Football teams

facing tough schools Friday

NEW ULM -- Week Two of the high school football season will see two of the three local high schools on the road for games.

New Ulm High School is coming off a 6-0 defensive win over Luverne. They will trek to Olivia to tangle with Bird Island-Olivia-Lake Lillian District while the Greyhounds, fresh off a 25-8 win over Sleepy Eye Public, heads south to Mountain Lake to meet Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin in a Southern Minnesota Conference game.

Minnesota Valley Lutheran will try and rebound from a 10-3 loss to GFW when they host Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Friday night at 7 p.m. in a Gopher/Valley Conference match-up.

WATERVILLE-ELYSIAN-MORRISTOWN (1-0) AT MINNESOTA VALLEY LUTHERAN (0-1) FRIDAY NIGHT, 7 P.M. JOHNSON PARK

The Chargers will meet what many consider to be the "Cream of the Crop" of the Gopher/Valley Conference when they meet the Buccaneers of WEM.

The Bucs are flying high after a 28-21 win over Maple River -- a team that is also considered a threat to the Gopher/Valley Conference title.

"They are a perennial power and it looks like they have not missed a beat (after their win over Maple River)," said Charger coach Jim Buboltz. "They are both two of the top teams in the conference and battled it out on the first week of the season.."

Buboltz said that after watching films of WEM's game that there are many things that concern him about the Bucs' attack.

"They like to power the ball and they also like to use their speed," he said. "Dane Roehmeildt (Bucs' running back) is very fast and yet very powerful. They will pound the ball between the tackles and the next thing you know, they will go up-top and be able to hit the long pass.

"Also, they are just quicker all around. But size-wise, we match up with them pretty well."

The Bucs play a "very physical defense. They like to hit hard and seem to intimidating. they like to dominate a team."

The Bucs will throw a wide 4-4 defense at the Chargers.

But while the speed, quickness and intimidating defense worry Buboltz, he is more concerned at this point with the Chargers 10-3 loss to the Thunderbirds last week.

"What concerns me is not the loss, but how we lost," he said. "We had the game in our hand. When you have a game in your hands like that you have to win it -- you cannot let a game like that slip out of your hand. This one did and being able to bounce back from that (loss) will be a sign of this team -- this is a young team. It will be tough to bounce back against a team of the caliber of WEM."

Buboltz said that in the loss to GFW "both teams made a lot of mistakes and each team should have benefitted from them. They had the ball on our side of the field probably 70 percent of the game and yet we were able to win the game. We did not put them away when we had the chance."

Offensively Buboltz said his Chargers "must get some sort of flow to the offense. Andy Beilke had 79 yards in 11 carries. But passing-wise, we only connected on four of 13 passes so we need to get a better balance between the two."

Charger quarterback Karl Struck is fine after suffering cramps in the game. "It was warm and he was taking fluids but he just had cramps in both calfs. He will be ready to go.

"We did not turn the ball over last week and we cannot turn the ball over this week," Buboltz said. "And on defense, we can bend but cannot break."

NEW ULM CATHEDRAL (1-0) AT MLBO (1-0) at MOUNTAIN LAKE 7 P.M.

Both teams are coming off of opening game wins. The Greyhounds topped Sleepy Eye Public 25-8 while MLBO blasted Cedar Mountain-Comfrey 47-12.

"It is obvious that they have many ways to score," said Greyhound coach Denny Lux. "You don't put up that many points (47) without a variety in their offense."

Lux said that the Wolverines "run about four different (offensive) sets which we have seen before- they do the same things that Sleepy Eye St. Mary's did about four years ago."

That consists of putting two tackles and a guard to one side of the center showing you some blocking strength to one side.Opposite of that they will have a guard, a tight end and a wing which is kind of their speed side. So defensively, you have to look at how you will support the run on the strong side and the speed on the other side. Plus, they also have a split end on the same side of the run-strength so that does create some things that we have to do defensively.

'When they are in that type of set, our outside linebackers will be able to read run a lot easier," Lux said. "They are not in situation where they can throw out of that formation. When they do throw, they usually get into a double-slot. In that formation, the key that we have to look for is (tight end) Mark DeYoung. He is 6-foot-6 good athlete that we have to be concerned about."

MLBO's quarterback, Mitch Schroeder, is quick and they also have quick backs."

Lux said that on defense, MLBO " has quick corners and linebackers."

The Greyhounds win over Sleepy Eye was due to Cathedral's "doing a lot of little things right. Our special teams game was solid -- they all did a great job. We think that if we can play well on special teams that offensively and defensively,we will match up well all year. That special teams' game is a key area -- that creates most of your field position.

"We feel that on offense, we are going to keep doing what we have been and if they make adjustments to our offense, then we will adjust. I am pleased with the play of quarterback Adam Neubauer but a lot of the credit for the way he played was the offensive line. They gave him time pass. There was not much pressure on him at all."

He also was happy with the defense. "We have a lot of kids who are hungry to get to the ball.

"It will be a good ballgame. The kids know that they need to play hard each week."

Lux said that sophomore lineman Brandon Mohr "had his kneecap pushed over to the side a little. It something that he has before. He will be back in about three weeks.

NEW ULM HIGH SCHOOL (1-0) AT BOLD (1-0) 7 P.M. FRIDAY NIGHT, OLIVIA

Head coach Rick Van Roekel said that BOLD "looks like a good ballclub. They have a lot of people coming back. They don't do a lot of fancy things but play good, sound football."

Van Roekel said BOLD " has big linemen and a good running back and a decent quarterback. We watched them when they played Minneota and they did not have many breakdowns.'

BOLD topped Minneota 36-6.

"I don't think that their backs are any quicker than ours. I would say that each's offensive line is similar."

"They will run out of the I-set and they do some off-set I, but it is basically a double tight (end) with a split end. They passed 10 times in the game (with Minneota) and threw a couple of long passes for touchdowns. On defense, they run a 4-3 and a 5-3."

Van Roekel said that while he is concerned with the things that BOLD does, he is more worried about his team's performance.

"What concerns me is that we do not have as many breakdowns like we did against Luverne offensively," Van Roekel said. "But the positive thing is that the breakdowns that we had can be corrected. What they do and what they have, we cannot control but we can control our offense."

He said that if the Eagle offense plays with the intensity that they did against Luverne "we should have a good game."

On offense, Van Roekel has been working with the wide receivers " to get a lot better blocking on the option from them. There were to many times when we ran the option that we did not pick up the number one or number two guy that they were supposed to. And our quarterback has to work better on fundamentals and calling the right sets. And our offensive linemen, at times, did not pull when they were supposed to. Getting the right blocks, using the lead foot instead of crossing over -- these are small things that we need to correct."

VanRoekel said fullback Spencer Dickinson "will be the workhorse and alternate Eric Austvold and Kevin Neidecker (at halfback). Those two did a nice job for us and had about the same yards."