City teams

hoping to

rebound

after losses

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- All three high school teams in New Ulm hope to get back on the winning track this weekend after suffering losses in their last games.

New Ulm Cathedral is the only team that will be able to have home cooking this weekend as they host Wabasso Friday night. New Ulm High will travel to Waseca for another key South Central Conference game for the Eagles while Minnesota Valley Lutheran will head west to Lamberton to tangle with a strong Red Rock Central squad in a Southern Minnesota Conference tilt.

NEW ULM HIGH AT WASECA, 7 P.M. FRIDAY

This may well be a game where both teams mirror themselves as far as what they both do on offense and defense.

"As far as their offense goes, they run the same formations that we do and their defense will run the 5-3," said Eagles coach Rick VanRoekel. "So they have a lot of similarities."

And that mirror image continues as both teams are about the same size. The Eagles lost to St. Peter last week while Waseca disposed of Fairmont.

"They have a couple of offensive and defensive tackles that are real good but other than that, we are pretty much the same."

Leading the Bluejays, who lost 14-12 earlier in the year to St. Peter, is their quarterback Kellen Driscoll, who transferred from Blue Earth two years ago.

"He is their main player," VanRoekel said. "Everyone that has played Waseca has said that you have to stop Driscoll. He is a good athlete. And even if you drop back and stop the pass, he can run the ball effectively. That is where defenses have had a lot of problems. They will just let him take off and run with the ball."

Also back is fullback Steve Hanson. "He is a good running back that we also have to look out for," VanRoekel said.

VanRoekel said the quickness that the 'Jays have in their backfield is similar to that of St. Peter.

"Our whole defensive concentration will be to stay home and cover your gap," VanRoekel said. "If everybody does that, we should be OK but if we go flying in all directions and we do not contain him (Driscoll) they will be tough to stop."

The loss to St. Peter, which came off of two big plays has not dampened the attitude of the players this week in practice.

"We talked to the kids about the loss and told them that we got beat by a very good team," VanRoekel said. "We came out of the game pretty much healthy and we are still in contention for the (SCC) title.If we win our next two games (Waseca and then at home against Fairmont) we can still tie for the conference title. We also could use the wins for sectional seedings. If we do win both games, I think that we will be seeded second or third (behind top-ranked Mankato East) with Mankato West and Worthington also looking for that second or third seed."

WABASSO AT NEW ULM CATHEDRAL, 7 P.M. FRIDAY JOHNSON PARK

New Ulm Cathedral coach Denny Lux feels the Wabasso Rabbits have "been adding some different offenses to their playbook and that makes us need to get our defense ready for any and everything when we play.

'They will run some power football and they will also spread the field with their passing game. They have a fine quarterback in Brent Baune. He is a junior with a lot of speed and a good arm. The thing that we have going for us is that playing this late in the season, we have faced a lot of these (style) offenses already. The kids should be ready to play.

"They will use the power offense of McLeod West and the wide-open passing attack that Sleepy Eye St. Mary's uses. And we will also see some of the traditional sets that teams like Cedar Mountain/Comfrey and (Buffalo Lake-Hector) use. It is different things that we will see and we have to make sure that we have the right personnel on the field for those different looks that they will give us.

"They are always a quick team and that is no different this year. Every year that we play them they have quickness in the backfield and at wide receiver. We have to make sure that we have quick kids on the field and ready for any kind of formation that they might give us. We will start the game with the idea that they will throw the ball and from there we can start moving up and stopping the run."

Wabasso will run a 4-4 defense "and put eight guys on the line of scrimmage," according to Lux. "We need to get that quick first step and if we get to the line of scrimmage, you have some areas to work with."

The game also has implications for seedings.

"We want to finish with the record that we felt we could," Lux said. "We have had a tough schedule this year. If we would win this game and Faribault (Bethlehem Academy) we would not be assured of a home game in the first round, we would not know about where we would play."

MINNESOTA VALLEY LUTHERAN AT RED ROCK CENTRAL, 7 P.M. FRIDAY LAMBERTON

It will be out of the frying pan and into the fire this week for the Chargers.

After playing defending Class 1A champion Sleepy Eye High last week, MVL now has to head to Lamberton to meet a strong Red Rock Central team.

"They are 6-0 and have been rolling through the teams that they have been playing," said Chargers coach Jim Buboltz. "They have good size and good team speed and some leadership with a very good coach also.

"They have a good back in Colby Pack who runs hard and they have a fine quarterback in Corey Fishel, who is very talented. They also have a fine receiver in Lee Schaffran and he is also a good player. They have a lot of weapons."

Buboltz feels the Chargers played "a pretty good game against Sleepy Eye. Outside of the turnovers (five) in that we have to stay away from those turnovers if we want to play with a team like Red Rock Central."

Both teams are similar size-wise.

"It will be a matter of who can do the things that each likes to do," Buboltz said. "We like to run the ball, they like to run the ball. We like the play-action pass as they do. So it will be a matter of whose will is achieved."

On defense, RRC is "very attractive to the ball; they get to the ball very quick," Buboltz said. "They switch between a four-, five- and six-man front so we will see a bunch of different defenses from them. Plus they tackle well."

Buboltz knows the Chargers need to respond to that loss to Sleepy Eye High.

"We have our eyes focused for finishing the year strong in our (Southern Minnesota) conference and bettering our position in the playoffs," he said. "Each game really matters for our post-season."

Buboltz feels wins this week and next week (against Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin) "would put us at home in the first round of the playoffs. We would probably be the three seed behind Windom and (United South Central), who appear to have wrapped those spots up. Two wins would guarantee us the third seed. One win would get us a fourth seed with possibly St. James and Madelia/Truman getting it. It is a wide-open section for spots three through six. We want to get back on the winning track and control our own destiny."