Whether rushing to his left, his right, or up the middle, BEA running back Parker Meyers (10) found plenty of room to run in the Bucs’ 38-6 victory over the Maple River Eagles on Saturday, Oct. 29.

Blue Earth Area’s Parker Meyers outgained the Maple River offense 292 yards to 210 and the No. 2-seeded Bucs ousted the No. 3-seeded Eagles 38-6 from the Section 2AA playoffs on Saturday, Oct. 29, in Blue Earth.

When the two teams met during the regular season, the game was not decided until the last play of the game when BEA’s quarterback, Ashton Lloyd, threw the game-winning touchdown pass to receiver Jack Norman to give the Bucs a 24-21 victory.

Early on it appeared the rematch might go the same way.

After neither team scored on their initial possessions, BEA began their second drive of the game on their own 40-yard line.

Meyers began the drive with a five-yard run up the middle. A pass to Norman moved the ball into Maple River territory at the 42-yard line. Lloyd carried the ball for seven yards before connecting with Colton Hubly for an 11-yard gain.

Two runs by Lloyd advanced the ball to the five-yard line and two more runs by Meyers resulted in the Bucs’ first touchdown of the game.

The extra-point kick was blocked but BEA had a 6-0 lead with 4:57 to go in the first quarter.

Following the ensuing kickoff, the Eagles began their drive on their own 27-yard line.

It took Maple River five plays to march to the BEA 35-yard line.

Facing fourth down and needing six yards to keep their drive going, the Eagles went to their bag of tricks with a double pass. Maple River’s Cale Hansen came down with the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

The Eagles’ extra-point kick failed and with 2:26 remaining in the first quarter the teams were locked in a 6-6 tie.

It would be the last time Maple River would score for the night.

The Bucs began their next drive on their own 31-yard line and put together an 11-play drive which ended with Meyers carrying the ball over the goal line from the three for a 12-6 lead.

Meyers took the direct snap and carried the ball in for a two-point conversion and a 14-6 lead 35 seconds into the second quarter.

The Bucs added another touchdown with 5:26 to go until halftime.

The eight-play drive covered 63 yards with Meyers rushing the ball on all eight plays with his final carry of three yards reaching the end zone for the score.

Meyers ran the ball in for the extra point to give BEA a 22-6 lead, but the Bucs were not done yet.

After stopping the Eagles again, the Bucs got the ball back at their own 14-yard line with 1:51 left in the half.

It only took one play for the Maroon and Gold to score.

Meyers took the direct snap and with the left side of the line setting an edge, he raced down the visitors’ sideline for an 86-yard touchdown run.

Another two-point conversion by Meyers gave the Bucs a 30-6 lead to end the opening half.

Neither squad scored in the third quarter.

Meyers ran for his fifth touchdown of the night on a nine-yard run up the middle with 2:18 left in the game. His fourth two-point conversion of the night gave the Bucs the 38-6 victory.

“We just stayed with what worked,” BEA head coach Randy Kuechenmeister said, referring to the success of Meyers running the ball.

The senior running back finished the game with 264 rushing yards on 36 carries for a 7.3 yards per carry average while scoring five touchdowns and carrying for four extra-points.

He also caught two passes for 28 yards.

Lloyd carried the ball seven times for 45 yards and completed 7 of 12 pass attempts for 87 yards.

In addition to Meyers’ two receptions, Norman caught three passes for 30 yards, Noah Johnson had one reception for 18 yards and Hubly had one catch for 11 yards.

BEA was 5 of 8 on third-down conversions.

Leading the Bucs on defense were Kade Gaydon with eight tackles and Johnson who tallied seven tackles. The Bucs also had four quarterback sacks in the game.

Maple River ends their season with a 7-3 record.

BEA improves to 8-2. They faced the No. 1-seeded St. Clair/Mankato Loyola Spartans on Friday, Nov. 4, at Janesville, in the Section 2AA championship.

The Spartans entered that game with an undefeated record of 10-0.

Look for the results of that contest in next week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.