File photo by Travis Rosenau Springfield’s Joe Nachreiner (54) tackles Sleepy Eye United’s Jon Petermann during the Section 3A title game at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall on Nov. 3.

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Tigers football team has had a lot of repeats this season.

Repeat dominant season, repeat section champion, repeat Class A State Football Tournament quarterfinals win.

And the Tigers will be looking for another repeat this Saturday in the state semifinals as a win there would carry them to the state championship game for the second year in a row.

It’ll be no easy path to the state title game for the Tigers (10-1), however, as they will take on the unbeaten Mahnomen/Waubun Thunderbirds (11-0) in the state semifinals at 9 a.m. Saturday morning at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Mahnomen/Waubun shut out Parkers Prairie 18-0 in the state quarterfinals this past Friday night to advance to the semifinals.

If hearing “Mahnomen/Waubun” rings a bell for Tigers fans, it’s not a pleasant-sounding one. That’s because the last time Springfield took on Mahnomen/Waubun in football came in the 2018 state semifinals, where the Thunderbirds shut out the Tigers 38-0 before edging BOLD 22-21 to win the state championship.

While much has changed since then, Springfield has had to wait five years for a rematch and is looking to show an all-around better effort this time around.

“Our team … I think is very different than we were five years ago at that point,” Meyer said. “We were still learning our new systems offensively and defensively. … Isaac Fink, that game, was hurt, so that took a big aspect of what we did on both sides of the ball and special teams away. So looking back, it’s more of a, ‘Oh, this is how they did things.’ It kind of helps jog our memories of how they play football, but lot of new faces, obviously, just similar styles and schemes from what we saw five years ago.”

While many overlooked Springfield in 2022, the Tigers have garnered more respect this season and ended the regular season ranked seventh in the Class A prep polls. It’s not a major surprise to Springfield and its fans, but the Tigers beat a team ranked ahead of them this past Friday in the state quarterfinals by topping No. 2-ranked Fillmore Central 22-12 at Jordan High School.

Fillmore Central was also ranked first in the Class A QRF rankings heading into the quarterfinals before its perfect season ended with a 10-1 final record in Jordan.

The Tigers trailed 12-8 at halftime but scored 14 unanswered points to come away with the win.

“I was really proud of the kids for how they battled through some adverse moments,” Meyer said. “Offensively we were struggling to maintain drives, whether it was penalties or missing some execution. And defensively, just stepping up throughout the game — first half, second half — kids just stepped up, made plays in big moments and put us in a good spot field position-wise where when we did get the ball on offense, we had some shorter fields and were able to capitalize. So I think the resiliency of our kids and just executing at the right times down the stretch played a huge factor in coming away with the win.”

In the win over Fillmore Central, the Tigers got a nice blend from their offense, finishing with 123 yards passing and 113 yards on the ground.

Carter Olson led the way for the Tigers with 10 receptions for 64 yards and two touchdowns, while Ashton Toll had 15 carries for 55 yards and a score and Sam Rummel rushed for 45 yards on 14 carries.

Tigers senior quarterback Jakob Nachreiner completed 16 of 23 passes for 123 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the win also.

Meyer said Mahnomen/Waubun likes to run the ball, but it mixes in just enough passes to keep teams honest.

In the Thunderbirds’ 18-0 shutout win over Parkers Prairie last week, they showed that with two touchdown passes from quarterback Blake McMullen to receiver Tanner Stech. Stech also had a 28-yard field goal.

“On offense, it’s pretty cut and dry,” Meyer said. “It’s going to be option football, it’ll be that midline option, it’s going to be some veer. They run their quarterback, they run a fullback, they’ll bring some guys in motion and run the football that way. They mix pass in just enough to try to keep you off balance. But their go-to is running the football. They like long, physical drives where they’ll get 3 or 4 yards a play and they’ll just keep moving down the field that way and take a lot of time off the clock.

“So their goal is to shrink the game and play it at a slower pace than maybe we’re used to, so for us it’s going to be important that we can get it into our style of football where we’re playing a little bit faster and try to put them in some down and distances that are more pass-heavy, that’s where we know we really excel. We’re really excellent at stopping the run as well, but putting them into situations where it’s more predictable is always an advantage for us.”

Mahnomen/Waubun is also another team ranked ahead of the Tigers, sitting No. 3 in the polls and No. 5 in the Class A QRF rankings. But just like last season when the Tigers won their way to the state title game despite being unranked all season, they haven’t paid too much attention to rankings again this year.

“We don’t pay attention to rankings at this point,” Meyer said. “Out motto has always been, ‘They’re here for a reason.’ No matter when you play, if it’s a section tournament, in the section semi, section final and now the state tournament, they’ve earned their way here, so they’re obviously a worthy opponent and we need to play our absolute best to keep moving.”

HOLD ON, BUT NOT LIKE THAT

Most teams at the state level are playing a bend-but-don’t-break style defense, and it’s to be expected with so much talent around the field. The Tigers will be tested against the Thunderbirds on Saturday morning, and they’ll need to hold on to whatever lead they can get.

But doing so will require the Tigers to reduce their penalties. The Tigers were flagged 11 times for 75 yards against Fillmore Central, with Fillmore Central pass rushers causing Springfield to commit several holding penalties on the outside.

“Ironically at this point in the season, the flags get tucked away a little bit more than they do early in the season, but we definitely earned some of those penalties,” Meyer said. “It’s uncharacteristic of our team this season, we haven’t had a ton of holding throughout the season, so, again, just uncharacteristic of our team. But I think a lot of that comes into play when you play a team like Fillmore. They’re coming off the edge really fast and they have some strong players up front on their defensive line and that linebacker area.

“So when they speed you up a little bit and we’re trying to get to an edge or you’re trying to make a key block on a play, I think at times we got a little grabby with our blocks and it resulted in some holding penalties. It’s something we’ll pay attention to and we’ll work on, but I think a lot of it had to do with our opponent versus something we are known for.”

INJURY REPORT

Tigers wideout and defensive back Brayden Sturm went down with a leg injury in the third quarter of the quarterfinals win over Fillmore Central. Sturm has been one of the top targets for Jakob Nachreiner this season (56 catches, 993 yards, 17 TDs) and has more than made his share of plays on defense (five interceptions).

Olson stepped in for Sturm on defense last week when Sturm left the field and did a nice job by picking off two passes, but the Tigers certainly want to see Sturm suit up this Saturday if healthy.

“We’re monitoring it, but I think he’ll be good to go by game time,” Meyer said of Sturm.

Springfield kicker Kade Nachreiner, who has been out of action since late September with a hip injury, has been cleared to return. He went 15 of 16 on extra points before his injury.

“He actually just got cleared, so we’re going to test him out throughout the week and see where that goes with him,” Meyer said.

MILESTONE TOUCHDOWN

Jakob Nachreiner’s second TD pass of the state quarterfinals last week, a 15-yarder to Olson that put the Tigers ahead 14-12, gave the senior his 50th touchdown pass of the season. He has completed 184 of 270 passes this year for 2,996 yards, 50 TDs and eight interceptions.

Last season, he finished with 3,119 yards passing, 40 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.