SMELLING THE GOAL LINE — John Cole breaks tackles and heads for the end zone on his way to a 25-yard touchdown reception Saturday at Mayer Lutheran. (Star Eagle photo by Nikki Erickson)
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
Forgive the players if the season football opener looked more like a scrimmage than a game.
The season started a week early.
Because of scheduling conflicts for the state playoffs, the NRHEG Panthers opened the 2015 campaign Saturday and survived a sloppy game against an unfamiliar opponent, winning 14-7 at Mayer Lutheran, which is west of the Twin Cities.
“We played as expected after only two weeks of practice,” said NRHEG head coach Dan Stork.
But the bottom line was the win, and the Panthers were pleased in their first season of district play. The Panthers hope for an easier time this Friday when they host Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity.
Off-and-on rain did not help matters Saturday as the teams combined for seven turnovers, five by the Crusaders.
“The game was sloppy with several turnovers and costly penalties,” said Stork. “Overall, we did some good things, but we need to clean up a few things.”
They needed to rally at Mayer Lutheran, where they fell behind 7-0 after the first quarter.
NRHEG pulled within a point a halftime as John Cole snared a Palmer Peterson pass, broke some tackles and eluded others while going 25 yards for a touchdown. The PAT kick failed.
It remained 7-6 until 11:11 left in the game, when Trey Hoppe capped a drive with a one-yard touchdown run. Peterson passed to Cole for the two-point conversion.
The game stats were fairly even, except on defense. The Panthers intercepted four passes, two each by Perry Peterson and Karter Sletten. Sletten and Zeke Erickson each had eight tackles, with Erickson contributing two sacks. Wyatt Fitterer had seven tackles.
“Our secondary played very well, getting hands on lots of passes,” said Stork.
Erickson played well against Gopher recruit Sam Schlueter most of the game, according to Stork.
Jason Jongbloedt led the Panthers in rushing with 65 yards on 12 carries.
Palmer Peterson completed eight of 16 passes for 111 yards and one interception. Cole Staloch caught three passes for 53 yards.
NRHEG 14, Mayer Lutheran 7
NRHEG 0 6 0 8 — 14
ML 7 0 0 0 — 7
First Quarter
ML — Chmielewski 59 run (Monchamp kick)
Second Quarter
NRHEG — Cole 25 pass from Palmer Peterson (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
NRHEG — Hoppe 1 run (Cole pass from Palmer Peterson)
NRHEG ML
First Downs 11 8
Rushing attempts 39 31
Yds. Rushing 119 145
Passing 8-17-2 7-22-4
Yds. Passing 111 77
Total plays 56 53
Total Yds. 230 222
Penalties 6-45 5-50
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Punts-Avg. 2-22.5 7-36.7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — NRHEG: Jongbloedt 12-65; Hoppe 7-26; Perry Peterson 5-26; Agrimson 1-12; Strand 1 —2; Palmer Peterson 12 —5; ML: Chmielewski 11-91; Menth 12-12; Jilek 5-13; Huinker 2-8
Passing — NRHEG: Palmer Peterson 8-16-2, 111; Jongbloedt 0-1-0, 0; ML Chmielewski 7-22-4, 77
Receiving — NRHEG: Staloch 3-53; Cole 1-25; Perry Peterson 2-21; Jongbloedt 1-12; ML — Boelke 3-49; McCarty 2-17; Johnson 1-11; Menth 1-0
NRHEG DEFENSE (tackles)
K.Sletten 8, 2 int.; Erickson 8, 2 sacks; Fitterer 7, 1 sack; Buckmeier 4; Hoppe 3; Palmer Peterson 3; Perry Peterson 3, 2 int.; Schultz 3; Agrimson 2; Wicks 2; Fischer 1; Jongbloedt 1