Staff photo by Steve Muscatello New Ulm Cathedral running back Luke Gieseke carries the ball during the second quarter of the Greyhounds win against Adrian/Ellsworth Friday at Johnson Field in New Ulm.

NEW ULM — New Ulm Cathedral forced two Adrian turnovers on consecutive kick-offs and turned them into touchdowns and senior running back Luke Gieseke scored on scoring runs of 20 and 27 yards as the Greyhounds opened with a 37-19 win over the Dragons Friday night in a Southwest District game at Johnson Field.

Quarterback Sam Knowles threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Noah Wilmes and added a 10-yard touchdown run. Levi Jakes cashed in on an 8-yard run.

“I thought that both teams executed their offenses well,” Cathedral head coach Denny Lux said. “But in the end, our guys really gutted it out. We did a good job in the second half of picking up some first downs. We are doing the things to make us a good football team.”

Gieseke ended the game with 115 yards on 16 carries with Jon Adema adding 66 yards on 14 carries.

And one of those things is forcing turnovers which the Greyhounds’ special team did early on.

Cathedral kicked off to the Dragons who fumbled the ball and Luke Gieseke recovered at the 24-yard line. Five plays later, Sam Knowles found Noah Wilmes for a 5-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The ensuing kickoff resulted in the same results as Gieseke again recovered the ball. Five plays later, Levi Jakes high-stepped in from 8-yards out and a 14-0 lead a the 6:02 mark of the first quarter.

“Our guys on the special reams hustle and they put pads on the football,” Lux said. “We were able to knock a few loose and score. They are always a tough football team. To get a lead on them and force their hand was big.”

Adrian cut the lead to 14-7 before Knowles scored on a 10-yard run for a 20-7 lead.

Marshall Wagner’s 5-yard run cut the lead to 20-13 at half.

But any momentum that the Dragons had quickly ended when 116-pound sophomore Kyle Seidl took the opening kickoff back 65 yards to the Adrian 20-yard line. One play later, Gieseke ran the ball in from 20 yards.

“When he [Seidl] turned the corner, the player who had the angle on him did not know how fast he is and he lost him,” Lux said.

Justin Berg’s 14-yard field goal made it 30-19 before Gieseke salted the game away with a 27-yard scoring run.

“This is a huge win for us because as coaches we are trying to get our kids to know what it feels like to walk off the field with a win,” Lux said.