Blooming Prairie won its second straight Section 1A title Friday at Triton High School in Dodge Center, overwhelming Goodhue 59-12. The Awesome Blossoms and Wildcats have met in the last three section championship games. BP's defense set the offense up with some turnovers and the offensive and defensive lines had great nights, according to coach Chad Gimbel.

On Saturday's KRFO High School Coaches Show, Gimbel said, "Pretty exciting again. I was super proud of the kids. The way they came out controlled the game and controlled the line of scrimmage. They allowed our running backs to get six, seven, eight yards up field before they were contacted. Defensive line didn't let them get their run game going."

Blooming Prairie's defense forced a three-and-out to open the game. BP went on about a 60-yard drive all on the ground to grab the 7-0 lead. The defense forced another quick punt and BP tacked on a 35-yard field goal for an early 10-0 lead.

Matthew Pryor had over 180 yards rushing in the first half and two scores on the night, "We just stuck with what was working," said Gimbel. Late in the first half, Blooming Prairie forced a pair of turnovers which they converted into points, "And the score just kind of exploded from there."

The Austin Daily Herald reports that Zach Weber intercepted a pass and Dylan Nirk recovered a fumble to set up those short fields. Gimbel gave credit to the defensive coaching staff for their work in getting the team ready for each game.

The team welcomed Karson Vigeland back from injury, "We were just working getting some timing with him and we missed him a few times. Now we know what we need to work on and we'll go back to practice and work on those throws."

BP will face Springfield Saturday, November 9 at 12 pm in the state quarterfinals. The winner will advance to US Bank Stadium for the semifinals. Blooming Prairie lost to BOLD in the semifinals last year. This title marks the ninth overall state tournament appearance for Blooming Prairie. Those years include 1974, 1975, 1979, 1983, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2018, and 2019.

 

 

 

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