Minnesota Valley Lutheran head football coach Jim Buboltz said despite the 34-28 loss Friday night to a very good Pipestone team (5-0) that he was very happy with the effort that his Chargers had in the game.

“That is the effort that I have been looking for all year,” he said Saturday. “It hurts today because our guys threw their heart out on the field — they played incredibly hard and to me that is Chargers football right there, and if we can play like that we can make more memories and be successful.”

Before their game with the Arrows, the Chargers had two games where Buboltz said that his team seemingly did not show up real well.

“That was bothersome, but we had a good week of practice, we changed a few things up which helped as we ran the ball effectively,” he said. “And that has got to be what we need to do going forward.”

Buboltz said that the Chargers changed their blocking scheme.

“We worked with our line and we stuck with the run a lot longer [Friday] and kept it going because with option football, it may not look great all of the time but you have to stick with it and we were able to do that,” he said.

And twice in the game the Chargers were down 14 points only to cut the lead to a one-possession game.

“We just ran out of time at the end,” Buboltz said. “We had the momentum to go down and try and win the game, but we just ran out of time. It was not as much at the end of the game but the one that really hurt was the one just before halftime on the last play [a late touchdown by Pipestone before the end of the half].

“We’ve got to have a stop there and be more cognizant of situational football. That was just a little inexperience with that moment but we will work on that.”

Buboltz thought his team played better in the second half.

“We confused them at times and our offensive line was doing a great job — just give me two more minutes and that gme would have been ours,” Buboltz said. “We missed a couple of tackles in the first half, [Friday] so tackling hurt us, but in the second half it was a lot truer and more disciplined that way. We forced four turnovers — we were very opportunistic on that defensive side.

“That is the kind of effort that I am looking for and what will propel us in the second half. I really think that were we are headed into the playoffs is where we want to be. Historically we get better the second half of the season.”

GREYHOUNDS RECORD SECOND STRAIGHT SHUTOUT

It was another shutout for the New Ulm Cathedral Greyhounds’ defense Friday night in a 46-0 win at Madelia.

Last week Cathedral blanked Westbrook-Walnut Grove 64-0.

“We were real pleased on how the defense played,” Cathedral head coach Denny Lux said. “We forced a number of turnovers Friday and a lot of it was because of our guys really hustling. Like [defensive coordinator] Jesse Nosbush said, ‘Get a bunch of guys to the ball and good things can happen.’ That was the first thing that you noticed in the game.”

Lux said that the second part was that offensively the Greyhounds had a number of different players scoring.

Cathedral quarterback Jake Finstad ran for a touchdown and passed for two. Colin Anderson had three touchdowns and Rylan Koopman had a touchdown.

“We knew going into the season that we have skilled players, so it was just a matter of spreading the ball around more,” Lux said.

And in the last two games the Cathedral offense has scored 110 points.

“We have spread the field more with our offensive sets and that really kind of plays into the field that we are playing on and the type of game that we are playing,” Lux said. “That is why you have seen some bigger numbers overall. But we have come together really well.

“We started off with a couple of losses and that brought the team tighter together and more focused in on things and now it is showing.”

Lux said that he is in the shotgun formation a lot more.

“We are 85% in the shotgun and with the receivers we have and with Jake back there along with Josh Bentler and the speed they have, it puts a lot of pressure on defenses,” he said. “We are seeing how defenses are moving people around to try and adjust to that so we are learning a lot about ourselves.”

Going from the Michigan T to the shotgun has been a process.

“But what we are excited about is that we are seeing our junior high and B-squad using the shotgun,” Lux said. “So it is a process and I think that we have done really well in a short time.”

EAGLES FALL TO

FAIRMONT

In New Ulm’s 47-6 loss to Fairmont Friday night, the Eagles had 129 yards of offense in the first half that included a 28-yard touchdown pass from freshman Owen Castleman to junior Jamison Portner.

Portner would catch five passes for 74 yards and a score in the game before leaving with an unknown lower body injury.

But Fairmont is a team that has dominated opposing teams all season on both sides of the ball.

However, the Eagles were able to move the ball at times that included a completed passes of 28 and 34 yards by Castleman to Portner and a 19-yard run from Castleman in that first half.

“We were able to take advantage of some things and were able to move the ball well at times,” Eagles head coach Derek Lieser said. “I thought that our offensive line did a real nice job holding up. Owen looked much more comfortable in start number two (11 for 25, 170 yards and a touchdown) — he made some really nice throws — but he missed some as well but every quarterback is going to have those.

“He looked much more sure of himself and our players rallied around him. We just have to finish in the red zone (twice in red zone when failed to score) where we got down inside their 10-yard line. We need to find a way to punch it in and take advantage of those chances.”