Yes, there were some offensive highlights and points put on the board by the NRHEG football team.
Unfortunately, most of it did not happen until the fourth quarter when the game was already well in hand.
With many players on the sidelines with various ineligibility issues, the Panthers struggled in their season opener and lost 36-13 to a quality Mayer Lutheran crew Friday, Sept. 2 in New Richland.
It didn’t start well for the Panthers, who fumbled twice in the first quarter, both leading to Mayer Lutheran touchdowns.
The Crusaders controlled the ball and the clock as NRHEG ran six plays in the opening period and managed one first down by halftime, when they trailed 23-0 as ML connected on a 32-yard touchdown pass in the closing seconds.
It was 36-0 before the Panthers scored in the fourth quarter on a 65-yard pass from Sam Prigge to Perry Peterson and a 16-yard pass from Jake Stork to Cole Staloch.
Sophomore Alex Buckmeier led the defense with nine solo and 10.5 total tackles.
“Mayer Lutheran was very physical,” said Panthers coach Dan Stork. “Our youth and lack of depth showed. We only got them into third and long one time. They had too many long drives that just wore us down. Offensively, we really struggled getting anything going.”
The Panthers hope to bounce back this week at Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity.
Mayer Lutheran 36, NRHEG 13
ML 7 16 7 6 — 36
NRHEG 0 0 0 13 — 13
First Quarter
ML — Johnson 3 run (Wilaby kick)
Second Quarter
ML — Menth 2 run (Wilaby kick)
ML — Wilaby 23 field goal
ML — Carlson 32 pass from Noennig (kick failed)
Third Quarter
ML — Carlson 15 run (Wilaby kick)
Fourth Quarter
ML — Johnson 7 run (kick failed)
NRHEG — Peterson 65 pass from Prigge (Prigge kick)
NRHEG — Staloch 16 pass from Stork (pass failed)
ML NRHEG
First Downs 17 7
Rushing attempts 55 17
Yds. Rushing 252 45
Passing 9-16-0 8-19-0
Yds. Passing 131 169
Total plays 71 36
Total Yds. 383 214
Penalties 5-41 2-15
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-3
Third down 10-18 1-8
Punts-Avg. 4-32.5 4-28.3
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — NRHEG: Peterson 5-35; Thompson 1-9; Bailey 4-4; Prigge 2-4; Jacobson 2-0; Stork 3 —7; ML: Johnson 19-108; Menth 20-86; Carlson 4-65; Thiesfeld 3-1; Noennig 5 —1; Flucas 3 —7
Passing — NRHEG: Prigge 5-14-111; Stork 3-5-58; ML: Noennig 8-15-131; Flucas 1-1-0
Receiving — NRHEG: Peterson 3-96; B.Agrimson 1-24; Staloch 2-24; Schuller 1-18; Bailey 1-7; ML: Carlson 3-80; Johnson 3-35; Fischer 2-16
NRHEG DEFENSE (tackles)
Buckmeier 10.5; Staloch 7; Bailey 6.5; Schultz 5; Jacobson 4.5; Knutson 4.5; Peterson 3; Prigge 3; Hogstad 2; Stork 2; C.Agrimson 2; Arndt 1.5; Thompson 1.5