Minneota overwhelms Springfield in Class 1A Prep Bowl, wins ninth state title

Mistakes mounted early for Minneota in the Class 1A Prep Bowl state championship rematch against Springfield.

A fumble. An overthrown pass. Costly penalties.

"We were a little unfortunate throughout the game … as far as taking care of the football," Vikings coach Chad Johnston said. "But like I told one of my assistant coaches at the very end, we can critique and critique, but we are state champions, and we are pretty happy with that."

Ultimately more dominant than deficient, Minneota rolled to a 43-22 victory Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Junior running back Ryan Meagher overthrew his receiver on a gadget play to start the game, but all was forgotten as he finished the game with 199 yards and tied the Prep Bowl record with five rushing touchdowns. He ran for a trio of first-half touchdowns to establish the Vikings (14-0) from the start.

Meagher estimated the gameworthiness of his injured ankle at 85% to 90%, but he didn't appear hobbled on any of his 29 carries.

"To do what he did was great, and playing banged-up says a lot about his character," Johnston said. "Great performance by him."

Springfield (12-2) got a touchdown pass from Jakob Nachreiner to Brayden Sturm with 30 seconds until halftime. Nachreiner added a second touchdown toss to Carter Olson in the fourth quarter. Then a third to Sturm. Olson grabbed nine balls for 163 yards, but the Vikings defense sacked Nachreiner five times and recovered four fumbles.

"We were definitely capable of closing the gap on them," senior Sam Rummel said. "We just kind of hurt ourselves in important situations."

Coach Adam Meyer said: "These guys were ready for the moment. We had too many uncharacteristic miscues."