'Super Saturday' for football

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- It is "Super Saturday" for the three high school football teams in New Ulm as they take the second step in the 2000 football playoffs.

Johnson Field will be the site of two grid clashes while one team takes the 28-mile trek to Mankato.

In New Ulm, New Ulm Cathedral, coming off a 34-25 come-from-behind win over Cedar Mountain-Comfrey, meets Sleepy Eye in a high noon showdown in Section 2-1A.

Later in the afternoon, at 4 p.m., the New Ulm Eagles, fresh off a 41-7 victory over Fairmont, tangles with Worthington in a 2-4A game.

The Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers hope to keep the fire going when they travel to Mankato Loyola at 2 p.m. in a Section 2-1A battle.

SLEEPY EYE PUBLIC (7-2) AT NEW ULM CATHEDRAL (8-1), NOON, JOHNSON PARK

If you asked both coaches, they will tell you that they did not play well in their first round games despite the wins. The Indians topped Faribault BA 27-14 while the Hounds outscored CMC 28-0 in the second half for a 34-25 win.

"Watching game films I know that they are a very solid club," said Indian head coach Dean Deibele of Cathedral. "We will have to play an excellent overall defensive game; they are well-balanced. They throw the ball well; (Joey) Schugel is a nice quarterback and Brandon Reinarts is a solid running back, plus they have a nice line. I just think that our team is going to have to play a good defensive game for us to win."

Deibele said that offensively "it is going to come down to eliminating mistakes. Our last few games we have been (penalty) flagged quite a bit, especially against Faribault BA we had two or three holding calls and false starts in one drive alone. If we hurt ourselves with penalties, mistakes and turnovers, it will be a long afternoon. We need to control the ball and keep it out of their hands and we need to establish a ground game."

Doing that will be in the hands of the Indian offensive line to try and open holes for Cody Walter (852 yards rushing), fullback Jose Saenz, and quarterback Bryce Belseth. "We like to think that we have that balanced offensive attack," said Deibele. "Bryce is a good option quarterback; he runs the option extremely well and has good speed. Cody is having a fine year; in addition to his rushing he has caught the ball for over 500 yards. He is our breakaway threat. When teams key on those two, we have (fullback) Jose Saenz (220 pounds) who can carry the ball inside. We are simply going to take whatever Cathedral gives us (offensively).

"Our offensive line needs to run-block well and if we are forced to pass, we might be in trouble."

Cathedral head coach Denny Lux said that his defense "has to be aware of two or three plays that we need to watch for; they are plays that they get big yardage off of and they highlight a few players in their offense, so we need to make sure where they are at all times."

Lux said that the Indians' defense "has good overall speed; they do not rely on one or two players to make the play. They have a good overall defense."

He said that the Indians "have a nice mix with their straight ahead running (Saenz) and their option game. It is going to be a matter of our linebackers stepping up to make those big plays. Our inside three players have to do the job; our defensive scheme is that each player has to do their job because sooner or later the ball will come to them."

On offense, Cathedral knows that they have to come out hard from the get-go. "I know that these seniors (on offense) are going to do that. We have been in this semifinal game three of the last four years. We have been here before so now it is their time to come out on top."

Last week, the Hounds had to overcome a 25-6 halftime deficit to the Cougars, which they did. Lux feels that that comeback gives the team confidence going into this game.

"We feel that that comeback gives us momentum," he said. "When you look at our regular season, we have had some big wins and we have been able to take that momentum into the next game. We are trying to keep building and it has to be a four-quarter game. This game is at home, we have had good fan following and if we play hard, they will get into the game."

WORTHINGTON (7-2) AT NEW ULM HIGH (7-2), 4 P.M., JOHNSON PARK

Last year, the Trojans derailed New Ulm 25-3 in the Section 2-4A playoffs, so the Eagles have some extra incentive for this game.

Worthington comes in as the runners-up in the Southwest Conference, finishing second to unbeaten Jackson Country Central.

Leading Worthington this year has been running back Anthony Watson who has totaled 690 yards this season. Last week, the Trojans hammered Marshall 49-3 and scored 35 points in the second quarter.

Worthington head coach Dennis Hale, now in his 24th season as head coach, said that his team is comparable in some aspects to last year's team.

"We are comparable offensively, but I think that we have struggled defensively," he said.

Worthington has Watson and fullback Brian Cowdin (598 yards). "They both have had good years."

Hale said that they run out of the power-I and use a four-man front on defense.

"We have been steady this year," Hale commented. "But we have been disappointed in the two games that we lost (to Luverne and Jackson, New Ulm also lost to Jackson). We felt that we were outplayed in those games. But we have shown the ability to bounce back."

The Trojans' 49-3 win over Marshall Tuesday was their biggest point total of the season. But Hale said that the score is misleading. "We trailed (3-0 early in the game) but then we scored those 35 points in the second quarter mainly because we returned an intercepted pass for a touchdown and then returned a punt back to their 5-yard line. We had big plays on special teams that contributed to that score.

"I think that we are playing our best game and have won three in a row (since the loss to Jackson)," he said. "We have some big kids, but I don't know if we are as big as New Ulm. New Ulm has been scoring a lot of points this year and that is a concern of ours because defensively we have not been strong. We have to figure out how to slow them down. We have skilled players at the skilled positions."

Eagle head coach Rick VanRoekel said that his team needs to be aware of the Trojans. "They run the second back through the line and they have a nice offensive line."

He feels that New Ulm "has a little more team speed (than Worthington) but (Anthony) Watson has very good speed and he breaks a lot of tackles. (Brian) Cowdin has some big runs; we need to stop them at the line because if they get out in the open ... we need to put pressure up in front and deny them the big plays."

VanRoekel said that his team knows that this game he cannot have any letdown or penalties "or we will not win. To me it as simple as that; we watched a hour and a half of film (Thursday) on them and the kids know that Worthington is a good ballclub and will have our skills tested."'

VanRoekel said that Brandon Rolloff, the Eagles wide receiver who scored twice in Tuesday's game but was hurt "will not play because of that knee injury." That means that Danny Krzmarzick or Eric Stock will fill that position.

"We watched the tape from last year's game and we all agreed that we did not play very well. But this year, these kids have that experience and maturity so they will not make those mistakes that we made last year. We are confident that we can win."

MVL (4-5) AT LOYOLA (7-2), 2 P.M., MANKATO

The MVL Chargers must find out a way to stop "Meixl's Magic" when they take on the Crusaders in a 2 p.m. meeting.

Last week, Jake Meixl carried the ball 32 times for 248 yards and four touchdowns in their 34-6 win over Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin.

"We run the ball; we only threw the ball 22 times this year," said Crusader head coach Jim Neyers. "And that is because of Jake (Meixl). He has carried the ball 222 times this season for 1,794 yards and 23 touchdowns. That is basically what our offense is. We had a two wingbacks that rushed for 600 yards and another that rushed for 500. But they are both out; one tore an ACL and the other broke his arm."

Defensively, "we will mix up our defenses; we may use five-, six- or four-man fronts. Again, Jake is our main man. He is our middle linebacker and leading tackler."

Neyers said that his team "struggled at the beginning of the year. We were 1-2 and now we have won six in a row. We average about 220 across the line and won the Minnesota River Conference title."

Neyers feels that he must key on Dan Unke at quarterback and Danny Liggett. "Danny (Liggett) is from Mankato and several of our players know him well and have played with him. They know that he is fast; those two are their threats. They run the option well and with an athletic quarterback like Unke, that can create problems."

Plus, he said that he concerned about the pass game with Unke to Liggett. "That is what they did against Sleepy Eye (St. Mary's). If we can stop Liggett from getting long passes and contain Unke on the option, I don't feel that they can run the ball up the middle."

"We need to stop Meixl," said Charger head coach Jim Buboltz. "He is comparable to (Tyler) Evans of McLeod West and (Chase) Hillesheim (of Red Rock Central) in that they are both big backs."

Buboltz said that he will change some defenses against the Crusaders. "Last week, we used a 4-3 and a zone coverage against St. Mary's because they liked to pass the ball a little more and we adapted to that. This week, we will put more men in the box and put Danny Liggett on their wide receivers. We have to stop the run; they like to do it a lot."

The Loyola offensive line "has more size (than our defensive line), but they do not have a lot of depth. It is just a matter of our guys plugging up the holes."

"On offense, we need to open up the game with the pass; Dan is really throwing the ball well," he said. "We are all healthy now and we are able to us every part of our team. We play good games against good teams and we feel that we will be ready to play (today)."