BEA captains, above left, left to right, Noah Johnson, Parker Meyers and Jack Norman pose with the Section Championship trophy after the Bucs defeated the St. Clair/Loyola Spartans 44-20 on Friday night, Nov. 4.

The No. 2-seeded Blue Earth Area Buccaneers earned their third Section title in the last four years when they defeated the No. 1-seeded St. Clair/Loyola Spartans 44-20 in the Section 2AA Championship played at Janesville on Friday night, Nov. 4.

The victory meant the Bucs would open Class 2AA State Tournament play on Nov. 10, in Rochester, against defending State Champion Chatfield, winners of a 10-8 contest over Caledonia in the Section 1AA final.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Bucs got on the board on the first play of the second quarter when quarterback Ashton Lloyd was able to escape the Spartans’ pass rush and buy some time for receiver Colton Hubly to get open for a 54-yard touchdown reception.

Parker Meyers ran the ball in for the extra point to put BEA on top 8-0 with 11:48 left to go in the second quarter.

St. Clair responded with a touchdown on their ensuing drive with running back Eli Kruse crossing the goal line on a 20-yard run.

The Spartans’ attempt for a two-point conversion was thwarted when the Buccaneer defense stopped Kruse before he could reach the end zone. With 6:41 remaining until half time, BEA held an 8-6 lead.

Starting their next drive on the St. Clair 41-yard line, Lloyd ran up the middle for a 38-yard gain to the Spartans’ 21-yard line.

Three plays later Lloyd connected with Hubly again for 18 yards and another Bucs’ touchdown.

Meyers completed the first-half scoring by running the ball in for the two-point conversion to make the score 16-6 with 4:59 to go until intermission.

Caleb Langager gave BEA good field position to start the second half when he returned the St. Clair/Loyola kickoff 40 yards to the Spartans’ 48-yard line.

After running three plays to get a first down at the 38-yard line, Meyers took the ball on the next play on a sweep to the right and picked up 19 yards to advance the ball to the 19-yard line.

A nine-yard pass to Jack Norman moved the ball to the 10-yard line. Meyers finished the drive off with runs of seven and three yards to increase the Bucs’ lead to 22-6 with 8:36 left in the third quarter. The PAT failed.

The next score would not come until there was 10:43 remaining in the contest.

BEA put together a five-play drive which began on the Spartans’ 39-yard line and ended when Lloyd broke free for an 18-yard run to the end zone. The extra-point attempt failed but the Bucs had increased their lead to 28-6 with 10:43 remaining on the scoreboard clock.

St. Clair/Loyola struck back quickly and scored their second touchdown of the evening on a 39-yard run by Brandon Meng. Their two-point attempt failed so the score stood at Bucs 28, Spartans 12 with 10:05 left in the game.

The Bucs began their next drive with a penalty which put the ball on their own 20-yard line.

Lloyd lofted a pass to Norman who made a leaping reception before shedding a would-be tackler and sprinting to the end zone for an 80-yard touchdown reception. Meyers ran the ball in for the two-point conversion and a 36-12 lead with 8:57 left to play.

The Spartans only needed five plays to score after the ensuing kickoff with Simon Morgan catching a pass for a 56-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was good and with 7:57 to go in the game BEA’s lead was 36-20.

St. Clair/Loyola was penalized on the following kick off and following the rekick, BEA was in business at their own 39-yard line. Noah Johnson rushed for five yards to move the ball to the 44 before finding a seam in the middle of the defense on the next play and racing to the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown and a 42-20 lead. Meyers’ run for two points was successful and BEA held a 44-20 lead with just over seven minutes to play.

That was the end of the scoring so the Bucs earned the right to advance to State.

The Bucs produced 505 yards of total offense against a Spartans team which had entered the game allowing 176 yards of offense per game.

Lloyd completed eight of his 12 pass attempts for 209 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 73 yards and one score.

Meyers carried the ball for 128 yards and a touchdown. Noah Johnson had nine rushes for 94 yards and a touchdown.

Hubly caught two passes, both for touchdowns, while gaining 72 yards. Norman had three receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown.