Grand Meadow quarterback Trenton Bleifus rolls out looking for a receiver in the third quarter against South Ridge Friday morning in the MInnesota State Nine Man semifinals in the Metrodome. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

MINNEAPOLIS — The Superlarks were expecting the battle of their lives when they headed to the Metrodome for the nine man state football semifinals, but what they ended up with was their second most lopsided victory of the season.

Grand Meadow led 44-0 at the half and it rolled past South Ridge 61-6 to earn a trip to the Minnesota nine man football state title game Friday.

“The whole week we were preparing for the best team we’ve played all year and we thought they were gonna put up a fight,” said Grand Meadow sophomore running back/linebacker Landon Jacobson. “They did at times, but we overpowered them most of the time and we took care of business.”

The Panthers (11-2 overall) didn’t pick up a first down until GM was called for a facemasking penalty with 4:39 left in the first half and SR had just 22 yards of offense going into the fourth quarter.

“This is the fastest defense I’ve had since I’ve been here,” GM head coach Gary Sloan said. “We tried to get multiple people to the ball and we did a good job of it today.”

The first half ran like a highlight film for the Superlark offense. Quarterback Trenton Bleifus found Bryce Benson for a 35-yard pass on the opening drive and Perry Stejskal capped off the first two drives with a 16-yard TD run on the edge and a plunge from a yard out on fourth and goal to make it 14-0.

“We came out hot. We came out on fire,” said Stejskal, who ran for 42 yards, but left the game with a knee injury in the second quarter. “We were ready to go.”

Bleifus finished with four scoring throws in the first half as he found Collin Jacobson for a 32-yard strike over the middle, and he threw two touchdowns on fourth down as he found Landon Jacobson for 14 yards on fourth and six and he hit Bryce Benson for 13 yards on fourth and six.

Benson also caught an 18-yard TD from Bleifus.

“I was looking for Bryce and Collin, but I guess Bryce turned out to have more touchdowns today,” Bleifus said. “We were really surprised by how much we beat them by. We thought it was going to be a close game, but we didn’t let go.”

When the damage was done, the Larks (12-1 overall) outgained the Panthers 485 to 71 yards.

The Larks aren’t about to sit back and be satisfied. They now have to focus on the state title game as they will take on Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley Friday at 10 a.m. in the Metrodome.

CGB (11-0 overall) beat Goodridge-Grygla-Gatzke 38-8 to get to the title game and they haven’t given up more than two scores in a game all season.

“This win was amazing, but our goal wasn’t to get to the dome,” Landon Jacobson said. “It was to get to the dome and win and we’ve got next week to take care of.”

GM STATS

Rushing: Trenton Bleifus, 8-for-86; Landon Jacobson, 12-for-77, TD; Cameron Gomer, 6-for-49, TD; Perry Stejskal, 6-for-42, 2 TD; Blake Olson, 7-for-29, TD; Cole Hartson, 1-for-23; Trent Tangen, 5-for-20, TD; Michael Stejskal, 1-for-8; Dylan Bathke, 1-for-2; Cameron Turner, 1-for-(-3); Passing: Bleifus, 10-for-17, 153, 4 TD; Receiving: Bryce Benson, 4-for-76, 2 TD; Landon Jacobson, 3-for-31, TD; Collin Jacobson, 2-for-35, TD; Perry Stejskal, 1-for-11; Sacks: Wyatt Richardson (1); Brock Johnson (1); Interceptions: Bleifus (1); Fumble recovery: Gomer (1)

SCORING SUMMARY

SR 0 0 0 6 — 6

GM 22 22 7 12 — 61

First quarter

(GM) Perry Stejskal 16 run (Landon Jacobson run) (4 plays, 60 yards) 9:20

(GM) Stejskal 1 run (pass failed) (10 plays, 68 yards) 3:37

(GM) Collin Jacobson 32 pass from Trenton Bleifus (Bleifus run) (1 play, 32 yards) 3:06

Second quarter

(GM) Bryce Benson 18 pass from Bleifus (Bleifus run) (6 plays, 48 yards) 8:43

(GM) Landon Jacobson 14 pass from Bleifus (kick failed) (5 plays, 45 yards) 4:51

(GM) Benson 13 pass from Bleifus (pass failed) (6 plays, 35 yards) 2:03

Third quarter

(GM) Cameron Gomer 14 run (Wyatt Richardson kick) (6 plays, 65 yards) 9:56

Fourth quarter

(GM) Blake Olson 7 run (run failed) (9 plays, 57 yards) 11:02

(SR) Drew Janke 10 pass from Kody Karppinbin) (pass failed) (8 plays, 52 yards) 6:49

(GM) Trent Tangen 1 run (run failed) (9 plays, 44 yards) 2:51