New Ulm High School head football coach Derek Lieser said that Friday’s 14-13 win over St. Peter was a big win for the entire football program.

“It is about the kids,” Lieser said.

“That is why I coach and I was really happy for the kids. It was an exciting night under not ideal conditions. St. Peter had a lot of adversity — they lost their quarterback earlier in the day and then had a starter go down with a pretty serious injury in the game. But we have also dealt with that earlier in the season.

It was a back-and-forth game and it was not pretty for most of the night, but we made one more play than they did. I was proud and excited for our kids.”

And the win moved the Eagles to a 4-2 mark, the most wins that they have had in a season since 2008 when they ended 4-5.

“We had talked to the kids at the start of the year about how we felt that we can compete with a lot of the teams on our schedule and we have shown that,” Lieser said. “We are taking the positive steps, doing the right things so hopefully we can continue to be more of a competitive team week in and week out. Getting to four wins is a good goal, but we told the players after the game that we are not satisfied with where we are at right now.

“It is exciting to get to four wins, but like we told the kids we cannot be satisfied — we need to continue to set our sites higher and keep accomplishing good things.”

Lieser said that the success has been due in large part to the commitment of the players buying into the program and understanding what it takes to give yourself a chance to be successful.

“They know that it is important to practice at a high level and put forth the effort there,” Lieser said. “We know that we need to do the extra things that it takes to be successful. And those are the things that people do not see on a Friday night — they do not see the amount of time that is put in during the week. Top to bottom it has been the kids buying into the whole process.”

HUBBARD IS KEY SOPHOMORE

One of the younger players on the Eagles who has showed up on a lot of opposing team’s radar is wide receiver Zach Hubbard, who made the eventual game-winning touchdown catch Friday.

“That was one of the better high school catches that you will see,” Lieser said about Hubbard’s scoring catch. “He elevated over a kid — it came at big moment, third down and down by a score. It was a tremendous play by Zach to have the poise and athleticism. He is showing why he is a starter and why he is out there. He can be a dynamic player for us.

“Last week he had a 70-yard touchdown catch and run. His abilities are pretty evident if you watch our games. It is up to him how good he can be — there are not a lot of kids who come in who are as athletically talented as Zach. He is coachable but can he continue to grow and not just let their God-given talent be what gets them there. The sky is the limit for Zach — it is a matter of how high does he want to set his goals. He is a three-sport athlete and he is good at all of them.”

EAGLES FOURTH IN QRF

Despite the win over St. Peter, the Eagles are still behind the Saints in the Section 2AAAA QRF rankings.

Lieser said that that does not concern him.

“We cannot control some of those things, but ultimately at the end of the day our section is coaches votes,” he said. “At the end of the year we have to make our case and we make our case as to why we deserve a certain seed. I hope that when push comes to shove at the end of the year that we are able to make our case as to why we deserve a certain seed. We will do a zoom meeting the Thursday after MEA Wednesday where the five teams and coaches talk. You hope that the head-to-head win is taken into consideration. We are hoping that that win earns us either a home playoff game or ideally get a first-round bye.”

GREYHOUNDS JUMP TO TOP SEED IN SECTION 2, NINE-MAN

New Ulm Cathedral’s 22-8 win Friday against Nicollet moved the 5-1 Greyhounds to the top seed in Section 2, nine-man over Red Rock Central.

Cathedral head coach Denny Lux said that he was pleased to go to Nicollet and give up only 8 points to a Raiders team that had been averaging over 30 points per game.

Lux said that the Greyhounds’ defense has been playing well all season and is getting better every game.

“That is what [defensive co-ordinator Jesse] coach Nosbush said on the way home Friday,” Lux said. “He said we are playing defense now. The first couple of games just trying to mix in and stop the run and the pass. The game we are playing now we have it figured out that we still understand that at times we are going to be short but we need to have our players step up and be responsible for their assignments. We are getting better at that.”

The Greyhounds defense is the best in the section allowing only 15.5 ppg.

And Cathedral’s ability to successfully run the ball has helped the defense.

“With the time of possession and the number of plays that we are able to run off, it does give our defense a chance,” Lux said. “We are platooning a number of players, so it gives our defense a chance to get together on the sideline and talk over things.”

And the Greyhounds use of three different offensive sets, it can match up to what opposing defenses are doing.

“Our players stayed focused all week in practice and we could not be prouder of them,” Lux said.

One of the strengths that the Greyhounds show on offense is their junior-dominated running backs.

“And we have junior backup running backs who have speed,” Lux said. “We are blessed with a strong junior class — they mix in well with the seniors — and they have jelled real well.”

Lux said that being the top seed in the section is nice.

“We all know these teams that we played 10-15 years ago and to be able to be in the mix with these guys is a real accomplishment. We still have a lot of areas for improvement — some of it technique and some scheming — but we are going to work hard to continue to improve.”

CHARGERS TOUGH SCHEDULE TAKING TOLL

Minnesota Valley Lutheran head football coach Jim Buboltz said before the year started that the second half of his team’s schedule would be tough.

Friday the Chargers lost their third straight game, this time at the hands of Jackson County Central.

JCC did to the Chargers what MVL did to their opponents in their first three games — all wins — by dominating them.

The Huskies scored on all six of their first half possessions.

The loss dropped MVL to the fourth seed in the QRF rankings of Section 3AA.

In MVL’s last four games, the Chargers will have played or will play teams with a combined 15-5 record.

And it does not get any easier for the Chargers, who travel to Redwood Valley Friday to play the second-seeded team in the section. MVL then ends their regular season at a currently 5-1 Maple River team — a team that has defeated both Redwood Valley and Pipestone.