ALEXANDRIA — The Minneota Vikings football team earned a berth in the Class A state tournament semifinals by defeating Breckenridge 35-7 Friday night.

Zach Fier started the scoring off with a 21-yard run for a touchdown putting the Vikings up 7-0 early. The Vikings would add another touchdown by Anthony Rybinski rushing from four yards out but missed the extra point to go up 13-0

The Cowboys would score on a 97-yard kickoff return, cutting the deficit to 13-7. However, turnovers would doom the Cowboys. Breckenridge ended up stopping Minneota and forcing a punt. Then the cowboys fumbled the ball on their next offensive drive, setting up a Ryan Meagher touchdown run from 17 yards out, extending Minneota’s lead to 21-7 going into halftime.

In the opening drive of the second half, the Vikings went on a 10-minute drive that resulted in a missed field goal. The Cowboys would take over and again would fumble the ball, turning it over to the Vikings.

Isaac Pohlen threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Peyton Gillund early in the fourth quarter, putting the game out of reach. The Vikings would add another touchdown by Meagher, a 13-yard run, bringing them to their final score of 35-7.

The Cowboys’ offense struggled to find any offensive rhythm the entire game. Breckenridge gave up more touchdowns, five, than they amassed first downs, four.

“We executed very well on both sides of the ball tonight,” Vikings head coach Chad Johnston said. “We didn’t have any turnovers and we were able to possess the ball. We made some personnel changes on both sides of the ball and also we are healthy, and that has been crucial. Ball security is crucial, and we knew that we could possibly get them to make mistakes. We capitalize on the mistakes that they made. Pohlen has been playing well and we’ve been taking the pressure off of him by running the ball. He is also making the right checks and reads at the line of scrimmage. He is playing with a lot of confidence right now.”

Johnston added that the team wants to take it one game at a time and they’re excited to make it out of our section. The team wants to win a state championship but knows every other team remaining is thinking like them. The Minneota Vikings defense has surrendered 27 points total in the last four games and only 3 offensive touchdowns.

The Minneota Vikings will face off against Fillmore Central Falcons next Saturday in US Bank Stadium at 11:30 a.m.