By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
The NRHEG Panthers had two reasons to celebrate last Friday.
They won again, for the sixth week in a row, shutting out Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 26-0 in their Homecoming game.
And Maple River finally lost.
It set up a battle for the South Central Blue District football championship as the Panthers finish the regular season Wednesday at Maple River. An NRHEG win gives the Panthers a share of the crown. If WEM beats Mayer Lutheran, the Panthers take the title outright.
No matter what happens at Waterville, NRHEG coach Dan Stork is glad to see the Panthers in the thick of it.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate,” said Stork. “The kids are really stepping up.”
They got some help last week when Maple River’s quarterback left the game with concussion symptoms after the first drive of the game.
It leaves Stork and the Panthers optimistic about knocking off Maple River.
One thing’s for sure. The Panthers felt better about their overall play against LCWM after a close game at LeSueur-Henderson the previous week.
“We played much better tonight than we did last week,” said Stork. “The guys weren't happy with how we played last week and they were on a mission this week. We really got after it in practice this week and it paid off.”
But it wasn’t necessarily easy.
“LCWM is a very physical team that played us very tough,” said Stork.
But the Panthers kept the Knights off the scoreboard, taking a 12-0 lead after one quarter on a 28-yard touchdown run by Perry Peterson and a 1-yard plunge by Jack Schultz, a lineman.
It was 20-0 at halftime.
Peterson, held to a season low a week earlier, rushed for 166 yards on 21 carries.
The Panthers passed only six times, one a halfback pass from Peterson to quarterback Sam Prigge that resulted in a second-quarter touchdown.
The Knights lost two fumbles and threw an interception.
Schultz led the defense with seven tackles.
“We are looking forward to playing Maple River,” said Schultz.
Playoffs start next Tuesday.
NRHEG 26, LCWM 0
LCWM 0 0 0 0 — 0
NRHEG 12 8 0 6 — 26
First Quarter
NRHEG — Peterson 28 run (pass failed)
NRHEG — Schultz 1 run (run failed)
Second Quarter
NRHEG — Prigge 18 pass from Peterson (Peterson run)
Third Quarter
No scoring
Fourth Quarter
NRHEG — VanMaldeghem 6 run (run failed)
LCWM NRHEG
First Downs 6 15
Rushing attempts 32 47
Yds. Rushing 181 297
Passing 1-2-1 1-6-0
Yds. Passing 60 18
Total plays 39 56
Total Yds. 241 315
Penalties 6-45 1-10
Fumbles-lost 2-2 0-0
Third down 4-8 6-11
Fourth down 1-4 2-2
Punts-Avg. 2-34.0 3-38.3
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — NRHEG: Peterson 21-166; VanMaldeghem 9-61; Sletten 13-53; Bailey 2-34; Schultz 2-1; Prigge 3 —18; LCWM: B.Graupman 7-86; Anderson-Gilman 14-28; M.Graupman 8-27; Jones 2-25; Bergamann 5-17; Stock 1 —2
Passing — NRHEG: Prigge 0-5-0; Peterson 1-1-18; LCWM: Jones 1-2-66
Receiving — NRHEG: Prigge 1-18; LCWM: Stock 1-60
Punt returns — NRHEG: Peterson 1-15
Kickoff returns — NRHEG: Peterson 1-13 LCWM: Bergamann 3-80; Gens 1-1
NRHEG DEFENSE (tackles)
Schultz 7; Buckmeier 5; VanMaldeghem 4.5; Staloch 4; Peterson 3.5, 1 int.; Bailey 3; Jensen 2.5; B.Agrimson 2; Jacobson 2; Prigge 2; C.Agrimson 1.5; Olson 1
South Central Blue District
Dist.Ov.
Mayer Lutheran 6-1 6-1
NRHEG 6-1 6-1
Maple River 5-1 5-2
Norwood-YA 4-2 4-3
Lester Prairie/HT 2-4 3-4
WEM 2-3 4-3
Sibley East 3-3 3-4
LCWM 1-5 2-5
LeSueur-Henderson 1-5 1-6
GFW 0-5 0-6
Friday, Oct. 14 results
NRHEG 26, LCWM 0
Mayer Lutheran 14, Maple River 0
WEM 47, St. Paul Humboldt JV 14
Sibley East 27, LeSueur-Hen.20
Norwood-YA 12, Lester Prairie/HT 6
Wednesday, Oct. 19 games
NRHEG at Maple River
Mayer Lutheran at WEM
Sibley East at Norwood-YA
LeSueur-Henderson at LCWM
End regular season