BLUE EARTH – It took two days, but the No. 4-seeded Blue Earth Area Bucs football team completed its 26-7 win over the No. 5-seeded Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Knights during the Section 2AA quarterfinals Wednesday in Blue Earth.

The two teams began playing the game Tuesday, and were in a lightning delay. Due to extreme weather conditions, the game eventually had to be suspended.

The sectional quarterfinal picked up with 2:12 left in the first quarter with the Bucs leading the Knights, 6-0, a lead that the home team never gave up.

“We were able to do what we needed to do to win and move on,” Bucs head coach Randy Kuechenmeister said. “Probably wasn’t our best game of the year, but it was good enough to move on and that’s what we wanted to do, so we accomplished that. Now, we look forward to the next game.”

Blue Earth Area (6-3) plays Class 2A, No. 7-ranked Maple River, the No. 1 seed, at 7 p.m. Monday in Mapleton in a sectional semifinal.

The Bucs scored on each of their first three possessions of the game. Their initial score came on Tuesday at the 7:05 mark of the opening frame. Starting at their own 44, Kaylan Legred reversed field and went 23 yards to reach Knights’ territory. Junior running back Zach Buseman and senior quarterback Logan Jahnke added runs of six and 18 yards, respectively, to get to the 9.

Buseman ran seven yards before taking the final two for the TD. Though the Knights stopped Buseman’s 2-point run attempt, the Bucs went up, 6-0.

With 4:52 left in the first frame, the Bucs started down the field for an eventual-scoring drive, but were stopped short due to lightning. On Wednesday, however, the team picked up with a fresh set of downs at the Knights’ 14.

Buseman had runs of 7- and 2 yards before trotting in a 5-yard score with 1:04 to go in the first quarter.

On the next series, the Bucs took advantage of good field position at the Knights’ 35. Jahnke ran a yard before throwing an 18-yard pass to wide receiver Jacob Vaske.

The 5-foot-9 Jahnke later raced to the end zone for the 10-yard TD. Caelan Sanders added the PAT for a 19-0 Bucs advantage.

“That’s nice when you’ve got a short field because you’ve got your whole playbook and you can do about anything,” Kuechenmeister said.

Defensively, the Bucs forced three three-and-outs, and Buseman recovered a fumble to get the Bucs’ offense back on the field with 7:16 remaining in the half.

“Defensively, we were able to take some of their run game away. I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage and that’s kind of the name of the run game,” Kuechenmeister said.

For the first time in the game, the Bucs were unable to score during a possession and turned the ball over on downs after an incomplete pass.

Though the Bucs didn’t score for the rest of the half, they didn’t give up any points either, ending the half with tackle Jesus Quintero and Buseman getting back-to-back sacks. The Bucs held the Knights to 65 yards of total offense in the half.

Buseman pocketed another one of the Knights’ fumbles at the 4:30 mark of the third quarter. He then had two three-yard carries on offense. Running back Chris Sanders ran for five yards, then caught a 28-yard bomb from Jahnke to get the Bucs to the Knights’ 31-yard line.

Jahnke completed a 6-yard pass to Barnett before running 18 yards on two carries. Buseman put away the final seven yards for another score with 38 seconds to go in the third frame. Caelan Sanders’ kick extended the Bucs’ lead to 26-0.

The Knights avoided a shutout in the fourth quarter. Ben Graupman flicked a quick pass to Evan Bergamann, who wheeled his way to the Bucs 12. A Bucs’ facemask penalty allowed the Knights to reach the 6. Ben Graupman ran the distance to get the Knights on the scoreboard at the 4:04 juncture.

During the kickoff, Kyle Jones recovered the onside kick for the Knights, but they couldn’t capitalize.

Buseman finished the game with 52 yards rushing on 13 totes with three TDs, along with a sack and two fumble recoveries on defense.

“He plays hard, he’s a gamer. That’s why he’s playing where he’s playing,” Kuechenmeister said about Buseman. “We expect him to play hard and he’s shown that all year. Tonight was no different.”

Jahnke added eight rushes for 62 yards and completed 5 of 12 passes for 60 yards.

Maple River and Blue Earth will play for a second consecutive time in the postseason. Last year, the Bucs beat the Eagles, 17-10, after breaking up an Eagles’ last-second pass in the end zone.

“It’s going to be a fun game,” Buseman said. “Hopefully, we can come out and score first, get a lead and go from there.”

“They’re a good football team; they score a lot of points,” Kuechenmeister added. “It’ll be a huge challenge for us, but it’s one we’re – just like they are, I’m sure – looking forward to.”

LCWM 0 0 0 7- 7

BEA 12 7 7 0-26

Scoring Plays

1st Quarter

BEA- Zach Buseman 2 run (run fail), 7:05.

BEA-Buseman 5 run (try fail), 1:04.

2nd Quarter

BEA-Logan Jahnke 10 run (Caelan Sanders kick), 8:41.

3rd Quarter

BEA-Buseman 7 run (Sanders kick), 0:38.

4th Quarter

LCWM-Ben Graupman 4 run (Caleb Brocker kick), 4:04.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: Blue Earth Area 11; Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 8. Passing: BEA 5-12-0-60; LCWM 2-6-0-80. Rushing: BEA 33-188; LCWM 36-121. Fumbles-lost: BEA 0-0; LCWM 4-3. Penalties: BEA 5-39; LCWM 2-16.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Offense: Passing: Logan Jahnke (BEA) 5-12-0-60; Mac Graupman (LCWM) 1-5-0-38. Receiving: Chris Sanders (BEA) 2-32; Logan Stock (LCWM) 1-38. Rushing: Jahnke (BEA) 8-62; Zach Buseman (BEA) 13-52; Garret Anderson-Gilman (LCWM) 18-51; Evan Bergamann (LCWM) 11-50.

Defense: QB Sacks: Jesus Quintero (BEA); Buseman (BEA); Trevor Oppedal (BEA); Joe Ritter (BEA); Rylie Krieger (BEA). Fumble recoveries: Buseman (BEA) 2; Rylee McGuire (BEA).