Tigers unable to stop Meagher, Minneota in Prep Bowl

Ryan Meagher led a Minneota rushing attack that totaled 503 yards on the ground. Meagher set the prep bowl record for rushing touchdowns with six in the game, good enough to break the school record for points in a career, and had 290 yards on the ground, good enough to break the school record for career rushing yards.

“If you ask him about it, he’s going to turn around and give credit to his offensive line,” Minneota head coach Chad Johnston said. “We joked about it, it would be nice to have all those guys standing up here with him. Just a phenomenal kid.”

Meagher, never focused on personal accomplishment, was reluctant to talk about his role in the win that gave Minneota its third consecutive championship over Springfield, but acknowledged the part he played in the victory.

“The offensive line does a very good job listening to the coaches and how they gameplan,” Meagher said. “And then communicating to the coaches what they’re doing up front. That allows them to open up the holes. They were pretty big holes today, makes my job a lot easier when they do that … I wasn’t thinking about any records, I was thinking about winning the game. It’s a great accomplishment. I remember last year I tied [the prep bowl touchdown record], I didn’t know that there even was that out there. This year, same thing, I wasn’t thinking about it, but it happened.”

Staff photo by Ari Selvey
Springfield’s Gavin Vanderwerf stumbles into the end zone for a touchdown during the Class A State Football Championship against Minneota Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Springfield head coach Adam Meyer also gave Meagher and the Minneota offensive line their flowers, saying Meagher was one of the best running backs he’s ever had to face.

“He’s a physical runner,” Meyer said. “He’s agile too. He does everything well. But that offensive front is as strong as I’ve seen in my time here in Class A. You give him some gaps to run through, he’s a tough guy to bring down.”

Meagher and the rest of the Minneota seniors can finish their prep careers with three state championships.

Parker Kuehn had 265 yards passing and two touchdowns in the game for Springfield, while Brayden Stum had 147 yards receiving and a touchdown. Gavin Vanderwerf added 82 yards and a score on the ground, while Isaac Fredin had 58 yards receiving. Madden Lendt had 14 yards and a touchdown receiving.

Springfield did manage to score 20 points on the Vikings defense, something that only two teams had been able to do this season.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey
Springfield’s Brayden Sturm reaches out for a catch during the Class A State Football Championship against Minneota Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“That’s a credit to Springfield,” Johnston said. “We knew they were going to attack our secondary. That’s something we knew going into this and they did it well in the first half. Obviously we made a little bit of adjustments, and I told the guys in the pregame, ‘We need to get things going on offense.’ We control things up front like we think we’re capable of doing, and we’re putting points on the board, that changes their play calling a little bit and makes it easier on us with all the RPOs that they do.”

Meyer said his team did a good job of keeping balance early in the game, which helped them score three touchdowns in the first half.

“I thought we were able to mix up the run and pass a little bit to set up some of those explosive plays we had,” he said. “Obviously Brayden had that big-time catch in the end zone to get momentum on our side. Obviously just couldn’t get enough stops. They are a physical football team. We got the start we wanted, but maintaining it was a challenge, especially when they had a couple-score lead and playing from behind is a tough one against a team like that.”

Springfield was able to move the ball well in both halves, but turnover issues cropped up later in the game, leading to the second-half shutout.

“We’re always looking to see what teams give us,” Meyer said. “He [Johnston] has played us different for the past three years now. And that’s where our kids are so high football IQ where we can adapt and see what we can get. We knew they wanted to slow our passing game down, but we still saw some to get over the top. Hit some, missed a few, but that’s the nature of throwing the ball down the field.”

Minneota found all the success they could want on offense, scoring on every offensive possession aside from the end of the first half. That, along with a Destin Fier defensive touchdown, led Minneota to tie the record for most points scored by a team in a prep bowl.

The Vikings started off the scoring by taking the opening possession 56 yards, ending in a 12-yard rush by Meagher for the touchdown. Springfield responded with a 31-yard completion from Kuehn to Sturm to set up a 9-yard rushing touchdown by Vanderwerf.

Minneota retook the lead after a 60-yard rushing touchdown by Meagher, then forced a three-and-out from Springfield. Minneota extended the lead to 21-7 with a 15-yard rushing touchdown from Meagher, and Springfield responded once more with a 37-yard touchdown from Kuehn to a doubled Sturm, who hauled in the catch with one hand to get the Springfield crowd roaring.

Feir turned the tide back in the Vikings’ favor on Minneota’s next drive, taking a reverse 52 yards to the house and extending the lead to 28-14. After a second Springfield three-and-out, forced by a sack by Eli Gruenes, Meagher scored his fourth touchdown on a 57-yard rush. Springfield kept in the game with a 14-yard connection from Kuehn to Lendt for a touchdown, but the extra point was blocked to keep the score at 35-20.

Meagher made it five rushing touchdowns with a 2-yard score at the 1:49 mark of the second quarter, and an interception by Gruenes as Springfield got into Minneota territory kept it a 42-20 game at halftime.

The Vikings defense stepped up in the second half, not allowing another score as Meagher got his record-breaking touchdown on a 4-yard sweep to the right to make it a 49-20 game. Springfield had one more good chance to score as they got to a fourth-and-goal situation, but Vanderwerf was stuffed before he reached the end zone.

Meyer said the game might have felt different if Springfield was able to punch it in in that situation.

“At least you’re in the game and you feel like you’re a couple scores away,” he said. “It shifts the focus of the game. The ball started rolling downhill for them late in that fourth quarter, and it kind of runs away from you.”

Minneota turned the following drive into a 4-yard touchdown pass from Lucas Rybinski to Brody Larson, then Fier got his 72-yard interception return for a touchdown to put the score at 63-20. Minneota called timeout with 8:04 to play in the game to let the subs in, with Kaden Christensen scoring the final touchdown of the game for a 70-20 win.

Sturm was awarded with Springfield’s Most Valuable Teammate award, something he was grateful to have received.

“It means a lot to me,” he said. “I can do stuff on the field, but that stuff doesn’t matter to me at the end of the day. It’s impacting the young guys, getting them to know what it takes to get to this game. All the new guys coming up, its huge that they learn that. Many of our guys only know what this game is like, and we preach that it doesn’t just take days.

“It takes every day of a grind. It’s day in and day out, week in and week out, and it’s a progression throughout the year. The legacy that the past seniors have left, it was a goal of mine to try to fill their shoes that they left behind. I hope I did, and it’s a sad goodbye.”