If you were at the Minnesota Valley Lutheran football game Friday night against St. Clair-Mankato Loyola, you saw one of the better performances by an MVL quarterback-wide receiver tandem.

Quarterback Matt Munsen, who had thrown a 20-yard scoring pass to Jake Kettner in the first quarter, would hook up Kettner with three more touchdowns in the second half in a 31-30 loss to the Spartans.

Munsen threw for 303 yards in the game, with 182 of those yards going to Kettner.

Munsen also found Jace Marotz on a 63-yard pass after a scramble that led to the first Chargers’ touchdown.

It was a game that saw the Spartans control the game in the first half, running 35 offensive plays compared to 19 for MVL. In the second quarter alone, St.Clair-Mankato Loyola ran 21 plays to only seven for the Chargers.

But in the second half, Munsen and Kettner went to work.

“We outmatched their defensive backs and we knew that our receivers are some of the best in the area, so we wanted to get the ball in their hands,” Munsen said. “We did not need to run the ball in the second half.”

And the combination of Munsen and Kettner really exploded after a quiet two and a half games.

“We have been friends since fifth grade,” Munsen said. “We are like brothers. There is no one else I would rather play with. We have good chemistry. We are on the same page — I know how he runs his routes and he knows how I throw the ball.”

Kettner agreed that they both seem to have that sense of what the other one is going to do on the field. “We have great chemistry,” Kettner said. “He makes the right throw to me and if we see something defensively we make the adjustment.”

Even though it was a loss, both Kettner and Munsen agree that they can use the performance going forward.

“It is amazing how much we can build off of this. Everybody played their hearts out,” Kettner said.

Munsen echoed that the Chargers’ second-half performance is one that bodes well for the future.

“We are not taking a step backward — we are going forward from here.”

GREYHOUNDS EARN FIRST WIN: New Ulm Cathedral head football coach Denny Lux said that things came together for the Greyhounds Friday night in their 45-30 win over Lac qui Parle Valley after two straight losses, with some new faces leading the way.

It seems every season, the Greyhounds unveil a running back that was not a household name before the season started.

Friday night, it was senior Elliott Schoo, who rushed for 244 yards and three touchdowns.

“He (Schoo) made the most of his opportunity but you have to give a lot of credit to that offensive line,” Lux said. “Our three tight ends Chris Knowles, Alex Hillesheim and Jon Zinniel along with our tackles Joey Griebel and Erik Bjorkstrand (who was making his first varsity start) and guards Will Schabert (making his second start), Tony Geiger and center Aaron Portner. All year they have had holes for our backs but they were not quite quick enough getting into them,” Lux said. “But last night with Elliott, it was his quickness in getting there and turning up the field was the difference. And with Elliott outside, it made for an easier game for fullback Zach Helget inside.”

Helget added 142 yards and two touchdowns.

Lux said that the strong running game Friday was just what his team needed.

“If you believe in this offense and work hard at it you can make it work,” he said.

Lux said he was impressed by Bjorkstrand in his first start at offensive left tackle.

“He is our noseguard on defense and he is in great shape. He has been a weightroom guy for a number of years so he has that stamina to play both ways.”

EAGLES STILL NOT CONSISTENT: New Ulm Eagles head football coach Corey Kneeshaw said that his team ran the ball a little better Friday night at Tri-City United but added that his team was not consistent enough.

“There were times where we had a couple of drives going where we would gain four or five yards but then we’d get backed up again.” he said. “So then we were forced into a third-and-long and we’d have to pass.”

Kneeshaw did move Reece Melby from a wide receiver to offensive tackle to bolster the line and then moved junior Teagan Kamm along with sophomore Brayden Gearity-Brandl split time in Melby’s spot.

“We were happy with the job Reece did for his first time there.” Kneeshaw said.

He added that there were times where his offensive line moved the pile.

“So that is a positive but we still need to move our feet on the offensive line and we need to keep working on that.”

The bright spot was in the fourth quarter when junior quarterback Nolan Drill threw his first touchdown pass of the year to Braden Zimmerman. It was also the Eagles’ first offensive touchdown of the season.

“It was nice to see that and we will continue to work. We may make little changes to make it better.”