Eagles look for first win against tough Fairmont team

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- As teams wind down the regular football season, two teams will see action at home while two will take to the highways for big road games.

Friday night will see two high school teams, New Ulm HIgh School and New Ulm Cathedral, playing their version of Friday Night Lights with contests while both Minnesota Valley Lutheran and Martin Luther College will take on opponents in Saturday contests.

NEW ULM HIGH SCHOOL AT FAIRMONT, FRIDAY NIGHT, 7 P.M. FAIRMONT

The Eagles hope to put a complete game together as they strive for their first win of the season against the Cardinals who lead the South Central Conference.

"Fairmont is a young team," New Ulm coach Rick VanRoekel said about the Cardinals who topped St. James 21-20 last week with a late-game goal line stand. "They have been behind in their last couple of games but have made comebacks which really gives them confidence. They also have one of the better running backs in the South Central Conference in Mike Wubbena. They are playing very good ball -- have the confidence."

The Cardinals had been down in football for the last couple of years but are back to the old Fairmont-type of of football thanks to some young, strong athletic classes.

"They have five or six sophomores starting right now. They only have seven seniors on the team, but they have a couple of strong classes back-to-back that have had success. They are getting back to the Fairmont of old."

Fairmont will primarily run the ball on offense while throwing four and six man fronts on defense.

While VanRoekel is concerned with what Fairmont does, he is more concerned about what his team is or is not doing.

"I am more concerned about what we are not doing. What other teams do is not my concern," he said.

He said that the Eagles' offense must get points on the board and then hang onto the lead and not have breakdowns.

"It is tough mentally to keep the kids up. We are just as good as some of the teams that we play. We just have to play a complete game. I think that our confidence will come back then."

SLEEPY EYE ST. MARY'S AT NEW ULM CATHEDRAL, FRIDAY, 7 P.M. JOHNSON FIELD

In one of the biggest rivalry games in the area, the Knights of Sleepy Eye St.Mary's come to New Ulm for their meeting with the Greyhounds who are now ranked second in the Class "A" poll.

"These two teams go back a long way as far as football history goes," Cathedral coach Denny Lux said as the Knights lead the overall series 43-42-2. "The teams take a lot of pride in this game. This will be a good high school game."

The Knights are similar to Wabasso on offense as they will send out three, four and five receivers on pass pattern.

"They do swing their backs out of the backfield which is something that we have not seen a lof of this year," Lux said. "Defensively, we need to make sure that our linebackers are reading their keys. We do expect them to throw the football but they did have success running the ball in the second half of their MLBO game."

Lux said that his defense is experienced which will be a big help in Friday's game.

"They read their receivers well. One thing that is a plus for us is that we have had success containing the quarterback. In high school, if you can contain the quarterback, it gives your defensive backs a better angle to knock passes down."

SESM is traditonally a 5-3 team on defense but Lux said that he will prepare his team for any type of defense that they throw at the Greyhounds.

"Our linemen have to do a good job in order for us to move the football," said Lux.

The game is also Homecoming for the Greyhounds but Lux is not concerned that the players may be to involved in the festivities and not focused entirely on the game.

"I am not concerned about the that. This is a very mature team and I am confident that when the whistle blows, the kids will be ready."

MARTIN LUTHER COLLEGE AT UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-MORRIS, 1 P.M. SATURDAY MORRIS

The Knights will again face a big team in Morris.

"They are bigger than Westminster was," Knights coach Chuck Hussman said. "They are predicted to win our division. This will be a real battle for us. If we win, we stay at the top of our division but if we lose, we let everyone else back into the mix. This is a very important for us."

Morris is a power team that will run the ball and run it well.

"They beat Trinity 79-6 and Blackburn 42-0 the last couple of games so they are loaded. They will come at us and we have to play them up there which will not be easy," Hussman said.

That running game is bolstered by an offensive line that goes 278 pounds, 310, 245, 256 and 234.

"They will try and run right through us," he said.

On defense, Morris will want their front four to control the MLC running game in an attempt to clean up with their defensive backs..

Hussman hopes that the Knight's defense will be able to use their overshifted four front and stunt a little bit more than they have in past games to try and off-set the size advantage of Morris.

MLC enters the game riding a three-game winning streak which is a big confidence builder for this game. "We know that we need to win this game -the players are aware of thay. We think that we can get the job done. We need to move the ball and keep our defense off of the field."

MAPLE RIVER AT MINNESOTA VALLEY LUTHERAN SATURDAY 2 P.M. JOHNSON FIELD

If you attend this game you will probably see an air show courtesy of Maple River, a team that likes to spread the field. "They will come at us with four wide receivers and talented quarterback (Bobby Olson) behind them," Charger coach Jim Buboltz said. "They like to throw the ball."

That poses some problems for the Charger defense.

"We need to match up with them. We are going to run a double triangle on that offense. We are going to try to make them run the ball and keep away from big plays."

The Eagles are the first team that is primarily a passing team.

"We had three teams in the (Gopher/Valley Conference) last year that passed a lot. But now, it is down to Maple River. But we need to contain Olson. We need to contain him because he can get it going."

On defense, Maple River will mix up its defenses.

Defensively, the Chargers will be without back Mike Wiechmann who is out for the year after breaking an ankle in the win last week over Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop.

"We cannot give up the long bomb to them. We need to work on our pass coverage in that we will not give up the big play. Keep them up in front of us on defense."

Buboltz said that the Charger offense will put their trust in the offensive line.

"We want to run the ball. I think that our players will be riding high from last week's win. That will be a big plus for us. Confidence-wise, last week's win was big for us being a young team. And I think that we will be ready as a team for this game. They will grab hold of what happened last week and run with it."