Hounds hold off MVL

By PAUL DUNLAP

Journal Sports Editor

NEW ULM -- One big play made the difference.

Cathedral quarterback Joey Schugel's 59-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter gave his team the lead, and the Greyhounds' defense made it stand up as Cathedral defeated crosstown rival Minnesota Valley Lutheran 13-7 in Southern Minnesota C Conference football action at Johnson Field.

"This was a heck of a football game for both teams," Hound head coach Denny Lux said. "Both teams played it right to the end; it was really a defensive battle -- kids were hitting hard and playing hard, and that's when the defense usually comes out on top. We were fortunate to get a few turnovers ... a few balls that were picked off in the secondary which sealed it for us."

Turnovers were the name of the game as the Chargers committed four to Cathedral's zero.

"It was obvious that we had too many turnovers," MVL head coach Jim Buboltz said. "We had a chance to get them down in the first half, but we couldn't capitalize and we put the ball on the ground a few times. Those two (first-half) fumbles weren't mistake fumbles -- they were from guys trying to do extra; a great effort, but the ball got coughed up.

"(Cathedral) did a great job of attacking the ball tonight. We're not giving up any excuses for the game tonight."

MVL fumbled on its first possession without incident, and the Chargers would eventually take a 7-0 lead as quarterback John Enter, filling in for the injured Dan Unke, found Jesse Pfeifer on a nice touch pass for a 34-yard score. Enter's extra point made it a 7-0 lead for MVL.

The Chargers were spurred in the first half by the running of tailback Joel Russow, who cut through the Hound defense to the tune of 74 yards on 13 carries. He would end the night with 125 yards on 24 carries as the Cathedral defense tightened up.

"I thought Russow was a house in the first half," Buboltz commented. "I was happy with the line play when you have a back that does that good. (Cathedral) just made some adjustments is all."

The Greyhounds would answer right back to MVL's score as Schugel's mixture of run and pass set up Matt Furth's 6-yard scoring plunge to cap a 12-play, 67-yard drive. Mitch Palmer's PAT knotted the game at 7-7 with 4:51 left in the half.

"When (MVL) came down and scored, we were concerned if the players were going to stay up and stay ready," Lux said. "We're a senior-dominated team, and I think our leadership came through and the kids stepped it up. I can't just pick out one or two guys -- it was a bunch of them."

Greyhound defensive coach Larry Wellmann could pick a few out.

"Jesse Nosbush with 20 tackles from his linebacker spot, Hans Biebl, a free safety, with 16 tackles and some monster hits ... it was just incredible," he said. "(Defensive end) Bill Schreiber, playing sick, just played a whale of a game. Everybody stepped up ... everybody."

Cathedral's first series of the second half would prove to be the difference. After six plays moved the Hounds from their 20 to their 41, Schugel took off on a planned run, found a cutback lane, and scampered through the MVL defense to paydirt. Palmer's point-after was blocked, but Cathedral held a lead it would not relinquish. Schugel ended the game with 88 yards on 11 carries.

"Joey's one of the fastest guys we've got on the team," Lux said of his senior signal-caller. "He's a good athlete. We had a hard time running the ball, but there were times where we felt we should run the ball instead of passing. Joe went off-tackle, cut back, and found daylight. It was obviously huge."

From that point on, it was the Cathedral defense that burned bright as it forced MVL into two punts, once giving the ball up on downs, and a pair of picks -- by Biebl and Tony Moldan.

"We've told them we can play with just about everybody," Wellmann said. "It's just the fact of being confident and everybody taking care of their own job. If we do that, we'll be just fine."

Both teams are now 1-1 on the season. Cathedral will now host Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin Friday, the same night the Chargers travel to face Faribault Bethlehem Academy.

"You have to give a lot of respect to the MVL kids and coach Buboltz because they came to play," Lux said. "This was a darn good football game."

CATHEDRAL 0 7 6 0 -- 13

MVL 0 7 0 0 -- 7

FIRST QUARTER

No scoring.

SECOND QUARTER

MVL-Pfeifer 34 pass from Enter (Enter kick) 9:21

CHS-Furth 6 run (Palmer kick) 4:51

THIRD QUARTER

CHS-Schugel 59 run (kick blocked) 6:29

FOURTH QUARTER

No scoring.