Staff photo by Steve Muscatello New Ulm Cathedral quarterback Chris Knowles gets into the endzone for a touchdown in the second quarter of the Greyhounds’ win against Sleepy Eye Friday at Johnson Field.

NEW ULM — New Ulm Cathedral crushed Sleepy Eye 50-26 on Friday in a Southwest District, East football game.

Cathedral scored on its first possession on a 30-yard run by Jon Adema with 7:47 remaining in the first quarter. The Greyhounds were successful on the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.

Sleepy Eye answered when Jacob Meyer tossed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Fischer. Juan Cortez ran the ball in for the 2-point conversion to tie it at 8-8 with 1:26 to go in the first quarter.

Cathedral regained the lead on a 24-yard touchdown run at 11:53 of the second quarter. Noah Wilmes tried to run for the 2-point conversion, but he was unsuccessful and the Greyhounds led 14-8.

The Greyhound defense stopped Sleepy Eye next and the Indians punted to Cathedral, who took possession at their own 29-yard line. Luke Gieseke got a good run and he broke several tackles for a first down. Chris Knowles handed the ball off to Eric Furth for another first down. Two plays later, Furth scored on a 22-yard run. Knowles then kept the football and scored for the 2-point conversion, making it 22-8 Cathedral.

Knowles scored on a 4-yard run with :23 remaining in the first half. He then tossed the ball to Jon Zinniel for 2 points.

Knowles picked off an errant Sleepy Eye pass and raced 78 yards for another touchdown. Furth scored the extra 2 points on a run. Cathedral took a big 38-8 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter with 9:11 left, Sleepy Eye scored on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Kegan Heiderscheidt to Jacob Meyer. Heiderscheidt tried to pass for the 2-point conversion, but it was unsuccessful.

The Sleepy Eye defense then created a turnover on a blocked punt deep in Cathedral territory before Kegan Heiderscheidt tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Sellner. Heiderscheidt bobbled the snap and Cathedral foiled the Indians’ 2-point conversion attempt. The score was 38-20.

After Cathedral’s defense knocked down a Sleepy Eye pass attempt on fourth down, the Greyhounds took over. After two good runs on consecutive plays, Knowles kept the drive going by getting a first down on a keeper. Knowles handed the ball off to Wilmes, who earned another key first down.

Furth scored two plays later on a 4-yard TD run. Knowles tried to run the ball in for another 2-point conversion, but the Indian defense stopped it and Cathedral led 44-20.

Furth scored with 4:18 remaining in the contest on a 1-yard run. The Greyhounds tried to kick for the extra point, but it failed.

Heiderscheidt hit Meyer on a 62-yard pass play with 3:55 remaining. Sleepy Eye tried to go for the 2-point conversion but fumbled the ball and the attempt was unsuccessful.

Gieseke ran for 99 yards on eight carries and also had a 25-yard catch, while Furth ran for 70 yards on 16 carries. Also for Cathedral, Adema had 117 yards rushing on 10 carries, while Knowles threw for 25 yards and ran for 38 yards on nine carries.

No official stats were reported by Sleepy Eye.

Cathedral will travel to Springfield on Wednesday, while Sleepy Eye will host Tracy-Milroy-Balaton on Wednesday.