Eagles blast Marshall in first round

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- In last year's playoff game in Marshall, everything that could go wrong for the Eagles did as they fell behind 21-0.

Monday night, everything that could go right for the Eagles did, as they scored 28 points in the second quarter and rolled past the Tigers 41-6 in Section 2-AAA playoff action.

Kevin Neidecker led the Eagles offensively as he carried the ball 22 times for 157 yards and three touchdowns and finished his night with a 67-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jon Koeckeritz.

Fullback Spencer Dickinson added 22 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown.

New Ulm, now 7-2, will square off against Mankato East at 2 p.m. at East Saturday.

"This was a nice win for us," said Eagle coach Rick VanRoekel, who saw his team have their season end last year in a 42-20 loss. "Anytime that you can put up 41 points and only give up six points, that is a good night."

Both teams did not score in the first quarter as the Eagles turned the ball over twice, while the Tigers, who ended with five turnovers in the game, were guilty of one.

"The last couple of games we have started out slow and that concerns me," VanRoekel said. "We need to work on that -- we did not play well in that first quarter."

But the Eagles began their first scoring drive late in the first quarter when they began a march from their own 37-yard line with 1:48 left in the quarter.

Two Dickinson carries moved the ball to the 30-yard line where they faced a fourth down and one. Dickinson's two-yard run gave the Eagles a first down on the Tiger 28-yard line. Two plays later, Kevin Neidecker strolled into the end zone from 24-yards out at the 10:59 mark. Luke Gronewold's kick made it 7-0.

Three plays later, Blake Kral recovered a Marshall fumble at the Tiger 48-yard line. Two Dickinson carries placed the ball at the 44-yard line, Neidecker then took his turn behind the Eagle offensive line and moved the ball to the 30-yard line. Four plays later, Dickinson rolled in from a yard out to cap an eight-play, 48-yard drive.

"We got the momentum going after that," Dickinson said. "Our line started blocking well and we moved the ball down the field -- we wanted to run the ball right down their throats from the get-go."

Josh Thorson's interception of a Nick Strautz pass, the third Tiger turnover, led to a Neidecker five-yard scoring run as he followed tackle Andy Miller into the end zone.

"It was fun blocking for Kevin tonight," Miller said. "We wanted this game tonight."

Leading 20-0, it took just 14 seconds for the Eagles to score again when JJ Germscheid stepped in front of a Marc Burgoon pass and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown that gave New Ulm a 28-0 halftime lead as Koeckeritz ran in the two point conversion.

"We put 28 points on the board in one quarter going against a strong wind," VanRoekel said. "We played some good football."

The Eagles continued that assault on their first possession of the third quarter when they marched 69 yards in 13 plays and ate almost seven minutes off of the clock. Neidecker ended the drive when he broke three tackles enroute to an 11-yard touchdown run.

Marshall got on the board on a 27-yard touchdown pass to Chace Pollock to make it 35-6.

Neidecker and the Eagles then closed out the scoring midway through the final quarter when Kockeritz hit Neidecker on a throwback pass and Neidecker outran Marshall defenders for a 67-yard touchdown.

"This offense has a lot of power and it was just a matter of time before we got things clicking," VanRoekel said. "We have Kevin along with a good offensive line and a big fullback in Spencer."

"We take it one game at a time -- we will be ready for (East) so they better be ready for us," said Dickinson.

MARSHAL 0 0 6 0 -- 6

NEW ULM 0 28 7 6 -- 41

FIRST QUARTER

No scoring

SECOND QUARTER

NEW ULM: Neidecker, 24 run. PAT: Gronewold, kick.

NEW ULM :Dickinson, one run. PAT: Gronewold, kick

NEW ULM : Neidecker, 11 run. PAT: Failed.

NEW ULM: Germscheid, 33 interception return. PAT: Koeckeritz, run.

THIRD QUARTER

NEW ULM: Neidecker, 11 run.PAT: Gronewold, kick.

MARSHALL: Pollock, 27 pass from Strautz. PAT: Failed.

FOURTH QUARTER

NEW ULM : Neidecker, 67 pass from Koeckeritz.PAT: Failed.