New Ulm Cathedral’s Josh Forstner (9) extends to make a catch during a Section 2 Nine-man football game against Nicollet Tuesday at Johnson Field.

NEW ULM — No. 4-seeded New Ulm Cathedral played a complete game against No. 5-seeded Nicollet in the opening round of the Section 2, Nine-Man Football Tournament, going up 47-0 and winning 47-12 Tuesday at Johnson Field.

The game started and ended with the run game, with Cathedral totaling 329 yards on the ground.

“We’ve been getting all year long,” Cathedral head coach Denny Lux said. “We started out the season, we were more under center, and then as the season developed, we were more in the shotgun, which allows us to pull guys and move guys around a little more. We’ve been working hard. I think we’ve got our guys in the right place because this season we started figuring out where guys should be and that was the answer to all that.”

Alex Portner led the team in rushing yards after lead back Josh Bentler left the game early with an apparent ankle injury. Bentler did return in the game in a limited role, but Portner’s 123 yards and three touchdowns was more than enough to carry the ground attack. Jake Finstad also had a great game for the offense, with 99 yards rushing on 11 carries and 83 yards passing with two touchdowns.

“Just the linemen,” Finstad said. “They’re working hard and doing everything right. I play behind those guys.”

Also for Cathedral, Colin Anderson had 86 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and Rylan Koopmann and Lane Ruch each caught a touchdown. On the defense, Brock Carlson had 11 tackles, three sacks and a pass deflected, while Joe Gillis had 10 tackles, a sack and an interception. Ruch had 10 tackles and a sack, and Bentler added 10 tackles.

Both of Nicollet’s touchdowns came in the fourth quarter as Cathedral was putting in its subs, with Henry Oscarson rushing in a score as well as recovering a fumble for a touchdown.

“Pass protection was a big thing,” Nicollet head coach Cory Jans said. “Henry was running around for his life most of the time. They did a really good job of bringing pressure and putting our guys in one-on-one situations and I think a lot of their guys they were sending were more athletic than our guys up front … They did a really good job of covering behind, we didn’t have a lot of big windows to throw to.”

Cathedral was put in great position all game long by its defense, which limited Nicollet’s perimeter-oriented offense and put pressure on Oscarson.

“We knew they were a great offensive team, scoring a ton of points,” Cathedral defensive coordinator Jesse Nosbush said. “We knew our guys had to make plays. We were able to get some pressure on them, our D-ends were able to contain him, because once he got out of the pocket those few times, it’s pretty hard to corral him and he can make throws on the run. Our corners also came up and they were a good tackling group, and that makes it fun to watch.”

Nicollet turned it over on downs on ints first possession, giving Cathedral the ball at its own 30-yard line. From there, Cathedral took seven plays to score on a 35-yard rushing touchdown by Portner to go up 6-0.

This was the first of four consecutive scoring drives for the Greyhounds, as Anderson rattled off a 24-yard touchdown run on Cathedral’s next possession, then a tip-drill interception by Gillis and a 51-yard rush by Finstad set up a 10-yard touchdown pass from Finstad to Koopmann to go up 20-0. Nicollet fumbled the ensuing kickoff that was recovered by Koby Berdan, and Portner took a 19-yard rush to the end zone for a 28-0 lead. The scoring streak was finally snapped by a fumble that was recovered by Slater, but the half came before Nicollet could do any damage.

Cathedral punted for the first time to open up the second half, going backwards on three straight carries. The Greyhounds began to dial up the blitz, however, putting consistent pressure on Oscarson for the duration of the second half.

“We knew if we got our D-ends to sit and just keep him in the pocket, then send some pressure up the middle on him, it would be tough on him to try to find the open receiver if he had to stay in there and not get out in the open,” Nosbush said.

Nicollet turned it over on downs at the Cathedral 25, and Porter ripped of a 48-yard rushing touchdown to conclude a eight-play drive for the Greyhounds to go up 34-0. The next two Cathedral scores were much quicker, with Anderson scoring from 64 yards out and Finstad connecting with Ruch from 25-yards out, both on the first play of the drive, to extend the lead to 47-0.

Nicollet finally saw some success on offense, as a 42-yard connection from Oscarson to (13) helped set up a 9-yard scramble from Oscarson to cut the lead to 47-6. On Cathedral’s next drive, the offensive reserves had difficulty corralling a handoff, leading to a 30-yard scoop-and-score by Oscarson to put the score at 47-12. However, with running time, Cathedral was able to take the majority of the time of the clock with the next drive, sealing the victory.

Nicollet finishes it season with a 4-5 record, a two-win improvement from the previous two seasons.

“That was the message to them,” Jans said. “You look back at Nicollet and you look at Tom Murphy, the success that he’s had for years and years and years. Lately there hasn’t been that at Nicollet. You look back at the history books and the season that turned things around for the program, the last few years having two wins and this year being 4-4 and there was a few games where if things had gone differently, we would have been above .500. Those things are things to build upon and thinks that look really good for the future.

Cathedral (6-3) now heads to No. 1-seeded Cedar Mountain in the section semifinals Saturday. Cathedral defeated the Cougars 18-8 in Week 2.

Finstad lays out the keys to success if Cathedral wants to make a deep playoff run.

“Definitely establish the run,” he said. “Keep doing what we did today. Figure out our passing game a little better, then keep playing the defense we’ve been playing all year.”