TD-Pass Hat Trick Propels #10 FC to First Place
Fillmore Central football has owned the Mid-Southeast-Blue division the last two years. It seems it will be a hat trick for the Falcons. It took a hat trick, of touchdown passes, to put the Falcons in driver’s seat. In a big week six showdown, Chris Mensink’s Falcons (4-1, 4-1) took on Lewiston-Altura (4-1, 4-1) on the road in a battle for sole possession of first place in the division. The Cardinals, coached by Lanesboro grad Brent Olson, racked up some yards. They even had the game’s first score, taking the opening kickoff 63 yards in 15 plays. A Peyton Snikter to Zane Nelson 7-yard TD pass on 4th and five put the Cards on the board first, 7-0. But the rest of the half was the Bridon Bahl to Greg Kennedy show. Kennedy, a 6’6” senior wideout with great speed, could not be stopped. He hauled in a 20-yard strike from Bahl to make it 7-7. One series later, it was a 45-yard strike to make it 14-7. L-A then marched to the FC 10, but a key Connor Hovey sack set the Cardinals back. They turned the ball over on downs. FC’s offensive line and running back Kane Larson also churned out yardage. The Falcons’ next series lasted 15 plays and went 82 yards. Thirteen were on the ground. Larson had nine carries, including the capper, a one-yard plunge on 4th and goal. FC built a 21-7 lead. But they were not done. Taking possession with 1:14 left in the half, a Bahl to Anthony Kiehne 16-yard pass on 4th down was key to setting up Bahl to Kennedy for 31-yards, the hat trick of TD passes. FC went to half up 27-7. A third quarter L-A score was then matched by the Falcons. FC (5-1, 5-1) posted a 35-14 win, taking control of the MSE-Blue over the Cardinals (4-2, 4-2). Bahl (12-16, 182 yards, 3 TDs passing) to Kennedy (4-122, 3 TDs receiving) was the connection of the night. All their hookups were in the first half. On the ground, Larson toted 31 times for 140 yards and 2 TDs. Every carry, save his last, went for positive yards. Falcons Atlee Hershberger (5’10” 203) Joey Ristau (6’4” 195), Ryan Schroeder (5’11” 245), Joseph Otto (6’2” 260), and Tyler Gulbranson (6’7” 285) controlled the offensive line of scrimmage. Kiehne added 79 all-purpose yards (6-67 receiving, 3-12 rushing). Cody Serfling had a key 32-yard run set up the Falcons’ first score. L-A ran for 258 yards, with Eli Jensen (15-121 rushing), William Kreidermacher (9-59 rushing), and Carter Cady (6-73 rushing) leading the way. But L-A had just 25 yards passing. The Cardinals put up 283 total yards, FC 398.
#7 Spring Grove Outscores Kingsland in Week-Six Showdown
Spring Grove and Kingsland, the last two state runners-up in 9-player football, traded touchdowns all night with the lead changing hands with each score. The state-ranked #7 Lions scored first and last, hanging on to win, 36-32, to remain undefeated (5-0, 6-0) and tied for the sub-district lead. The Knights (4-2, 4-2), would have been state ranked except for a season-opening setback against now #6 LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle/Pacelli (5-0, 6-0), the South-East co-leader. When the touchdown count was even, the Knights would lead by a point or two due to Caden Reiter kicking two extra points, while the Lions never converted. It ended up with six Spring Grove TDs (no extra points) and five Kingsland TDs (two extra points). Most numbers were as close as the score. The Knights had five more rushing yards (220 to 215), while the Lions had eight more passing yards (204 to 196). KHS ran 54 plays, SG 52. Each team had 18 pass attempts with the Knights completing 10, the Lions 9. Spring Grove earned 18 first downs, Kingsland 16. Considering big-yardage plays of 20-plus yards, SG had 6, KHS 5. It was not always pretty. Despite fumbling eight times, Kingsland did not have a turnover. Grove had three fumbles, losing one. Both teams had a touchdown called back due to a penalty. The final Kingsland possession was scuttled by back-to-back holding penalties. It was a familiar script for SG with dual-threat quarterback Bryce Berns accounting for five touchdowns and 335 yards of total offense (164 rushing, 171 passing). The shifty, senior speedster had four TD runs (42, 18, 60 and 19 yards), the latter the game-winner with three minutes to play. He threw a 79-yard TD pass to Zach Brumm (3-123 receiving), who beat a defender to the ball 24 yards downfield and then raced untouched for the final 55 yards for an 18-13 lead just four seconds before halftime. The game began with Brumm throwing a wide receiver reverse pass 33 yards to Troy Reinhardt. Brumm averaged 20 yards per kickoff return and was the Lions’ leading tackler with 13 (8 solo) stops. Kingsland’s pass rush and coverage was stout, but Berns completed 8 of 17 for 171 yards and a touchdown. A 30-yard reception by Ben Udstuen (3-34) set up Sylas Flatin’s one-yard TD run as the Lions regained the lead, 24-20. KHS senior Zach Reiland amassed 374 yards of all-purpose running (151 rushing, 101 receiving, 122 kick returning). He scored on a two-yard run and caught two passes, both for dynamic touchdowns (59 and 42 yards). The Knights were playing without their all-district quarterback Kaaleem Reiland, but stand-in Caden Reiter (10-18-0, 196 yards) threw those two touchdown bombs to Reiland plus a 17-yard TD toss to All-State Parker Johnson. Reiter scored himself with a 42-yard punt return. The Knights had scoring possessions covering 75, 70, 45 and 42 yards. The Lions scored on drives of 68, 75, 98, 80 and 80 yards. Fourth-down plays were critical. The Lions scored the winning touchdown on their only fourth-down attempt. KHS converted fourth-and-goal from the Lion 16 with a Reiter to Johnson TD pass. The Knights converted a fourth-and-11 with a 20-yard Reiter to K.D. Reiland screen pass down to Lion one-yard line that led to a 26-24 Kingsland lead. But the Knights lost the ball on downs four times – at the Lion 25, 2, 16 and 45 yard-lines. The stop at the Lion 2 was followed by SG going 98 yards in three plays just four seconds before halftime.
Trojans Even Record with WinVersus Cotter
In a game featuring nine turnovers, Rushford-Peterson (2-3) posted a win over Winona-Cotter (3-2) at Maxwell Field in Winona. Joel Hinke’s Trojans had a trio of first half turnovers (including one in the red zone), but Cotter had two. R-P used a Creighton Hoiness interception to set up a short field (26 yards) and the first points of the game. A Jonah Bunke 3-yard run put R-P up 6-0 in the first quarter. Cotter had just one good first-half drive, and it resulted in their only points of the game. An eight-play, 55-yard sequence was capped by a Dane Guzzo 2-yard TD run. At the half, the score was knotted 6-6. R-P then scored with its first second half possession. Caden Lea hit Hoiness for an 18-yard TD strike on 4th and five. Early in the fourth, R-P went 63 yards in seven plays. A Lea to Bunke 27-yard pitch and catch propped the lead to 20-6. Cotter subsequently was held on downs in the red zone, enabling R-P to post a 20-6 win. Bunke (14-111, TD rushing; 4-38, TD receiving) was the team’s leading rusher and receiver. Lea, a sophomore (9-20, 87 yards, TD, 2 INT passing), got a win in his second game as starting QB. No other Trojan had over 40 yards offense. Each team had under 200 yards offense; R-P 191, Cotter 184. The Ramblers had five turnovers including three in the second half. R-P got two interceptions from Carson Johnson and one each from Will LaFleur and Hoiness. R-P improved to 3-3 overall and in the Mid-Southeast-Blue.
Larks Hold Off Burros for First Win
Dalton Pischke scored on a 13-yard run midway through the fourth quarter to give Grand Meadow a 14-6 lead. Lanesboro subsequently drove to the GM eight yard-line in the final minute, including converting a 4th and 11. They also got a pass interference penalty in the red zone to enable one last play, but Lark Sawyer Hanenberger knocked away a pass intended for Cole Sass in the end zone to ice the contest. Each team scored in the second quarter. Lanesboro got a 4th and goal, 13-yard TD pass from Mason Gilbertson to Reid Olson. After recovering a muffed punt in Burro territory, Pischke scored on a 4-yard run, leaving the score 6-6 at intermission. Each team entered at 0-5 overall, looking for a win. Blake Hubbard (11-79) was GM’s top rusher while recovering the muffed punt. Pischke had the two scores. Sass (23-90 rushing), Gilbertson (9-46 rushing, 4-16, 42 yards, TD passing), and Olson (4-42 receiving) led the Burros. GM is now 1-4 in the South-East, 1-5 overall. Lanesboro is 0-5, 0-6
South-East District Football (10/4)
Mabel-Canton 14, Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons 59 (M-C: Kale Tollefsrud 22-120 rushing, 3-40 receiving; Tyler Larson 16-59 rushing; Isaac Underbakke 3-7, 40 yards, 2 INTs passing, rushing TD; Kale Eiken 9-45, TD rushing. After leading 8-6 after one quarter, M-C gave up a 26-point second quarter and a 21-point third quarter all without a reply. Knight running back Darin Linn (16 carries, 149 yards) ran for five first half TDs. ACGE scored on every possession but their last when time expired, and they had three 80-plus yard TD drives. M-C is 3-3 in the South-East, 3-3 overall)
Houston 68, Nicolett 28 (H: L. Klunder 11-79, 4 TDs rushing; M. Rodriguez 24-129, 2 TDs, 4-82 receiving; Morgan Rohweder 11-14, 158 yards, TD, rushing TD; Lucas Burt 2-68, TD rushing; Axel Vix 3-43, TD receiving; Rysen Gorman 7-65 rushing, 19-yard reception; Hector Steinfeldt rushing TD. Houston ran for 346 yards and had 504 yards total offense)
#6 in 9-Man LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle/Pacelli 55, Southland 13 (LOLP: C. Hungerholt 21-271, 4 TDs rushing, 8-18, 141 yards, 2 TDs passing; Tyson Stevens 13-116, TD rushing; Carter Sweeney 5-69, TD receiving; Reid Hungerholt 2-62 receiving; Landon Meyer 10-yard TD reception. LOLP had four interceptions – Hungerholt, Hungerholt, Stevens and Sweeney. The score was 7-7 after one quarter. The Cardinals then put up 34 unanswered points to lead 34-7 in the third quarter. C-Hungerholt has 1,332 yards and 17 TDs rushing, 987 yards passing with 14 TDs and one interception on the year)
Southeast-White District Football (10/4)
#3 in AA Chatfield 52, La Crescent/Hokah 8 (C: C. Rowland 8-84, 3 TDs rushing, 6-9, 109 yards, TD, INT passing; D’Andre Williams 4-61, 2 TDs rushing; Ben Carrier 4-53 rushing; Kaisen Johnson 3-64, TD receiving; Ezra Schild 15-yard TD run; Ethan Cole sack, fumble recovery. Chatfield jumped out to a 24-0 lead after one quarter and a 45-0 lead at the half. The Gophers ran for 271 yards on 16 carries and put up 401 total yards. The defense had four sacks and forced three turnovers.)
#5 in AA Caledonia 28, St. Charles 0 (C: E. Stendel 13-24, 139 yards, 2 TDs, INT passing, 7-74, 2 TDs rushing; Tristan Meyer 6-86, 2 TDs receiving; Noah Schroeder 12-65 rushing. Caledonia built a 28-0 lead after three quarters and pitched their fourth shutout of the year. Three have been 28-0 and the other 27-0.)
Leave a Reply