Southland marches on
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 25, 2000
ADAMS – The Southland Rebels advanced to the semifinals of the Section 1A football playoffs with a 20-8 win over visiting Spring Grove here Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 25, 2000
ADAMS – The Southland Rebels advanced to the semifinals of the Section 1A football playoffs with a 20-8 win over visiting Spring Grove here Tuesday. Southland defeated Spring Grove 18-12 last week in the final regular season game for each team.
Southland scored twice in the first half to open up a 14-0 lead at halftime. Adam Chapek scored with 8:24 remaining in the second quarter to snap a scoreless tie. Quarterback Adam Nagele connected with Steve Snyder for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead.
Nagele capped the first half scoring with a 5-yard plunge with 36 seconds remaining.
Nagele, Chapek and Todd Osmundson led the Rebels’ balanced rushing attack. Chapek carried 21 times for 84 yards, Nagele rushed for 80 yards on 10 carries and Osmundson finished with 70 yards on 16 rushes.
"Our line played well and the team played very well," Southland coach Dick Strand said. "We just barely beat Spring Grove last week, so we didn’t look past them at all."
Osmundson completed the Rebels’ scoring on a 4-yard touchdown run with 2:13 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Rebels’ bid for a shutout was snapped with nine seconds left on the clock, when Spring Grove scored on a 15-yard passing play.
The Rebels, the 2000 Southeast Conference champions, bring their 8-1 record into Saturday afternoon’s home contest against Goodhue, a 57-0 winner over Lyle-Pacelli Tuesday.
Should Southland, the top seed in Section 1A, win on Saturday, it will advance to the Section 1A championship game, to be held Friday, Nov. 3, against Rushford-Peterson or Dover-Eyota.
Belle Plaine 17,
Blooming Prairie 14
BELLE PLAINE – A 24-yard field goal ended the Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms’ season here Tuesday night. The Blossoms finish the season with a 5-4 record.
The Blossoms tied this Section 2AA quarterfinals game on an 18-yard Bryan Kramer touchdown run and a Kramer run for the two-point conversion with 7:21 remaining in the game. Kramer carried the ball 15 times for 100 yards and scored Blooming Prairie’s first touchdown with another 18-yard run in the first quarter.
Belle Plaine scored twice in the second quarter to go up 14-6.
After Kramer’s second scoring run the Tigers quickly went down the field and got into field goal position. Dallas Giles kicked the game-winning field goal with 5:21 remaining.
On the ensuiing drive the Blossoms were called for holding to set up a first-and-20.
"The penalty set us back and we couldn’t convert on a fourth down," Blooming Prairie coach Chad Gimbel said. "Belle Plaine then drove to inside the 10-yard line. We stopped them but there was under a minute to play. We tried a couple passes but were intercepted to end our season."
Blooming had 212 yards rushing in the game and 35 yards passing. Jeremy Wangen picked up 64 yards on 14 carries. Phil Iacovino was 4-for-13 for 29 yards with two interceptions. Belle Plaine had 257 yards on the ground and 33 passing.
Hayfield 26,
NRHEG 0
HAYFIELD - The Hayfield Vikings improved to 7-2 on the season and advanced to Saturday’s Section 2AA semifinals with a shutout of New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Tuesday.
The Vikings’ 26-0 win sets up a matchup with high-powered Triton, a 58-6 winner over Kenyon-Wanamingo Tuesday. Hayfield, the No. 3 seed in the section, will travel to Triton, the No. 2 seed, on Saturday.