Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm High School’s Ty Frederick (36) is wrapped up by a host of Luverne defenders during the Eagles’ homecoming football game on Friday night at NUHS.

NEW ULM — The New Ulm Eagles scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to overcome a 20-14 Luverne lead and earn their first win of the season with a 42-32 win over the Cardinals in a South Central District game.

Ty Frederick scored three touchdowns on runs of 16, 15 and 12 yards for New Ulm, while quarterback Ayden Jensen scored on runs of 4 and 16 yards before tossing a game-clinching 36-yard touchdown pass to Colton Benson with 1:24 left in the game.

“Our kids never quit,” New Ulm coach Derek Lieser said about his team that trailed 20-7 at halftime. “They were resilient — that grittiness is one of our core values. We saw that a lot tonight and I was proud of how we battled tonight.”

The Eagles, who play at Fairmont next Friday, trailed the Cardinals 26-14 early in the final quarter after a 4-yard touchdown run from Tyson Cowell.

The Eagles then began a nine-play, 67-yard drive that was capped off by a Jensen 1-yard run to pull New Ulm to within 26-21 with just over eight minutes left in the game.

The Eagles’ defense then forced a three-and- out and marched 52 yards on just three plays with a 32-yard scamper from Jensen preceding a 15-yard TD run from Frederick to give New Ulm a 27-26 lead with 5:14 left in the game.

Just under three minutes later, Jensen intercepted a pass. One play later, Frederick found the end zone from 11 yards out for a 35-26 lead after a 2-point Jensen run.

Luverne stayed alive with a quick three-play scoring drive.

But Jensen found Benson for a 36-yard touchdown pass with less than two minutes left to get the win.

Frederick said that his team just fixed up some first-half mistakes at halftime.

“We got going — we were all pumped up,” he said about the comeback. “Our line did a great job of blocking. This win means a lot to us — it was our first win of the season and hopefully not our last.

“Ty, Ayden and Colton Benson all had big nights for us. Ayden has had moments of showing he can get it done this year. Ty really ran the ball hard tonight and Colton gave us a nice spark. Marqavion Haeffner, A.J. Kauffmann — I am proud of a lot of our guys tonight. And our line did the best job that they have done all season. Winning homecoming means a lot.”