New Ulm win over Waseca

costly

NEW ULM - New Ulm High School's 24-14 win over Waseca Friday night put the Eagles one win from a share of the South Central Conference football title if they can beat Fairmont here next Wednesday night.

But the win was a costly one for the Eagles as starting junior quarterback Bobby Wellmann was lost for the season when he injured his left ankle. "I tore liganments on the outside of the ankle and pulled ligaments on the inside," he said. Wellmann had just completed a pitch when he was hit low by a Bluejay player. Wellmann said that the fracture will put him out 4-6 weeks with the ligament damage inreasing that time on the shelf.

Wellmann was penciled in as a starting guard this year for the NUHS basketball team.

DEFENSE STOPS WASECA: New Ulm football coach Rick Van Roekel said his team "played perhaps our best game overall offensively and defensively.

"We moved the ball on offense and it was not one big play; we sustained some drives. And on defense, we put a lot of pressure on (Waseca quarterback) Kellen Driscoll and that is what we needed to do."

New Ulm held a 24-0 lead before Waseca put two cosmetic scores on the board.

"The guys came out on defense and really played well; Isaac Forstner played solid at defensive end. There were a lot of times Driscoll tried to go outside; Isaac took on two or three blockers and still made the tackle. Travis Aufderheide also played solid for us. We moved him back to noseguard and he had his best game defensively."

Van Roekel was worried about how his team would come out after a tough loss at home to St. Peter the previous week.

"We weren't sure how the players would react. Waseca is 6-0 and it was their homecoming. But this group is a hard group to read in practice but they came out like gangbusters. Everyone played well."

JACOBS HAS BEST GAME: Eagle running back Josh Jacobs had a good game at running back for NUHS. "J.J. had some real nice runs for us and got some clutch first downs for us," Van Roekel said.

Charles Ganske, who was the starting quarterback for the Eagles in their first two games took over for Wellmann and did a nice job directing the Eage offense. "It will be a challenge for Charles now that he is playing both ways. Whenever you lose a player like Bobby, that hurts our depth."

New Ulm can now gain a share of the SCC (with Waseca) with a win at home against the Cardinals. "If we can beat Fairmont and if other things go according to Hoyle, we could get the number two seed (behind Mankato East) in Section 2-3A.. There is a lot that rides on this game."

CHARGERS PLAY STRONG SECOND HALF: MVL head football coach Jim Buboltz said that his team played "perhaps our best half of football in the second half" in a loss to Red Rock Central Friday night.

"We got man-handled by them in the first half but I think that there may have been some residual letdown from the Sleepy Eye game the week before and I think that we were not mentally prepared for the game.

'They came out ready to play and we did not. The only mistake that I felt that they made in the first half was only scoring 12 points."

DETTMAN KEYS OFFENSE: Josh Dettman keyed the MVL second half at quarterback with his ability to run the option. "We were able to spread them out and he was very comfortable running the option; he had 90 yards rushing in the second half between the double wing and spread offense. But the truth was we just played better defense in the second half.

"He came back and led our team after a bad first half and the guys followed him. Joel Russow had 22 tackles and two sacks and played well. And Andy Beilke had two interceptions and a fumble recovery all in the second half. We are ready to get into the playoffs."

Buboltz said that his team has played four very strong teams this year in McLeod West, Sleepy Eye Public, Sleepy Eye St. Mary's and Red Rock Central. "They all do things well and I would not want to pick one winner. St. Mary's and McLeod have size, Sleepy Eye with their talented back and size and Red Rock with their power and size. I feel very fortunate that we have been able to compete with them."

MVL now must beat MLBO Wednesday afternoon at Johnson Park to gain a fourth seed and a first round home playoff game.

HOUNDS LOSE HOME FIELD:The 19-13 loss to Wabasso by Cathedral Friday night all but eliminates the Hounds from having a home playoff game.

It was not one of the best games that Cathedral played as they appeared to be flat and not into the game.

The Hound offense ran only 49 offensive plays compared to 69 for the Rabbits.

One of the big plays of the game for Wabaso came midway through the third quarter when the successfully pulled off a fake punt on first down and turned it into a big first down.

'We had guys on the field that should have been able to defend it but they ran it well," said CHS coach Denny Lux.

What hurt Cathedral is losing linebacker Shane Balbach who tore is ACL in the game with Sleepy Eye St. Mary's. Balbach is one player that the Hounds needed on the field. He is fiery and is around the ball.One has to wonder how the Hounds will respond at Faribault BA Wednesday night knowing that they cannot earn a home olayoff game. But win or lose, the Hounds must come out ready to play for 48 minutes.