Familiar foes clash Friday as Springfield welcomes SEU
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SPRINGFIELD -- At the midway point in the prep football season, one thing Sleepy Eye United and Springfield both have in common besides talent is that both teams are just starting to really feel comfortable.
That might be bad news for their Section 3A opponents this year, but it's good news for football fans heading to Springfield this Friday to watch SEU (3-1) battle the Tigers (4-0) in a 7 p.m. South District, West-South Subdistrict game.
The two programs officially started their rivalry last year by splitting a pair of games, with SEU winning in the regular season 16-14 on Sept. 29 and the Tigers getting payback in the section finals on Nov. 3 with a 36-18 win to advance to state for the second year in a row.
While some faces on the field have changed since then, both teams have maintained much of the same style of play that brought them success last year and it's paying off again so far this season.
Tigers head coach Adam Meyer said while the team had to figure things out a bit early on in the year on offense, he now believes the Tigers are hitting their stride.
"I've been pleased overall with how we've played in all phases," Meyer said. "I think we battled some inconsistency a little bit offensively early, but that was a little bit to be expected with some newer faces there. And it seems like things are calming down for us.
"That doesn't mean that it gets to stay that way, obviously, now that we're in the latter half of the season, it's time to hit our stride here as we approach the postseason and we know we're in a really tough district and a tough section, so we know we have to play good football here at the end of the year."
SEU head coach Brent Kucera also thinks his team is starting to put it together in more ways than one.
"We're starting to play with some passion, some energy, some excitement," Kucera said. "This last week was the first time we really got to see it. So, that's where I know we're starting to hit our stride and starting to go in the right direction finally."
SEU defeated St. James Area 26-12 last Friday in St. James, led by Cody Schultz's nine carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns. Gavin Fischer also had 18 carries for 65 yards for SEU in the win, while quarterback Carson Uecker threw for 95 yards and a TD to Talan Helget and also ran for 63 yards and a score.
Uecker is one newer face SEU has relied on this season as he's taken the starting quarterback role from Caden Evers, who graduated this past spring.
While SEU likes to run the ball, Kucera said he's been happy with Uecker's play so far.
"I've been really, really happy with Uecker's progress," Kucera said. "From Game 1 to now, he's progressed really well. He's going on the right path, he's getting more confident, he's getting his reads better, he's asking for certain plays, so I'm extremely happy with how he's progressing."
Springfield also had a challenging spot to fill early in the season under center in place of 2023 All-Journal Offensive Football Player of the Year Jakob Nachreiner, who also graduated this past spring. Sophomore Parker Kuehn, despite those big shoes to fill in place of Nachreiner, has stepped up so far as the Tigers' starting quarterback.
Despite some early growing pains, Kuehn is starting to create a lot of offense, as displayed this past Friday in his five-touchdown pass performance in Wabasso that led to a 48-7 win.
"You can see each week that he's getting more comfortable back there," Meyer said of Kuehn. "He does a great job at the line of scrimmage, communicating plays with our offensive line, running backs, he's understanding space and different coverages. We've seen some different looks throughout the first four weeks, which can be a challenge, especially for a younger quarterback that maybe hasn't seen a lot of different looks, but he's handled those things extremely well. And he's a kid that takes coaching extremely well, which is so valuable at this stage in his playing career.
"He's done a great job of spreading the ball around to different guys. We've got a lot of different kids that catch it each week and he's also a little bit of a threat in the run game which we haven't necessarily had with the talented throwers that we've had the last few years, so he adds a little bit of dimension that way which has been great to utilize as well."
Even though it seems like the Tigers graduate a host of talent at wide receiver every year, someone always seems to step up and make a name for themselves, keeping defenses from keying in one guy.
"They bring a balanced attack," Kucera said of Springfield. "They're good throwing the ball and they're good running the ball. Once you spread them out with receivers, you've got [Aiden] Moriarty and [Gavin] Vanderwerf, they've got weapons everywhere, so you can't just take away one thing. They're a balanced attack."
Meyer said while SEU has mixed it up some with the pass this year, he still expects the team to stay focused on the ground.
"I think they're a running team at their core offensively," Meyer said. "I think that's what kind of gets the engine started is getting the ball on the ground and grinding out some yards. And obviously they have some big-play potential, both with those running backs and getting the ball down the field. So, we have to make sure we're staying alert on the back end of our defense but also being very conscious that their running game is strong and that's something they want to rely on, especially in games that are going to be bigger like this one."
FUNDAMENTALS
AND FUN
For coach Meyer, something he's stressed all season is doing the little things to keep improving to avoid being stagnant and overly comfortable. He's looking forward to testing how good his players are at this point on Friday.
"We're just looking to play fundamentally sound and make sure we take care of our assignments and play at a level that's another step up from where we were a week ago," Meyer said. "They're a pretty fundamentally sound team, there are solid players across the board at all levels, so we know we have to play well and this will be a great test."
As for Kucera, he said winning the turnover battle will be key against Springfield on Friday. Apart from that, he also thinks his team's newer varsity players can surprise the Tigers.
"I think we're going to throw them a little element of surprise," Kucera said. "I think we can surprise them with some things. We've got a lot of new faces, I think that's something we can use to our advantage."
THE NUMBERS GAME
Vanderwerf has led the Tigers on the ground this year with 36 carries for 372 yards and four touchdowns, while Kuehn has completed 61% of his passes for 637 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions.
Springfield has 1,435 total yards of offense and has allowed 766 yards to opponents. The Tigers also have a third-down conversion percentage of 46%.
SEU is led by Cody Schultz, who has 33 carries for 205 yards and three touchdowns. Uecker has completed 59% of his passes this year for 641 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions.
SEU has 1,286 total yards of offense, has allowed 1,169 total yards and has a third-down conversion percentage of 41%.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
The easy answer when asked who to watch for on the Springfield offense Friday would be to say everyone, and for good reason. Meyer, Kuehn and the Tigers' offense have continued keeping everyone involved this year, but one receiver in particular who Kuehn has been connecting with more lately is junior Isaac Fredin, who caught four touchdown passes last week in Wabasso.
Fredin, a 5-10 wide receiver, has 20 catches for 201 yards and five touchdowns now on the year.
"Been impressed with him taking over the slot role, he's played really well this year," Meyer said of Fredin. "Taking over for Carter Olson, that was someone that he spent a lot of time with the last couple of years and has really learned a lot from him. He's been stepping into that role and running with it and Parker and him have had a nice connection here the last few weeks."
For SEU, Kucera said he recently was impressed by a pair of SEU's defensive underclassmen.
"Two kids I'm impressed with just speaking of the last game is Nick Tauer and Keeyan Netzke," Kucera said. "They just brought a fresh energy to our team. Just throwing in some new guys and giving them a chance and I've been really happy with what they've been doing."
Netzke, a freshman linebacker, had a sack and three tackles in his season debut with SEU last week in St. James, while Tauer, a sophomore linebacker, has played in all four of SEU's games this year and has compiled 13 tackles, two for a loss.
Offensively, when SEU isn't handing the ball to Fischer or Schultz, Helget's sure hands and size (6-foot-4, 200 pounds) are a consistent target for Uecker. Helget leads the team in catches (14), yards receiving (379) and touchdown receptions (4).