Football: #3 Falcons Slog Past R-P 12-6

Mother nature was the most dominant force. The Mid-Southeast rivalry game between #3 in Class A Fillmore Central (3-0, 3-0) and Rushford-Peterson (0-3, 0-3) was denoted by negative yardage plays, balls-on-the-ground, and turnovers. The teams slogged through rain from start to finish. Collectively, they combined for less than 60 yards total offense. But for a second straight week, by way of a fourth quarter score, FC came out on top. The first score was a ball-on-the-ground situation. FC’s Joey Ristau blocked a Trojan punt and Henry Liew returned it 16 yards for the TD. R-P answered following another ball-on-the ground situation. A second quarter Falcon fumble gave the Trojans a short field. A Caden Johnson 17-yard run set up a Johnson to Bowen Woodward 1-yard jump-pass TD. The PAT was no good tying the game 6-6, the score at intermission. At that point, there had been 11 wayward footballs and five turnovers. The third quarter was entirely played on R-P’s end of the field. Turnovers twice saw FC take possession inside the Trojan 10, but the R-P defense did not yield (including to a 2nd and goal from the one). Midway through the fourth, Kane Larson came up with an interception to again put FC deep in the Trojan end. Anthony Kiehne, on his only carry of the game, then trekked 12 yards to give FC a 1st and goal at the four. Two plays later, Kyle Daniels punched it across from two yards out, making it 12-6 (3:24). And that was the final in a game with 11 turnovers (eight by R-P), 29 total negative yardage plays (18 by FC), and 22 total balls-on-the-ground. FC as a team had 48 yards total offense, R-P 5. Liew (blocked punt TD, sack, fumble recovery), Josh Haugerud (two interceptions), Larson (interception, fumble forced), and Daniels (two recoveries, sack) led FC’s defense. Titan Tekautz (two sacks, forced fumble, recovery) and Camdyn Anderson-Ingram (sack, recovery) led R-P’s defense. FC (4-0, 4-0) stays atop Mid-Southeast-East sub-division while R-P (0-4, 0-4) moves on to the easier part of their schedule. The game featured the rare 79-yard flip in field position. A Falcon punt to the Trojan one was annulled by penalty. It was then followed by a punt gone awry, setting R-P up at the FC 20.