Eagles will hunt for first win

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Week Four in local football sees two teams playing their first home games and and hoping that leads to their first win of the season; meanwhile, two other teams hit the road for big conference meetings.

New Ulm, after three road games, comes to the friendly confines of Johnson Field to kick off their home and South Central Conference season Friday when they host rival St. James.

Meanwhile, both Cathedral and Minnesota Valley Lutheran take their acts on the road, meeting McLeod West and United South Central respectively. Saturday, Martin Luther College hopes to have some afternoon delight, meeting Westminster at 1 p.m. at MLC.

ST. JAMES (2-1) AT NEW ULM (0-3) FRIDAY, 7 P.M. JOHNSON FIELD

New Ulm coach Rick Van Roekel said that the Saints come in as a much improved team that graduated just a few seniors and many returning players.

The Saints come to New Ulm after posting wins over Windom and Renville County West while losing a close game to Tracy-Milroy-Balaton.

"They are playing good football right now," Van Roekel said. "They have some big kids in Justin and Jared Schwanz at 275 pounds and 245 pounds. They run the ball like they normally do and have a good running back in Cody Andersen. He has put up some big numbers and is a hard runner."

When on defense, the Saints use a lot of two-way starters and have good speed.

"They are improved on both sides of the ball," Van Roekel said. "They have the experience and now they are just executing."

And executing is one thing that the Eagles have not done this year as mistakes and turnovers have led to the Eagles being outscored 93-37 in the first three games.

"We just have to be patient -- I thought that we would have some of the things ironed out by now. Some we do and some we still have not," he said. "Most of the mistakes that we have are from inexperience -- we have the potential. We have seen that at times, but then we have breakdowns. We just need to keep working on those."

Both teams compare size-wise as well as speed-wise, but for the Eagles to get their first win of the season, they need to do something that they have not done all year: play a solid four quarters.

"We need to execute, go error-free and not turn the ball over. If we can hang onto the football and not turn the ball over, that will be a big key for us," he said. "When any team is 0-3, they start to doubt themselves. You think that maybe you are not that good, but we have been there before. All we have to do is be patient because a win will work wonders."

NEW ULM CATHEDRAL (3-0) AT MCLEOD WEST (2-1), (STEWART) FRIDAY 7 P.M.

In the most balanced Southern Minnesota Conference in a while, Cathedral hopes to remain in the title chase when it plays an always-tough Falcon squad.

"This is a big game as far as the conference goes and for seedings," coach Denny Lux said. "Both teams look like they are headed in the right direction. They are playing solid football this year."

McLeod West has beaten Sleepy Eye (28-19) and Wabasso (12-6) before dropping a game last week to MLBO.

Traditionally, McLeod West has had a strong football program, and that has not wavered with an offense that is still run-oriented.

"They have a very good back in Darrin Rosenau, who runs hard, and has an offensive line that gets off of the ball quick," Lux said. "We expect them to run the ball -- they will run some play-action passes -- but their bread and butter is to run the ball between the tackles."

While the Falcons' running game is etched in stone, they have changed what they do on defense.

Because they don't have the size they used to and have more linebackers, the Falcons have gone to a 4-4 defense. Rosenau, the big man on offense, is also their stopper on defense.

"He has good speed, so you need to make sure that he gets blocked on each play," Lux said.

But Cathedral and the Falcons are equal in size and speed.

"Both teams have players with a lot of incentive for this game, Lux said. "It will be an excellent football game."

MVL (1-2) AT USC (1-2) FRIDAY, 7 P.M. WELLS.

In the Charger Nation's biggest rivalry game in the Gopher/Valley Conference, MVL meets the Rebels on the road.

"This will definitely be one of those hard-hitting defense games," coach Jim Buboltz said.

Offensively, the Rebels run a veer offense, an offense that MVL has not seen this year.

"Their quarterback (Brandon Haugh) is returning from last year," Buboltz said. "Preparing for the veer and the option can be tricky, especially when you have a quarterback who has run it for a couple of years."

Buboltz said that preparing for the veer does not mean throwing the the entire defense into the circular file for one game.

"The players have to stay very true to their responsibilities -- you cannot give up your responsibilities on the veer and you cannot guess," he said. "When you see the veer coming at you, you need to stay where you are and hold your keys."

Buboltz said MVL may try to be quicker, because "one thing that can really combat a veer or option team is a quicker defense."

USC has lost to Adrian (29-6), beat Madelia/Truman (29-13) and fell to Martin County West 12-9. MVL beat MCW 20-9.

"On defense, they try and put some big players in the middle and clog up the running game," Buboltz said. "You need to look to the tackles and the outside. I think that they can be beat with a play-action pass. We need to do better offensively and complete drives. We had four drives that stalled inside the opponent's 20-yard line last week. It is tough to win a game that way. You put a lot effort to get there and then you stall."

WESTMINSTER (1-2) AT MLC (1-2) SATURDAY, 1 P.M.

The first thing that you notice about Westminster is numbers: 290 pounds, 255 pounds, 255 pounds, 250 pounds and 265 pounds.

That is what the Westminster offensive line looks like this year.

"They like to run the shot-gun offense," MLC coach Chuck Hussman said. "But they also like to run the power-I and a lot of power stuff. Their quarterback is 205 pounds and running backs weighing 220 and 195 pounds. We will have a tough time matching up with them."

Hussman feels that Westminster will run the ball, trying to push the Knights around.

It is also the most experienced team that MLC will meet, with eight of 11 people on offense being seniors. On defense, they have six seniors and three juniors.

Hussman said that defensively, the Knights will stunt a lot.

"We need to play a lot of gaps. They are bigger defensively, which means that we need to run the ball wide and we will probably throw the ball more," Hussman said, adding that if the Knights can hold them to two scores, it will be a close ballgame.