Eden Valley-Watkins sinks Cannon Falls in Class 2A football semifinal

Big plays lifted Eden Valley-Watkins past Cannon Falls 42-24 on Friday in the semifinals of the Class 2A football state tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Eagles had 10 plays of 10 yards or more, including three touchdowns of more than 20 yards. They also blocked a punt and made an interception inside their own 10-yard line.

"We were pretty confident on a lot of our outside plays," said Eagles senior quarterback Nolan Geislinger, who ran for 120 yards and two touchdowns. "It showed we were a lot faster than them. It was just making that big play."

Wyatt Moehrle led the way for the Eagles (12-0). He had four catches for 170 yards and three touchdowns, made a 22-yard touchdown run and caught two two-point conversion passes. He got going right away with a toe-dragging 36-yard catch on third-and-22 on the team's first possession.

The Bombers (10-3) were unable to match the big plays but had 454 total yards, 449 of them rushing, and averaged more than 5 yards per play.

"I'm proud of the way these guys battled. In the second half, we really got the offense going," Cannon Falls coach Dan Meyers said. "The bottom line is that we gave up too many big plays. …

"I think there were three or four times in the game we had third-and-long, and they converted all of those. If we were able to get some stops there on third down, it could have been a whole different story."

Dylan Banks led Cannon Falls with 152 rushing yards and a touchdown and a two-point conversion run. Derrik Bechtholdt added 127 rushing yards and a touchdown, and Sam Shepersky had 81 rushing yards and a touchdown.