Staff photo by Steve Muscatello New Ulm running back Cole Ranweiler tries to get away from a St. Peter defender during the second quarter Friday at New Ulm High School.

NEW ULM — Cole Ranweiler scored on touchdown runs of 14 and 2 yards in the first half and then broke loose for a 50-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second half to lift the New Ulm Eagles to a 22-12 over St. Peter in a South Central-Red District game at New Ulm High School Friday night.

Ranweiler finished the game with 22 carries for 225 yards and three touchdowns.

It was a game that the Eagles led in from start to finish and — outside of a couple of big plays offensively by the Saints (0-2) — were in complete control.

“This was a good team win. This was not a one-person game,” New Ulm coach Eric Kauffmann said. “We had a lot of people step up tonight and do a lot of great things for us defensively. We had a kid (Marqavion Haefner) come in cold on defense and pick off a pass. This was a good, overall team win.”

The Eagles, who head to Fairmont next Friday night, took an 8-0 lead on their second offensive series of the game when they marched 44 yards in six plays. Ranweiler started the drive with a 12-yard run before he ended it with a 14-yard touchdown run. Isaiah Miller hooked up with Brayden Geariety for the for the first of two, 2-point conversions in the game.

New Ulm increased its lead to 14-0 in the second period as they took over on the St. Peter 14-yard line after a snap went over the head of the Saints’ punter.

From there it took the Eagles five plays to find the promised land as Ranweiler bowled in from two yards out at the 5:08 mark.

St. Peter would crack into the scoring column when Saints’ quarterback Kole Guth found wide receiver Ethan Grant for a 68-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 14-6 at halftime.

But any momentum that the Saints may have gotten from their score ended quickly early in the second half. After an 18-yard run by Ranweiler on the Eagles’ first play of the second half, the 175-pound senior back left St. Peter defenders looking at nothing but his tail lights as he raced 50 yards for his third touchdown of the game.

“He is running hard and it is good to see him back,” Kauffmann said. “He is a special athlete to have.”

A 6-yard run by Guth late in the third quarter cut the lead to 22-12 but that was a close as the Saints would get.

“We set the tone early and that took the wind out of them when we marched right down the field on them,” Kauffmann said. “And besides those big plays they did not do much offensively.”