Luther College's win over Knights wasn't a fluke

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Martin Luther College football coach Chuck Hussman said that the Knights' 44-6 loss to Luther College last Saturday was not an aberration.

"We were completely outclassed in every phase of the game," Hussman said. "It was very difficult for us to come into a situation like that -- they have a much better program."

Luther has 105 players on their roster and MLC carries 45.

"With the heat like it was, it took a toll on us," he said. "They just continued to move players in and out and kept fresh bodies in the game. We could do that for a while but we were not able to maintain the level that they did."

Hussman said that in all honesty, he expected that kind of a game.

"We also put ourselves in a bad field position early and that did not help us," he said. "They are a very good football team."

LINEBACKERS PLAY WELL: Hussman said that he felt that linebackers Jon Beilke and A.J. Kruse played very well.

Kruse had 21 tackles, with 10 solos and 11 assists. Beilke had five solo tackles and five assisted tackles.

Hussman added that freshman Seth Schuerlein "played a very good game."

Hussman said that his team, which plays at Waldorf College this Saturday, needs to learn from the experience.

"There is no question about that," he said. "We have a ways to go yet. We need to improve our offense. We did not move the ball as well as we would have liked to; part of that was because of their defense. We were out-weighed by 20 pounds per man across the front line. We were playing with the big boys."

Knights did not have any injuries and did not turn the ball over. MLC was flagged for three minor penalties.

He said that special teams did well getting into position, but the defense needs some work.

"We need to improve on our pass defense," he said. "We were able to basically hold their running game in check until late in the game when we put a lot of our reserves in. But we could not get to the quarterback to put pressure on him.

"When you give a quarterback a lot of time to stand back and throw the ball, you are in for a long day," he said. "Receivers will get open somewhere."

LOSS WILL NOT LINGER: Hussman, who is only coaching this year before a call goes out for a permanent head coach, said that the loss will not hurt the Knights mentally.

"I don't think that the loss will carry over. We have a great group of kids and some great leaders and I think that we will be just fine," he said. "But we will run into a buzzsaw this weekend at Waldorf."

Waldorf is an NAIA school that can offer scholarships. They will also have a large roster.

"We beat them last year and I think that the kids are pretty positive," he said.

The Knights will play a third game on the road before their first home game.

EAGLES FACE LONG ROAD TRIP: Speaking of a long bus ride, the New Ulm High School football team will make its longest road trip in its history, traveling to LaCrescent Friday. It is a just over three hour trip.

"The thing is that the players know that is a long trip and they need to be mentally prepared," Eagle coach Rick VanRoekel said. "We will take a charter bus and show a movie -- you can't just stare out the window for the entire trip."

While it's the longest trip for a NUHS football team, Van Roekel said it could have been longer. The other two options were Moorhead or International Falls.