Chargers frustrate Crusaders

NEW ULM -- Minnesota Valley Lutheran quarterback Dan Unke said that going into their game last Saturday against top-seeded Mankato Loyola, " we were expecting to win."

The fifth-seeded Chargers did with a 20-12 upset over the Crusaders in Section 2-1A football.

"I don't know if we were as confident as we were going into the (playoff) game with Sleepy Eye St. Mary's, I don't think it surprised any of us that we played as well as we did," Unke said.

MVL, which entered the playoffs on a two-game losing skid and a 3-5 mark, beat St. Mary's and then Loyola.

"Everyone on the team sticks together and they believe in each other," said Unke, who passed for two scores and ran for another in the game. "We all believe that we can get the job done if we all work hard and play our best."

Prior to the game, the feeling on the part of the Crusaders was that MVL could not run the ball against the bigger Mankato line.

But the Chargers did, and they did not do it with mirrors. "Our line has been playing unbelievable the last two games; they played well against St. Mary's and even better against Loyola. They have really come to play the last couple of games."

Unke said that both the offensive and defensive line of Loyola were bigger. "But our linemen got it in their heads that they were going to do it; they did."

CRUSADERS FRUSTRATED BY MVL: The Crusaders started to get frustrated towards the end of the game when they were unable to get running back Jake Meixl any big runs.

"You could tell that things were not going right for them," commented Unke. "I think that when we got that (20-0) lead at halftime; I think that they thought that they were going to win pretty easy. When we got that lead, I think that they could not believe what was going on."

A NEW SEASON: Unke said that after they lost their last two regular season games, head coach Jim Buboltz talked to the team. "He said that everyone starts 0-0 and it is a new season. We have to forget about what has happened; plus we were just getting everyone back healthy. Everyone came in with that new attitude."

CHARGERS PASS MORE: Unke has passed the ball (14 completions, 304 yards, three touchdowns) more in the last two games than he has all season. That is due, he said, because the running game as been so successful. "When we run the ball as well as we do, teams seem to bite on the fakes and the play-action passes more. So hopefully, we can keep that going."

BEILKE SETS NEW RECORD: Two of the reasons that MVL ended Loyola's season was the play of linebackers Joel Russow and Jon Beilke. Saturday, Beilke totaled 20 tackles which gave him the MVL school record for career tackles with 394. He was tied with Abe Enter at 374.

"Myself and Joel were to key on him (Meixl); that was the game plan," he said. "That left the outside linebackers to read the other backs."

Beilke agreed with Unke that the Chargers were smaller. "But they did the job up front by chopping their bigger linemen; they knocked them down so that left the linebackers free to make the reads."

Beilke gives a lot of credit to his defensive line. "They knock down the blockers and it makes it pretty easy when there are no blockers coming out because the linemen are playing so well."

Beilke also commented that MVL frustrated Loyola throughout the contest.

"They started getting frustrated with each other when things weren't going right. It's not easy for a team to play when they are not getting along."

EAGLE DEFENSE STRONG AGAIN: The New Ulm Eagle defense once again played a stellar game in their 21-7 win over Worthington. After scoring a touchdown in the first half, the Eagle defense allowed the Trojans only five first downs in the second half.

"Coach (VanRoekel) told us that we had to tackle (Anthony Watson and Brian Cowdill, Worthington running backs) low and could not tackle high," said New Ulm linebacker Travis Boddy, who totaled nine tackles, had three assists and one sack for minus-six yards. "We had to wrap up as well as hit hard."

Boddy said that the Worthington score "fired us up. We all got on each other and said that we have to play better for the team. The whole year we have been proud of how we have shut people down; we stepped it up a little."

Rob Geistfeld, who led the team in tackles with 10 along with two assists and a sack for minus-seven yards, thinks that Worthington has the best running back combination that New Ulm has seen so far this season. "We did a good job of containing them and making sure that they didn't break loose. We had to key on our individual assignments and not worry about other people breaking down; make sure that we take each guy so we didn't fall for the fakes on the counters."

Geistfeld said that on the only Worthington touchdown, quarterback Kellen Trapenhagen "did a nice job of hiding the ball; he faked to Cowdin and Watson and we bit on that fake big time. He got around the end then."

Geistfeld said that the team is not just satisfied with the win over Worthington. "The seniors want to take it to the next level. I don't think that we will be intimidated in playing (Mankato East), a Big Nine school."

NEW ULM BASEBALL CONTRIBUTES TO CITY: In the October meeting of the Board of Directors of the New Ulm Baseball Association, the NUBA contributed $32,000 to the City of New Ulm.

Column by Jim Bastian, Journal sports writer