ROLLING OUT — Blue Earth Area quarterback Jacob Grandgenett (12) rolls out to look for an open receiver during action in the Bucs’ Section 2AA semifinal football game against Maple River on Saturday in Mapleton. Blue Earth Area running back Caleb Langager (4) looks on. (Photo courtesy of Chuck Hunt/Faribault County Register)

MAPLETON — The No. 5-seeded Blue Earth Area Bucs slipped out of the snowy Section 2AA football playoffs against the No. 1-seeded Maple River Eagles, 21-0, on Saturday afternoon in Mapleton.

Maple River (9-1) advances to face the No. 3-seeded Triton Cobras (5-5) for the sectional championship at 7 p.m. Friday night on the artificial turf at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Stadium in Janesville. Triton reached the next round by defeating No. 2-seeded St. Clair/Mankato Loyola, 40-16.

Blue Earth Area ended its season with a 4-6 record.

Snow flurries affected both teams’ offenses and a sloppy outing from the Bucs proved costly during Saturday’s sectional semifinal.

Fumbled snaps and dormant offenses were the story of the first quarter, but Maple River wasted no time scoring in the second quarter.

Following a couple turnovers where the Eagles were unable to procure points, junior linebacker Wyatt Birr came up with a pivotal fumble recovery to spark the offense.

Just two plays later, senior running back Chad Schull found the end zone for the playoff game’s first points, giving the Eagles a 6-0 lead after a poor snap on the PAT.

Going into the second half, the Bucs only trailed by one score, but more miscues cost them a chance. Bucs junior quarterback Jacob Grandgenett fumbled the handoff exchange at his own 7-yard line. Two snaps later, Maple River sophomore quarterback Zach Trio ran it into the end zone. Schull also converted the two-point conversion run to make the score 14-0.

In what was ultimately a defensive battle, neither quarterback had much consistency and the game came down to who was going to make less mistakes. For the Bucs, Grandgenett finished his day going 9 of 17 passing for 76 yards and three interceptions. His counterpart on the Eagles — Trio — finished the game 4 for 9 with 27 yards passing.

Even though the scoreboard appeared fairly lopsided in the end, the Bucs’ defense held the Eagles to zero first downs until the second half of the game.

“I was very proud of the defense,” said Blue Earth Area head coach Randy Kuechenmeister. “I thought we had opportunities, but we just couldn’t make it happen with the mistakes we made and then after a while, you just kind of get beat down and that’s kind of what happened in the second half with our inability to move the ball efficiently on offense.”

Defensively, the Eagles didn’t make anything easy with multiple players making huge plays. Schull had an interception on defense to go with his rushing score, and junior defensive back Amarus Harris came up with the dagger interception late in the fourth quarter.

As for the Bucs, their main bright spot in the loss came from senior running back Caleb Langager, who carried the ball 15 times for a team-best 43 yards.

Even though the season has come to an end for the Bucs, they will take this year’s experience and hope to make it further in next season’s playoffs.

“You know, we talked about work in the offseason, we talked more about the journey we had this season,” Kuechenmeister said. “Starting out 0-5 and then winning four games (in a row), you know we just kept battling and I just kept telling them just how proud of them I was of their effort and everything they did this season.”

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BEA     0 0 0 0 — 0

MR      0 6 8 7 — 21

Scoring Plays

1st Quarter

No Scoring.

2nd Quarter

MR–Tyler Hollerich 2-yard run (conversion failed).

3rd Quarter

MR–Zach Trio 3-yard run (Chad Schull run).

4th Quarter

MR–Chad Schull 1-yard run (Julius Jeroncic kick).