NRHEG plays Tuesday at Maple River
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
The high flying Blooming Prairie Blossoms came and left New Richland with their undefeated record and high state ranking intact.
But it wasn’t all that easy.
The NRHEG football team gave the Blossoms their closest game of the year while falling 35-20 at New Richland Wednesday, Oct. 15 in the final game of the regular season.
“What a battle,” said Panthers coach Dan Stork.
That it was.
The visitors struck first on the first of four touchdown passes by John Rumpza, who by the end of the night wrote himself into the state record books — but more on that later.
The Panthers answered with touchdown runs by Trevor Tracy and Trey Hoppe and, after a scoreless second quarter, NRHEG led 14-13 at halftime.
The game was decided in the third period as Rumpza threw for a score and the Blossoms ran for another.
Hoppe scored on a four-yard run for the Panthers in the fourth.
On the game’s final play, Rumpza connected with Tristen Haberman on a 64-yard touchdown pass, tying him with Blooming Prairie alum Luc Zellmer for the all-time state record with 102 touchdown passes. The 6-foot-6 Rumpza finished the night 22 of 34 for 382 yards and no interceptions. Haberman caught 10 passes for 228 yards.
The Panthers moved the ball well, totaling 261 yards rushing, but they managed only 27 through the air.
Hoppe finished with 152 yards rushing on 30 carries. Tracy was 3-for-5 passing for 27 yards, with two interceptions.
“Our kids played hard and I'm very proud of their effort,” said Coach Stork. “Our offensive and defensive lines played very well tonight and Trey Hoppe ran very hard behind some great lead blocking by Nick Bartness and Matt Jensen. This team has made some big strides the last few weeks. We have the confidence you need to head into the playoffs.”
The 3-5 Panthers are seeded seventh among eight teams in Section 3AA.
They open section play Tuesday, Oct. 21 at No. 2 seed Maple River.
If the Panthers win, they play Saturday, Oct. 25 at 3 p.m. at Pipestone or Martin County West.
BP 35, NRHEG 20
BP 13 0 15 7 35
NRHEG 14 0 0 6 20
Scoring
1st Quarter
BP — Nelson 4 pass from Rumpza (Strunk kick)
NRHEG — Tracy 3 run (Tollefson pass from Tracy)
BP — Haberman 23 pass from Rumpza (Run failed)
NRHEG — Hoppe 1 run (Run failed)
2nd Quarter
No scoring
3rd Quarter
BP — Decker 2 run (Decker pass from Rumpza)
BP — Haberman 11 pass from Rumpza (Strunk kick)
4th Quarter
NRHEG — Hoppe 4 run (Run failed)
BP — Haberman 64 pass from Rumpza (Strunk kick)
Team Statistics
BP NRHEG
First downs 22 16
Yds. Rushing 106 261
Yds. Passing 382 27
Passes 23-35-0 3-5-2
Total plays 61 55
Total yds. 488 288
Turnovers 1 2
Penalties 7-65 3-30
Individual Stats
NRHEG rushing: Hoppe 30-152; Tollefson 6-41; Jongbloedt 6-37; Tracy 5-28; Bartness 2-5; Jensen 1 —2
BP rushing: Rumpza 6-56; Decker 15-43; Sunde 4-7;
NRHEG passing: Tracy 3-5-2, 27
BP passing: Rumpza 22-34-0, 382; Decker 1-1-0 —1
NRHEG receiving: Bartness 2-19; Cole 1-8
BP receiving: Haberman 10-228; Sunde 5-61; Nelson 3-51; Decker 2-22; Jones 2-17; Byers-Sunde 1-3
NRHEG defense: Tollefson 5 tackles; Hoppe 4.5; Bartness 4.5; Sletten 3; Jongbloedt 3; Schultz 2.5; Erickson 2; Jensen 2; Pa.Peterson 1.5; Cole 1; Weller 1; Stenzel 1; Pe.Peterson .5; C.Peterson .5
NEXT: Tuesday, Oct. 21, section playoffs