Despite loss, VanRoekel happy with Eagle effort

NEW ULM -- New Ulm Eagle head football coach Rick VanRoekel said that he was happy with the way that his team played Saturday "for three quarters" in their 34-14 loss to the top-ranked football team in Class 4A, Detroit Lakes.

VanRoekel said that the Detroit Lakes' offensive line may have been the best that he has seen in his tenure as head coach. 'The kids said that they really fired off the line and they would cut them. Their (Detroit Lakes') philosophy is that they will keep pounding the ball and sooner or later they will break a long run. The kids said that they really came off the ball and hit hard and were quick."

While acknowledging that the Lakers have a great offensive line, VanRoekel said that he was pleased with the play of his defense.

"Nate Braun played perhaps the best game that I have seen him play," he said. "When they ran that off-tackle and the tackle would go with him, Nate went right with him and plugged up the hole time after time. He really rose to the occasion and that game will get him going because he really played well for us."

DETROIT LAKES CONTROLS BALL: In the second quarter, the Lakers held the ball for almost eight minutes as they began a drive with :02 left in the first quarter and ran off 16 straight plays that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run with 4:09 left in the first half.

The theory was the wear down the Eagle defense, but on the Lakers' next two possessions in the game New Ulm held twice, once forcing a punt and then forcing a Laker turnover that came when Andy Howk recovered a fumble.

FOURTH QUARTER BLUES STRIKE AGAIN: Like the Luverne game, it was the fourth quarter that cost the Eagles what would have been a huge win against Detroit Lakes. And it was a turnover (interception less than two minutes into the quarter) that turned the game around.

"Once we had a turnover, we went flat," commented VanRoekel. "I am assuming that we will, in the next six or seven games, have an interception or fumble (in the fourth quarter) and we just have to make a break for ourselves. We have been working hard in practice and we need to work harder on ripping the ball away defensively and creating our own turnovers. We can feel sorry for ourselves but we need to create the breaks for ourselves."

SCORE NOT INDICATIVE OF GAME: The 34-14 score is not indicative of how close the game really was. New Ulm led 14-13 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter and then recovered a Laker fumble before a 78-yard scoring run with :13 left in the third quarter gave Detroit Lakes a lead.

"Whether they (Detroit Lakes) are the top-ranked team in 4A is a little early to tell," VanRoekel said. "I don't think that there are too many teams that are going to be better than they are. I thought that we played with them toe-to-toe for three quarters. You take away those three minutes where we had those two turnovers and it is a different story."

POSITIVE STEP FOR NEXT GAME: VanRoekel said that even though his team lost, there were a lot of positive feelings in the locker room. "We talked after the game that we are close to being a good team but we know that we have to play a complete game. We know that we can play with the good teams and that is one of the things that we were excited about when we played Detroit Lakes to find out where the measuring stick was.

"The kids felt good and we did a lot of good positive things, but we have to quit shooting ourselves in the foot. The next five games are (South Central) conference games and if that positive feeling carries over, it is worth playing a team like Detroit Lakes. The kids picked up a lot of confidence."

DETROIT LAKES TAKES LONG TRIPS: Detroit Lakes plays in the Mid-State Conference in every sport but football, where they are in independent. And they have some long, long road trips. Beside the game at New Ulm, they will travel to Thief River Falls and Duluth Central.

KAISERHOFF HAS GREAT SEASON: The New Ulm Kaiserhoff finished with a 25-9 record this season. As a team, they hit .348 led by Tom Steinbach's .491 average. Brady Ranweiler and Ryan Ellwein hit .419 and .418 respectively, with Brady Ranweiler hitting 15 home runs. Tom Steinbach launched 13 and Landon Rathmann 11. Ellwein led the team in stolen bases with 19.

As a team, New Ulm hit 72 home runs.

Two lefthanders, Chris Rupert and Aaron Heitzman, were the top pitchers for the "K". Rupert finished 13-1 with an ERA of 3.38, striking out 125 hitters in 112 innings. Heitzman ended at 7-5 with an ERA of 6.37. He whiffed 64 hitters in 76.1 innings. Cory Ranweiler pitched well when they needed him and ended with a 4-2 record.

Column by Jim Bastian, Journal sports writer