BLUE EARTH — The No. 3-seeded Blue Earth Area Bucs turned a 9-8 first-half deficit into a 34-15 win over the No. 6-seeded Medford Tigers during the Section 2AA football quarterfinals on Tuesday night at Wilson Field.

“I thought we played well in the first half, but we made some mistakes. Turnovers were a big thing,” Bucs head coach Randy Kuechenmeister said. “We just kind of had to regroup at halftime and come out and play.”

The Bucs (5-4) will have at least another 48 minutes to play when the team plays No. 2-seeded Waterville-Elysian-Morristown at 7 p.m. Saturday in Waterville. The WEM Bucs beat Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, 54-14, to advance to the semifinals.

Medford ended its season with a record of 2-7.

“Number 1, (I’m looking forward to) just being there,” Kuechenmeister said about Saturday’s semifinal. “Number 2 is that it’s going to be a run game. We’ve got to stop their run game.

“They’re a good team, well-coached and we’re going to have to play well to win.”

The Bucs’ defense forced a three-and-out on the Tigers’ first drive when the snap for the punt went too high. Senior defensive tackle Jordan Huse raced to the kicker and tackled him for a safety.

“That’s (defense) been the name of the game all year. We played pretty good defense,” Kuechenmeister said.

The Bucs offense struggled early with back-to-back turnovers, but the team’s defense held the Tigers scoreless in the first quarter.

The Tigers then got to the Bucs’ 3, but were kept out of the end zone. The visitors opted to have senior quarterback Javis VonRuden kick the 10-yard field goal for the team’s 3-2 lead with 10:08 remaining before the break.

The Bucs then started on their 36-yard line and, with three carries, senior running back Rylee McGuire got the home team to the Tigers’ 49. Sophomore wide receiver Caelan Sanders ran down the side of the field 18 yards before an illegal shift penalty backed the Bucs up to the 34.

Bucs junior quarterback Hunter Bleess had a two-yard carry before running through the wide-open middle for the 32-yard touchdown at the 6:58 juncture of the second quarter.

Just before halftime, though, VonRuden scrambled and found senior wideout Alex Gengler in the end zone for the score. Although the Bucs blocked the PAT, the Tigers had the first-half advantage, 9-8.

“(At halftime) we just talked about what we wanted to do and how wanted to continue to execute,” Kuechenmeister said. “We talked about thinking (about) the game and not getting all worked up because we made a mistake.”

The team responded well to the halftime discussion, scoring 23 points in the second half while holding the Tigers to six.

The Bucs got the ball at the beginning of the half, and Sanders crunched in an eight-yard TD for a seven-play, three-minute drive.

With the defense back on the field, the Bucs forced a fumble, which was recovered by Jacob Vaske. The senior safety took the ball 58 yards for the home team’s second score in two minutes. Junior Alex Reece got the PAT for BEA’s 21-9 lead.

On the next possession, Bleess, who went a perfect 7-for-7 in the second half, floated a seven-yard pass to senior wide receiver Jonah Legred for the 18-point lead 54 seconds into the final frame.

Sanders and senior linebacker Joe Schavey both recorded interceptions on the Tigers’ next two series. Schavey’s pick set the Bucs up at the Tigers’ 12.

McGuire handled the yardage and overcame a false start penalty to put up a 6-yard TD. Reece’s second PAT was good for the 34-9 score.

VonRuden ended the Tiger’s second-half scoring drought and found Gengler for a 32-yard TD throw with 3:43 to go in the contest. The 2-point attempt failed as the Bucs closed out the game with the 34-15 victory.

Bleess completed 9 of 13 passes for 113 yard with Vaske making two catches for 41 yards. Legred had 34 yards on four receptions to complement his TD. McGuire posted 95 yards on 20 carries for the Bucs.

VonRuden totaled 122 yards on 8-for-17 passing with two interceptions. Gengler caught five passes for 102 yards.

MED 0 9 0 6–15

BEA 2 6 13 13–34

SCORING PLAYS

1st Quarter

BEA — Jordan Huse safety, 11:00.

2nd Quarter

M — Javis VonRuden 10 field goal, 10:08.

BEA — Hunter Bleess 32 run (2-PT fail), 6:58.

M — Alex Gengler 23 pass from VonRuden (kick blocked), 0:20.

3rd Quarter

BEA — Caelan Sanders 8 run (2-PT fail), 9:01.

BEA — Jacob Vaske 58 fumble return (Alex Reece kick), 7:03.

4th Quarter

BEA — Jonah Legred 7 pass from Bleess (2-PT fail), 11:06.

BEA — Rylee McGuire 6 run (Reece kick), 6:05.

M — Gengler 32 pass from VonRuden (2-PT fail), 3:43.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: Blue Earth Area 12; Medford 7. Rushing: Blue Earth Area 37-185; Medford 24-104. Passing: Medford 8-17-2-122; Blue Earth Area 9-13-0-119. Fumbles-lost: Medford 4-1; Blue Earth Area 2-2. Penalties: Medford 4-27; Blue Earth Aera 4-29.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Offense: Rushing: Rylee McGuire (BEA) 20-95; Hunter Bleess (BEA) 7-32; Nate Meixner (M) 5-42; Bo Noble (M) 7-17. Passing: Javis VonRuden (M) 8-17-2-122; Bleess (BEA) 9-13-0-119. Receiving: Alex Gengler (M) 5-122; Jacob Vaske (BEA) 2-41; Jonah Legred (BEA) 4-34.

Defense: Interceptions: Caelan Sanders (BEA), Joe Schavey (BEA). QB sack: Mitchell Borwege (M) 2, Zach Wetmore (M). Fumble recoveries: Brody Berg (M), Jerone Chavis (M), Jacob Vaske (BEA).

Section 3, 9-Man

Nicollet 62, Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman 18 — The No. 1-seeded Raiders rolled to a 44-point postseason victory over the No. 8-seeded Jaguars on Tuesday night in Nicollet.

Nicollet (6-3) advances to play host to No. 4-seeded Mountain Lake Area (6-3) in a 3 p.m. Section 3, 9-Man semifinal clash on Saturday in Nicollet. The Wolverines edged No. 5-seeded Hills-Beaver Creek, 14-6, during sectional quarterfinal action Tuesday night.

Granada-Huntley-East Chain ended its season with a 1-8 record.

No team or individual statistics were available.

Section 3AAA

Luverne 21, Worthington 8 — Junior quarterback Ben Serie scored a pair of rushing touchdowns to power the No. 4-seeded Cardinals to a 13-point postseason triumph over the No. 5-seeded Trojans on Tuesday night in Luverne.

Luverne (5-4), winners of five consecutive games, advances to face Class AAA No. 4-ranked and top-seeded Fairmont (7-1) in a 3 p.m. Section 3 semifinal game on Saturday at Mahoney Field in Fairmont. Fairmont earned an opening-round bye on Tuesday.

Worthington ended its season with a 2-7 record.

Serie crossed the goal line on a 5-yard run at the 4:22 juncture of the opening quarter before running back Declan Beers hammered into the end zone from 1 yard out at the 3:33 mark of the second segment. Kasyn Kruse sprinted into the end zone for the 2-point conversion to extend Luverne’s halftime lead to 14-0.

Serie hit paydirt on a 1-yard keeper before Frederik Nielsen kicked the PAT for a 21-0 lead with 6:26 left in the third quarter.

Ironically, Worthington countered with a safety with 1:31 remaining in the third quarter, but could not capitalize on the ensuing free kick and good field position as Luverne defensive back Charles Reisch pocketed an interception.

Defensive lineman Nathan Boneschans tipped, intercepted and rumbled 91 yards to paydirt to account for Worthington’s only touchdown of the playoff game with 9:25 remaining in the fourth frame.

WOR 0 0 2 6– 8

LUV 6 8 7 0–21