Big plays by Worthington enough to top Eagles

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

WORTHINGTON -- The Worthington Trojans have lived and died all season with big plays. They got enough Saturday afternoon to live for at least another week.

Worthington used four big plays to build a four-touchdown lead by halftime. The Trojans then cruised to a 34-12 win over the New Ulm High Eagles in a Section 2-4A semifinal game at Trojan Field.

"We hit a good ballclub, Worthington's a good ballclub," New Ulm High coach Rick VanRoekel said. "There's not a kid on our ballclub who's not going to go out and try their best. It was the big breaks."

Second-seeded Worthington (7-3) ran only 39 plays against No. 3 seed New Ulm High (6-4), which ran 74. They made the most of them.

"We're a big-play team," Worthington coach Dennis Hale said. "If we don't have big plays, then we're usually in trouble."

Perhaps the biggest came in the first quarter for the Trojans. Trailing 7-0, New Ulm High marched from their own 29 to the Worthington 2.

On third-and-goal, Eagles sophomore running back Kevin Neidecker apparently scored. But the touchdown was negated by a clipping penalty, which sent the Eagles back to the 17.

Two straight incompletions from quarterback Charles Ganske turned the ball over on downs to Worthington. And turned the momentum over to the Trojans.

"I think it was the big turning point in the game," VanRoekel said. "We had the big penalty, we had the touchdown. That could have been a 7-7 ballgame. Even though that was one touchdown, I think 'Big Mo' swung their way and they had some big plays, and they just outplayed us the first half."

The Trojans, who will face Mankato East in the Section 2-4A title game Friday, ran only eight plays to stake themselves to a 26-0 lead. Three of those touchdown drives were of two plays or less.

"For us to get off early, going up 14-0, was huge for us," Hale said.

Senior quarterback Cole Johnson connected with junior wide out Simon Boever from 30 yards for a 7-0 Trojan lead with 7:31 in the first quarter. It was the drive's lone play.

Worthington needed four plays on their next drive to take a 14-0 lead. Trojan senior fullback Anthony Watson, who rushed for 86 yards, scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 26-yard run.

Junior running back Nick Raymo scored on the second play of the Trojan's next drive, going 65 yards with 4:29 in the first half to up the Trojan lead to 20-0. Raymo led Worthington with 157 yards on just 10 carries.

On the Eagles' ensuing possession, Ganske fumbled at the New Ulm High 4 and one play later Watson scored again. Watson scored the Trojans' final touchdown on a 12-yard run with 2:53 in the third quarter and Worthington led 34-0.

"We were giving up plays, missing tackles," said Ganske, who also starts at linebacker for the Eagles. "We were doing stuff we shouldn't have done and we weren't keying very well. We shouldn't have been giving up that much stuff on defense."

The Eagles, who were outgained only 322-301 by the Trojans, never were able to sustain any consistency until the fourth quarter. Drives started promisingly only to be killed by penalties, or to just run of gas.

New Ulm High had its second promising drive dry up in the second quarter. Recovering a fumble at their own 2, the Eagles marched in 10 plays to the Trojans 33.

But Ganske was dropped for a loss of one on third-and-2 and the Eagles turned the ball over on downs on the next play.

In the third quarter, New Ulm High went on the march again. Combining runs from Neidecker and Ganske with a key 16-yard catch by senior Brandon Rolloff on a third-and-11 at midfield, the Eagles drove to the Worthington 34; two straight incompletions ended that drive.

"We moved the ball and we got it down there," Ganske said. "And we couldn't punch it in. I think that hurt a lot. We moved the ball the whole game, pretty much. It's just that we had mistakes. That's what hurt us."

Ganske got the Eagles on the board with 10:47 in the game on a 1-yard run. Neidecker, who gained 120 yards on 25 carries, scored from six yards out with 1:24 remaining.

"Getting yards and then getting stopped, or having crucial penalties at times when we had good drives going, took a lot out of our offense," Neidecker said. "We were ready to play, but we just didn't have everything together."

NEW ULM HIGH 0 0 0 12--12

WORTHINGTON 14 12 8 0--34

1st Quarter

WHS--Boever 30 pass from C.Johnson (Magana kick), 7:31

WHS--Watson 26 run (Magana kick), 2:17

2nd Quarter

WHS--Raymo 65 run (kick blocked), 4:29

WHS--Watson 4 run (pass failed), 3:06

3rd Quarter

WHS--Watson 12 run (Watson run), 2:53

4th Quarter

NUHS--Ganske 1 run (pass failed), 10:47

NUHS--Neidecker 6 run (run failed), 1:24