Eagles take big step

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- The New Ulm Eagle football team took a big step towards repeating as the South Central Conference champions Friday night when they beat Blue Earth 12-7 to go 2-0 in the SCC after the road win..

"I didn't think that we were ready to play right away," said Eagle coach Rick VanRoekel. "They went down and scored right away on their first possession. We battled back and made some big plays and hung on for the win."

It was New Ulm's third straight win and in that stretch. the New Ulm defense has allowed only seven points in 12 quarters.

The win also puts New Ulm in a good spot when they battle for the SCC lead hosting St. Peter next Friday night. It will also be the Eagles' homecoming game.

"It is nice to come off with a win," Van Roekel said. "They (St. Peter) beat Fairmont pretty easy (40-0) so it will be a tough game but it will be a special game for the kids."

DEFENSE KEYS WINS: If you ask any football coach if they would rather have a strong defense or a strong offense, you can be pretty sure that they will go for the defense.

That was the case for New Ulm as they again played a strong game.'

"Eric Stock came up with a big interception for us and whenever you can make big plays like that, it just keeps building the confidence of the team, " commented VanRoekel. " The team knows that we can stop the run or the pass; that really helps our confidence."

The strong defense was also impressive in that linebacker Charles Ganske was hot 100 per cent and only played defense.

"He was not 100 per cent but he is such a smart player and he has that experience; he picks things up and is our field general out there. As the game went on, he made some big plays on defense."

OFFENSE UNDER WELLMANN: New Ulm's offense continues to get better under junior quarterback Bob Wellmann who threw a touchdown pass to Dusty Fleck.

"We moved the ball; Matt Furth had about a 70 yard run but then we fumbled the ball a play later,'said Van Roekel about the turnover that came late in the