NEW ULM — New Ulm High School head football coach Derek Lieser said that he was impressed by his team’s 41-6 road win over Belle Plaine Thursday.

“Our defense really held up, especially on their first drive of the game,” Lieser said. “We bent but did not break, and then offensively we were efficient in the run and pass game. Every time our offense got ahold of the football, we did some real nice things — our line was physical up front and our backs ran hard, including our quarterback [Ayden Jensen].

“Our receivers did a nice job being physical on the edge. We told our kids that we are in a good place when we can win handily at the end of a game.”

Jensen ran seven times for 114 yards and a touchdown, while Ty Frederick totaled 108 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns.

New Ulm had no turnovers in the game and few negative plays.

While Lieser said the Eagles ran the ball more, his receivers did very well.

“Zach Hubbard [3 catches 47 yards] had a great catch — James Osborne [2 catches 33 yards] had a great touchdown catch — we were efficient in the passing game. Hubbard is a sophomore who did some real nice things, especially on his blocks when he did not have the ball in his hands.”

Hubbard also had a pick-six.

Lieser said that on defense, Ian Brudelie played very well.

“He was very physical pressuring their quarterback,” he said. “He was a junior who stood out.”

Ethan Lieb had 5 tackles with Ty Frederick adding 11 assisted stops. Cohen Carpenter added four solo tackles and nine assists.

Lieser said his team held a 28-0 halftime lead at halftime over Belle Plaine last season, but Belle Plaine came back in the game to make it 28-28.

“We won that game with a late score,” Leiser said. “[Thursday] was pretty similar — it was 27-6 at half and we told them we cannot have another letdown like last year.”

GREYHOUNDS GET NINE-MAN WIN

New Ulm Cathedral head football coach Denny Lux said Thursday was a good night for New Ulm football with all three schools posting wins.

As for his Greyhounds, Lux said he was pleased with the play of senior quarterback Jevan Wilfahrt, who was making his first varsity start.

“He ran the offense real well,” Lux said. “He has not been a quarterback since his freshman year on the B-squad. And we had two other first-year starters in juniors Ryan Koopmann and Josh Bentler — they ran the ball hard. Our offensive line played well and our backs found some holes and establishing some ground. We responded well to their challenge.”

Lux said Wilfahrt showed his athleticism at quarterback.

“Everyone knows [Wilfahrt] from basketball, and he brings those same things to football,” Lux said. “We are fortunate to have two good quarterbacks in Jevan and Jake Finstad. We are still going to get Jake back in that quarterback spot at times because at times Jevan would be a great receiver also.”

Another player who stood out for the Greyhounds was senior Logan Mielke.

“I have said it for a long time that he is real athletic,” Lux said. “He moves well and for a big guy. He gets off of the ball, has good footwork — he plays baseball and I think in basketball he could post-up.”

Lux also praised juniors Jake Finstad and Brock Carlson.

“Those two guys are on our strong side and they established themselves right away against the run,” Lux said. “Jake was in the right spot all of the time versus the passing game. That gives us a solid defense.”

MVL IMPRESSES IN 34-6 WIN: What really impressed people at the Minnesota Valley Lutheran — Sibley East game Thursday was the skill set of the Chargers offense in quarterback Kaiden Peterson, running back Ben Price and receivers Bradyn Kube, Ben Pearson, Brennan Bendix and Kyler Flunker.

“We have five guys and we have Will Kaeserman who is dinged up,” MVL head coach Jim Buboltz said. “But we have five players who could be number one receivers on other teams.”

Kube ended with three catches for 33 yards with Bendix totaling two catches for 49 yards. Quarterback Kaiden Peterson threw for 153 yards and a touchdown.

Flunker will scare opposing special teams. He had returns of 43 and 26 yards and also had two catches for 42 yards.

“This was KP’s [Kaiden Peterson] fourth game at quarterback and he did a nice job,” Buboltz said. “It is good when we have all of those weapons – -there are a lot of toys.”