Greyhounds dominate St. Clair

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Editor

NEW ULM -- New Ulm Cathedral crammed 489 total yards down its opponents throats, scoring seven touchdowns in the 54-12 Section 2A win over St. Clair Tuesday at Johnson Field.

The Greyhounds (8-1) host third-seeded LeCenter at 7 p.m. Saturday at Johnson Field in New Ulm.

St. Clair struck first, eleven plays into the game, when 6-1, 160-pound St. Clair quarterback Danny Williams ran 14 yards for the touchdown. The Cyclones had only one other touchdown in the game, scoring with less than a minute left in the half on a short rush.

"They put up a good fight," defensive end Erik Braegelmann said. Braegelmann had five tackles in the game. "They scored on us right away, which is not too good for us, but we came back and made it.

It wasn't long before the Greyhounds got their revenge, however.

"It got us a little worked up, got us a little mad," Braegelmann said. "It made us work harder on subsequent plays."

After Kyle Reinarts made a 19-yard punt return to the Cathedral 37-yard line, Schnobrich ran the ball to the right, couldn't find an opening, then turned to the left and reached the end zone for a 63-yard touchdown thanks to some good blocking down the left sideline.

"The play was out to the right, but there was nothing there, so I went left," Schnobrich said. "Neubauer and Schugel picked up some downfield blocks; that's really what made it happen."

"Any good offense has good blocking," Schnobrich said. "The guys on the line make it up."

The kick by Ilene Fahle was good, giving Cathedral a lead it wouldn't relinquish. In all, Fahle went 6-for-8 on point after attempts.

Schnobrich had 267 all-purpose yards for the Greyhounds. He had nine carries for 152 yards, as well as one interception.

With six seconds left in the half, Schnobrich took the handoff, then pulled up and passed to Eric Schugel down the right line. Schugel broke a tackle at the 15, then dove across the goal line to go up 35-12 at the half.

In the second half, Schnobrich rolled out of a tackle attempt down the left line for a 47-yard touchdown run.

But Schnobrich wasn't even the Greyhound who scored the most in the blowout.

Ryan Turbes put up Jerome Bettis-like stats, rushing for three touchdowns of 1, 5 and 1 yard -- two of them in the first half. He had 28 yards on 10 rushes. Neubauer also had a touchdown in the first half, scoring on a quarterback sneak. He threw for 110 yards, with 7-of-10 completions.

In the third quarter, Braegelmann fell on a St. Clair fumble, starting a nine-play drive for Cathedral that ended in Turbes' third touchdown.

Braegelmann also had a sack early in the third quarter, hitting Williams and bringing him down to end the Cyclones' four-play drive.

"We just try to contain the quarterback, not necessarily make the play all the time; when it happens, it happens," he said. "[But it feels] really good."

Leading the Greyhound defense, Adam Koch had 10 tackles, and Dan Vetter had nine.

Andy Berg and Reinarts had six tackles apiece.

In the second half, a different batch of Greyhounds were making many plays, one of them being sophomore running back Eric Olson, who went 83 yards in 10 carries. With 1:30 left in the game, he weaved through the middle for a 10-yard touchdown run to end the game 54-12.

"Olson came in and did a really good job," Schnobrich said. "He's a quick kid and did a really good job."

Jen Seavey can be reached at jseavey@nujournal.com