Motivation difference for Hounds in 2nd half

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- When the New Ulm Cathedral Greyhounds fell behind at halftime 25-6 to the Cedar Mountain/Comfrey Cougars, there were many raised eyebrows at Johnson Park.

There were just as many raised eyebrows 24 minutes later when the Hounds rattled off their eighth-straight win by outscoring the Cougars 28-0 in the second half to come away with a 34-25 win.

What was the difference between the first 24 minutes and the last 24 minutes of that game?

"It was motivation," said Hound running back/defensive back Brandon Reinarts, who picked off his team-high sixth enemy aerial of the season and scored two touchdowns in the game. "We knew that we had to pick up the play. Everyone from the seniors down to the freshmen and especially the sophomores talked it up on the sidelines (in the second half) and that really helped us do it on the field. We did not have it right away but we got it going. We got that spark and we never stopped from there."

When asked if the Hounds just came out flat to start the game, the senior who led the team in rushing with 598 yards coming into the game said, "Yes, we did. No one was ready to play at the start of the game. We needed our coach to talk to us and we got that at halftime."

Reinarts said his interception in the second half was due to practice on that play. "We had been working on that play all week," he said. "We knew that with (Kyle) Marks out there they were going to throw screen passes and I picked up the (defensive read) right away and went in towards the ball.

"We know that we cannot doubt ourselves. We have been down farther. We knew that we could come back. We just needed that spark."

NOSBUSH CRACKS 100 TACKLES: Cathedral linebacker Jesse Nosbush broke the 100-tackle barrier on Tuesday with his 20 tackles, which carried him to 119 on the season.

He said that after the Hounds' first score of the game, which may have come to easy, the team slowed down.

"Everyone seemed to slow down a step and no one seemed like they were going hard," he said. "In the second half, our defense just decided to go out and hit people. We didn't have any (defensive) plays in the second half. We just settled into a 5-3 and went from there."

He said the interceptions by Jacob Mertz and Reinarts in that second half "were big. And so was Schugel's touchdown pass (to Billy Scheiber) in the second half.

"We know that we will have to be ready for Sleepy Eye (noon Saturday at Johnson Park in New Ulm). They are a good team and we have to make sure that we come out right away."

SCHUGEL SAID TEAM SLOW: Cathedral quarterback Joey Schugel, who passed for his seventh touchdown of the season and rushed for two more to bring him up to 10 touchdowns on the season, agreed that after the first score, his team went flat.

"I think that we thought it would be a cakewalk after that first score," he said. "We were just slow after that the rest of the first half. We were slow off our blocks and our backs were slow. We just did not get anything going. But they (Cedar Mountain) did a good job defensively in that first half."

Schugel said the Hounds stuck with their gameplan and then threw in a couple of trick plays. "The coaches told us to play hard (in the second half) because it could be our last game with our pads on."

Schugel said Reinarts' interception was big "because we needed the ball back but the play that was bigger was that double pass (from Schugel to Tony Moldan to Reinarts for a touchdown). That was the biggest play of the game for us."

Schugel said this was the first time that they had used that play. "We have run that play in practice for four weeks, but this was the first time we have used it in a game."

CHARGERS HIT STRIDE: If you had asked any coach in Section 2-1A which team they did not want to play prior to Tuesday night's games, the consensus would have been Minnesota Valley Lutheran.

The Chargers came in with a 3-5 record, but they may well be the best 3-5 Class 1A team in the area. They had been nagged by injuries all season and had never had their complete team together until late in the year. Two losses to Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin and Red Rock Central did not give the Chargers a lot of momentum going into their game with St. Mary's Tuesday night, but they proved that they will be a force in the playoffs.

They are healthy now and that means trouble for Mankato Loyola on Saturday. Look for the Chargers to win on Saturday.

EAGLES JUMP OUT FAST: Getting off to a fast start is something that any coach loves to see, especially in the playoffs.

Tuesday night, the New Ulm High Eagles hit the field running, using just six offensive plays to score their first two touchdowns in their 41-7 win over Fairmont.

While the Eagle offense continued to score, once again it was the New Ulm defense that played their usual strong game. The seven points that the Cards scored came via an interception. New Ulm's starting defense has allowed six and seven points and has pitched four shutouts with their fifth coming in Tuesday's playoff win.

The Eagles will need to be on the top of their game at 4 p.m. Saturday at Johnson Park when they take on Worthington, a team that eliminated them from the playoffs last year in Worthington.

The Eagles' defense has been led by junior defensive back Charles Ganske, who has 61 tackles and 23 assists, and put some hurting on Fairmont receivers Tuesday night. Rob Geistfeld and Nate Braun had 50 and 31 tackles each this season with Andy Howk recording 31 tackles.

New Ulm has 16 quarterback sacks this year, led by Geistfeld with seven. How New Ulm does on Saturday will be determined by the Eagles' defense and if New Ulm's big offensive line can create holes in the Trojans' defense.

SCHOOL WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Cathedral carries a 237-187-18 record in their football history with MVL at 88-100. New Ulm High has a record of 303-371-27.

The winningest coach at CHS is John Mowan who totes a 65-38 mark from 1964-1976.