said. “In this weather, it’s easy to get run focused, but if we could loosen them up a bit defensively, we felt like that would open up our run game a little bit. We still want to utilize those weapons on the outside and keep them engaged. Hit a couple, missed a couple, but overall I think it helped open up our run game as well.”

Nachreiner threw for 136 yards along with his two scores, one to Olson and one to Brayden Sturm. Olson finished with 107 yards receiving.

Those shots though the air gave the Springfield tailbacks the ability to control the game on the ground, with Sam Rummel leading the way with 87 yards and Ashton Toll rushing in a TD.

“Our offensive line was outstanding all night I thought,” Meyer said. “Created some gaps so we could get our footing. I know both sides were struggling with that. Really impressed with how our offensive line played, I thought our running backs finished runs well, and that took over the game a little bit as the game went on.”

Defensively for Springfield, Toll had 10 tackles and Aiden Moriarty added six, including three tackles for a loss. Sturm and Gavin Vanderwerf each recovered a fumble.

Rummel started off the game with a 20-yard run for the Tigers, but Springfield was unable to make anything of the drive as it ended on a turnover on downs. MCW returned the favor by putting the ball in the mud on a fumble that was recovered by Sturm. Springfield got another first down before punting it away, but the rain caused a muffed punt that Vanderwerf jumped on to give the Tigers the ball at the MCW 11-yard line.

A 9-yard run by Rummel set up Toll to punch in the 2-yard score. Vanderwerf converted for 2 points to make it a 8-0 game.

Three punts and a quarter change later, Springfield had the ball once more at their own 21-yard line. From there, Nachreiner took a deep shot to a streaking Olson, who fought through a pass interference penalty to haul in the ball near the 50 and took it the rest of the distance for the TD. Another conversion by Vanderwerf put the Tigers up 16-0. After forcing a short punt by the Mavericks, Springfield had two minutes to drive 40 yards with the rain picking up. Rummel had a 15-yard run to set up a screen pass to Sturm, who took it down to the 9-yard line. With 1.5 seconds left in the half, Nachreiner threw a fade to Sturm, who caught the ball in the endzone for a 22-0 lead.

MCW had its longest drive of the game to open up the second half, going 14 plays, but after a slip in the backfield set them up for a 4th and 15, Kody Bast led a host of Tigers to stop MCW quarterback Lucas Larson short for a turnover on downs. Springfield did fumble the ball on the ensuing drive, but MCW had another turnover on downs after a pass breakup by Lucas Milbrath. Springfield drained the clock from 11:32 to 6:36 before punting the ball back to the Mavericks who couldn’t make much of the next drive after a sack by Moriarty. Springfield took the final four minutes off the clock to win the game on their final drive.