NEW ULM – The first New Ulm High School touchdown on the new field Friday night in its game with Belle Plaine came on a 75-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Alex Portner to wide receiver Cooper Yackley.

Unfortunately it was the lone Eagles’ score of the game.

Belle Plaine quarterback Carsen Ladd ran for three touchdowns and threw for another as the Tigers ruined New Ulm’s homecoming with a 39-7 win over the Eagles.

Ladd ran for touchdowns of 2, 30 and 1 yard and threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Brody Curtiss.

“I was proud of our effort,” said New Um coach Corey Kneeshaw. “They played hard but we had a lot of mistakes tonight. We had a lot of penalties. We had an interception (by Max Deslauriers) that we thought was returned for a touchdown that would have made it a 12-7 game at halftime. But we had a holding penalty.”

It was that kind of a night for the Eagles.

“Their defensive line really came out and set the tone against our offensive line,” Kneeshaw said. “They made it tough for us to try and get any kind of running game going. They turned us into a one-dimensional team.”

Belle Plaine used a blocked punt to set up their first score and held a 12-0 halftime lead.

The Tigers scored twice in the third quarter before Portner hooked up with Yackley on the last play of the third quarter for the lone score.

“We missed some open receivers tonight and our quarterback kind of guess on a screen pass and threw an interception,” Kneeshaw said. “I was wondering where our focus would be at tonight with homecoming and the new field.”