BLOOMING PRAIRIE — Things are about to get physical.

As the Blooming Prairie football team prepares for its matchup with Dawson-Boyd in the Class ‘A’ state football semifinals in the Metrodome this Saturday at 10:15 a.m., one thing is clear.

They have to stop the run.

The Blackjacks (12-0 overall) live on the ground as they rely on the backfield of Esten Weber and Justin Lee — both ball carriers have surpassed the 1,000 yard mark this season for a DB team that has put more than 30 points 10 times this season.

The Awesome Blossoms (11-1 overall) may be a little undersized in this matchup, but it’s not a concern for linebacker Ryan McCabe.

“If they want to play hard-nosed football and run it down the middle, I’m all for that. Our linebackers would love doing that,” McCabe said. “They may be bigger, but we take care of it with our physicality and I can’t see any intimidation going into this one.”

The Blackjacks’ defense has also been strong this year as they’ve held 10 of their opponents to one score or less.

“They’re big and physical up front, their linebackers are fast and their secondary is athletic, but I think we’ve already faced a team like that in Southland,” BP head coach Chad Gimbel said. “We want to stay balanced and not become one dimensional on offense.”

BP offensive lineman Pat Jones said they’re used to playing against bigger players. He feels that the Awesome Blossoms will be able to keep a balanced attack.

“Unless they’re completely different from every other team we’ve played this year, we can always change things up to get the running game going,” Jones said. “If the running game isn’t going, we’ll go to the passing game. We’ll find ways to score.”

The Blackjacks feasted on mostly one-dimensional running teams this season, so BP’s passing attack could be effective. Blossoms senior quarterback Luc Zellmer is just three touchdowns away from tying the career Minnesota state record as he’s thrown for 24 scores and just seven interceptions this season.

BP also has the advantage of having played in the Metrodome two years ago when they lost to eventual state champ Minneota 49-26. This is the first trip to state in school history for the Blackjacks.

“The first time we went to the Dome, there was a lot of anxiety, like what do you do?” Gimbel said. “It seems like a small thing, but where do you go when you get off the bus and where are the locker rooms? As a coach, this time I don’t have anything to worry about except us playing. It’s all taken care of.”

BP will go with same routine as it did two years ago. Players will spend Friday night in BP, have breakfast at the school at 6 a.m. and get on the bus at 6:30 a.m.

While Gimbel hopes his players get a good night’s rest, that might be tough for some of them to do, especially for the 14 seniors.

“This is a huge deal to us,” said McCabe. “We go out there and I look around and it’s all of my friends. We all know that it could be our last game and we’ve got to put it all out on the line.”

The Blossoms certainly won’t have trouble getting pumped up for Saturday’s showdown.

“Getting to the Dome is a good experience, but it would be better to win the entire thing,” Jones said. “We all talk about the ring, and how cool it would be to have that on our finger. That’s motivation.”