NRHEG wins third straight at GFW
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
NRHEG football coach Dan Stork was concerned heading into last Friday’s game at Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop. The Panthers did not practice Thursday, instead spending the day sandbagging and helping New Richland recover from the flood.
It didn’t take them long to ease Stork’s mind.
Sam Prigge hit Cole Staloch with a 65-yard touchdown pass on their first play from scrimmage and the Panthers steamrolled to a 58-8 conquest at Winthrop.
“I was concerned how we would perform,” said Stork, whose squad improved to 3-1 with its third straight victory.
“It was a very quiet bus ride,” said Stork. “The guys were tired, but they came out strong and dominated all aspects of the game.”
The first play was big.
“That seemed to wake us up and give us the spark we needed,” said Stork.
The coach was also pleased with a defense that allowed the Thunderbirds no spark whatsoever, limiting them to 38 yards rushing and 99 yards of offense.
The Panthers, meanwhile, led 26-0 after one quarter, 32-0 at halftime and 52-0 after three periods while running for 330 yards and totaling 499. They punted twice.
Perry Peterson had another big game, rushing for 125 yards and four touchdowns on 11 carries and adding a defensive score on an interception return.
Chad Agrimson returned a fumble for a touchdown.
Alex Buckmeier and Jack Schultz led the defense with 4.5 and 4 tackles, respectively. Staloch had 3.5 tackles and an interception.
Prigge completed four of 11 passes for 162 yards and no interceptions.
About the only area in which the Panthers struggled was extra points as they missed five of nine tries.
“I'm really happy with how far we've come the last few weeks,” said Stork. “Our practices have been very sharp. The guys do everything with a purpose and it’s really paying off.”
The Panthers host Sibley East this week.
NRHEG 30, GFW 8
NRHEG 26 6 20 6 — 58
GFW 0 0 0 8 — 8
First Quarter
NRHEG — Staloch 65 pass from Prigge (kick failed)
NRHEG — Peterson 1 run (pass failed)
NRHEG — Peterson 1 run (pass failed)
NRHEG — Peterson interception return (Prigge run)
Second Quarter
NRHEG — C.Agrimson 38 fumble return (pass failed)
Third Quarter
NRHEG — Peterson 35 run (Prigge kick)
NRHEG — Peterson 15 run (kick blocked)
NRHEG — VanMeldeghem 9 run (Prigge kick)
Fourth Quarter
GFW — Schroeder 7 run (Schroeder run)
NRHEG —Bailey 66 run (run failed)
NRHEG GFW
First Downs 17 8
Rushing attempts 32 47
Yds. Rushing 330 38
Passing 4-11-0 8-20-2
Yds. Passing 162 61
Total plays 50 49
Total Yds. 499 99
Penalties 6-50 3-25
Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-2
Third down 4-10 4-15
Fourth down 0-2 0-0
Punts-Avg. 2-27.0 9-26.2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — NRHEG: Peterson 11-125; Bailey 8-93; VanMeldeghem 5-55; Sletten 6-30; Thompson 3-24; Prigge 1-5; Jacobson 1-2; Stork 4 —4; GFW: Schroeder 12-18; Hazelton 6-9; Schultz 8-7; J.Munoz 1-4; M.Munoz 1-2; Martin 1 —2
Passing — NRHEG: Prigge 4-11-162; GFW: Schroeder 7-14-58; Hazelton 1-5-3; Martin 0-1-0
Receiving — NRHEG: Staloch 2-80; VanMeldeghem 1-45; B.Agrimson 1-37; GFW: Roeger 2-24; Weber 2-24; Hoffmann 1-7; Ortiz 1-3; Hazelton 2-3
Punt returns — NRHEG: Peterson 1-17; Thompson 1-6; GFW: Schultz 2-0
Kickoff returns — NRHEG: Peterson 1-48; Staloch 1-7; GFW: M.Munoz 5-74; Schroeder 1-21; Ortiz 1-11; Hazelton 1-0
NRHEG DEFENSE (tackles)
Buckmeier 4.5; Schultz 4; Staloch 3.5, 1 int.; Liebeg 3.5; Knutson 2.5; Bailey 2.5; B.Agrimson 2; Hogstad 2; Jacobson 1.5; Sletten 1.5; Arndt 1.5; Strand 1; Peterson 1, 1 int.; Prigge 1; Schuller .5; Thompson .5; C.Agrimson 1 fumble rec.