Austvold, Eagles tear up St. James

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- This season, the Minnesota Vikings have gone to the "Randy Ratio" -- get wide receiver Randy Moss as many touches in the game as possible with touchdowns sure to come.

Friday night, the New Ulm Eagles took a page out of that -- they used the "Austvold Equation"

Senior running back Eric Austvold carried the ball 16 times for 243 yards and three touchdowns, and then added a punt return for a score as the Eagles opened their South Central Conference schedule with a 41-21 win over St. James.

Austvold scored on runs of 71, 79 and 34 yards before returning a Juan Martinez punt 56 yards for a touchdown to open the third quarter.

All in all, Austvold accounted for 299 yards in offense for the Eagles.

"I think that he surprised everyone tonight," said New Ulm coach Rick VanRoekel. "He really came out and played hard -- boy did he run. He got some nice blocks in front of him but he was running on all cylinders tonight. He was fun to watch and made some nice cuts and some of those were all determination on his part."

"This was our first game of conference and I think that we were pumped," Austvold said. "We knew that we had to win. If St.James wins, it makes their season -we just knew that we had to come to play."

The Eagles, who never trailed in the game, jumped to a 14-0 lead after the first quarter scoring on their opening drive when quarterback Bob Wellmann hooked up with running back Kevin Neidecker for a 63-yard throwback pass on third down and 10 from the Saints' 37 yard line.

A Brad Kraus interception (he later recovered a fumble) set up the second Eagle score with just over a minute left in the opening quarter.

Taking over on their own 17-yard line, New Ulm ran off four plays that gained them 12 yards to the 29-yard line. On first down, Austvold broke off his left side and raced 71-yards for the touchdown and, after a Luke Gronewald kick, carried a 14-0 lead into the second quarter.

St. James' defense got them on the board when Josh Freitag picked off a pitch from Wellmann and bolted 43-yards for the touchdown.

But the Eagles came right back and scored when Joe Kuehl scored on a short two yard run -- a scoring run that was set up by a 50-yard run by Austvold.

Tyler Kaus, who ran for 88 yards in the game, got the Saints a second score, when he capped of a nine play, 71-yard drive with an 11-yard run.

Leading 21-14, New Ulm just wanted to run out the clock after Pete Meier intercepted a Derek Lanue aerial. But with 15 seconds left in the half, Austvold performed some more magic, racing off his leftside, breaking two tackles enroute to a 79-yard run and a 27-14 halftime lead.

Austvold then put the only points of the third quarter on the board with that 56-yard punt return for a score and capped off his night in the fourth quarter with a 34-yard touchdown gallop.

While Austvold had gaudy numbers, he was humble after the game. "Any running back could have done the same thing tonight -- our blocking, inside and out, was outstanding. I came to the game thinking that we had to win and I had to go all out."

And VanRoekel was also pleased with the defense of New Ulm that forced five turnovers. "The defensive line put on some pressure -- we had a lot of underclassmen step up tonight."

ST. JAMES 0-14-7-0 -- 21

NEW ULM 14-13-7-7 -- 41

FIRST QUARTER

NEW ULM : Neidecker, 63 pass from Wellmann. PAT:Gronewald, kick.

NEW ULM : Austvold, 71 run. PAT: Gronewald, kick.

SECOND QUARTER

ST. JAMES: Freitag, 43 interception return. PAT:Lanoue, kick.

NEW ULM: Kuehl, two run. PAT: Gronewalk, kick.

ST. JAMES: Kaus, 11 run. PAT:Lanoue, kick.

NEW ULM: Austvold, 79 run. PAT: Failed.

THIRD QUARTER

NEW ULM: Austvold, 56 punt return. PAT: Gronewald,kick.

ST. JAMES; Kaus, seven run: PAT:Lanoue, kick.

FOURTH QUARTER

NEW ULM: Austvold, 34 run. PAT: Gronewald, kick.