By JIM LUTGENS

Editor/Publisher

If you take a gander at the statistics, you wonder how the NRHEG football team lost its home opener to Maple River last Friday.

Until you get to the turnovers.

The Panthers had four of them while falling 13-0 to the unbeaten Eagles.

“We continue to step on our own foot,” said Panthers coach Dan Stork. “We are simply making way too many mistakes.”

The Panthers dominated time of possession, having the ball for 31:08 to 16:52 for the Eagles. They also outgained Maple River and led  14-11 in first downs.

But costly penalties, seven for 55 yards, and the turnovers prevented the Panthers from crossing the goal line.

“The turnovers are killing us,” said Stork. “We just can't catch a break. Again, we had penalties put us in a third and long situation, making us predictable.”

The bulk of the Panthers’ yards were rushing, led by Trey Hoppe with 58 yards and Alex Merritt with 46.

Quarterback Trevor Tracy was 8-for-16 for 89 yards and two interceptions. Spencer Tollefson caught five balls for 59 yards.

Nick Bartness led the defense with 7.5 tackles, followed by Karter Sletten with six and Hoppe and Jack Schultz with four.

The Panthers saw their record slide to 0-2 in the conference and 1-3 overall after a season-opening win at Sibley East.

They hope to get back on track this Friday when they host WEM for Homecoming.

Maple River 13, NRHEG 0

MR 7    0    0     6         13

NRHEG 0    0    0     0          0

Scoring

1st Quarter

MR — Albrecht 26 pass from Sohre (Kick successful)

2nd Quarter

No scoring

3rd Quarter

No scoring

4th Quarter

MR — Decker 10 run (Kick failed)

Team Statistics

MR NRHEG

First downs 11 14

Yds. Rushing 94 146

Yds. Passing 119 89

Passes 14-25-1 8-16-2

Total yds. 213 235

Turnovers 1 4

Penalties 11-95 7-55

Individual Stats

NRHEG rushing: Hoppe 10-58; Merritt 18-46; Tracy 7-16; Tollefson 3-11; Bartness 3-11; Jongbloedt 3-4

MR rushing: Decker 13-50; Greenfield 5-36; Breiter 4-15; Sohre 5 —7

NRHEG passing: Tracy 18-16-2, 89

MR passing: Sohre 14-25-1, 119

NRHEG receiving: Tollefson 5-59; Sletten 1-32; Cole 1-0; Bartness 1 —2

MR receiving: Greenfield 5-42; Albrecht 2-37; Breiter 432; Sindelir 1-6; Lewis 1-4; Steinhaus 1 —2

NRHEG defense: Bartness 7.5 tackles; Sletten 6; Hoppe 4; Schultz 4; Tracy 3; P.Peterson 3; Fittterer 2.5; Tollefson 2; Erickson 1.5; Jensen 1; C.Peterson 1; Wayne 1; Maxon 1.

NEXT: Friday – WEM at NRHEG, 7 p.m.