CHS beats BLH

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Adam Neubauer threw three touchdown passes to Eric Schugel and Kyle Reinarts scored two touchdowns -- one on a blocked field goal -- as New Ulm Cathedral stayed in the Tomahawk Conference title hunt with a 48-8 pasting of Buffalo Lake-Hector Saturday night.

Schugel latched onto scoring aerials of 45, 13 and 42 from Neubauer. For the game, Schugel had four catches for 107 yards.

"I thought that we played a little slow and sluggish in the first half," Cathedral coach Denny Lux said. The Greyhounds were guilty of three turnovers in the first 24 minutes while the Mustangs turned the ball over on their first five possessions of the game.

"We were not satisfied at halftime (despite a 28-0 lead), and that is a sign of the type of character that this football team has," he said. "They want to play well -- they were not looking at the score."

When the Greyhounds did hang onto the ball, they had no problem taking it to the Mustangs thanks to the turnovers.

Brandon Mohr recovered a Mustang fumble at the Cathedral 48-yard line and on the first play after the recovery, senior tailback Dustin Hillesheim broke lose for a 52-yard touchdown run. Al Gleisner's kick made it 7-0 just three minutes into the game.

Two interceptions by each team stalled drives in the first quarter -- a quarter that saw a combined five turnovers by BLH and Cathedral.

BLH's fifth turnover, which came midway through the second quarter, led to the second Cathedral touchdown. Following a fumble recovery by Gleisner, Neubauer connected on his first touchdown pass to Eric Schugel when he found him open in the left flat for a 45-yard scoring strike; Gleisner's kick made it 14-0.

The junior duo hooked up again following a Cathedral defensive stand when, on a second down from the BLH 13-yard line, Neubauer hit Schugel who eluded Brett Witter at the 3-yard line and bolted into the end zone for a 21-0 lead following Philipp Niemeyer's kick.

Then perhaps the most unusual play this season happened when BLH attempted a 40-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half. Jess Como's kick was blocked by Hillesheim but no one on either side knew that the ball was live until Kyle Reinarts picked up the ball and raced into the end zone with no time on the clock.

"That was one of those things that come around every so often," Lux said. "The players on the field did not know it was a live ball -- Coach John Miheve kept yelling and we finally picked up the ball and were fortunate enough to score."

That gave the Hounds a 28-0 lead at halftime despite three turnovers.

"I think that the turnovers were because we were not focused," Lux said. "I saw some things on the field that I have not seen this year. Whatever it was, we dealt with it and it is out of our system."

Jeff Schnobrich's 30-yard touchdown run at the 7:29 mark of the third quarter lifted Cathedral to a 35-0 lead before Neubauer and Schugel combined for a 42-yard touchdown pass 4 1/2 minutes later.

"Eric is a good athlete with good speed and our offensive line gave Adam time to throw," Lux said. "When you run good routes, you get guys open."

BLH would taint the Greyhounds shutout bid on a five yard run by Jess Como before Kyle Reinarts scored the Greyhounds last touchdown on a 44-yard run.