The Albert Lea Grizzlies football team earned a spot in the Southern Plains Football League title game Saturday with a 34-19 win over the Buffalo Ridge Wildcats at the Southwest Middle School field.

The Grizzlies put together its best game of the season in front of an announced attendance of 250 fans and dominated from the opening kickoff.

“We played better that game that any of our games all season,” Grizzlies president Craig Schmidt said. “There were not very many penalty mistakes and we played a pretty clean game.”

The Wildcats got on the board first with a 35-yard field goal early in the first quarter. From there it was all Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies took a 6-3 lead on a 53-yard pass from Tony Tolbers to E.J. Knight.

In the second quarter, the Wildcats missed a 40-yard field goal, and the Grizzlies’ George Gerdes responded with a 5-yard touchdown run to pull the Grizzlies ahead 12-3. On the ensuing Wildcats drive, the Grizzlies’ Tyler Kibbee intercepted a pass on the 50-yard line, and Tolbers connected with Jake McKlaskey for a 12-yard touchdown reception. Gerdes ran in the two-point conversion for a 20-3 lead.

The Wildcats put together a long drive on its next possession but the Grizzlies again forced a turnover. Steven Salinas intercepted the ball in the redzone and returned it 20 yards. A 50-yard pass from Tolbers to Knight set up a 10-yard touchdown pass from Tolbers to McKlaskey. The Wildcats missed a 25-yard field goal as time expired and the Grizzlies lead 26-6 at halftime.

In the second half, the Wildcats drove all the way to the Grizzlies’ 5-yard line before turning the ball over on downs. Deep in his own territory, Tolbers threw an interception on the 9-yard line, and the Wildcats ran the ball to the 1-yard line on first down. The Grizzlies kept the Wildcats out off the endzone, though, on three consecutive downs and forced another turnover.

On the very next play, Tobers threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to McKlaskey, and Dustin Peterson ran in the two-point conversion for a 34-6 lead. The Wildcats then scored twice before time expired.

The Grizzlies play in the SPFL championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday against the South Central Hawgs in Truman. The Grizzlies lost to the Hawgs 24-20 on May 21 at the Southwest Middle School field.