Week 4: Eagles look to defend turf on Homecoming
Greyhounds hope to spoil Wabasso Homecoming, Chargers seek 3rd win
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Two New Ulm teams -- the New Ulm Cathedral Greyhounds and the Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers -- are coming off wins last week while the Eagles of New Ulm High School will look to rebound from a disappointing road loss in the fourth week of high school football.
The marquee matchup happens when unbeaten New Ulm Cathedral travels to unbeaten Wabasso for a Nine-Player South District, West Subdistrict game at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
On Friday night, the MVL Chargers look to extend their winning streak to three games as they hop on the bus to Windom Area for a 7 p.m. Mid-South District, Brown Subdistrict clash.
Meanwhile, New Ulm High School looks to get back on the winning track at Homecoming when they meet Belle Plaine in a Southeast Central District, Red Subdistrict game at 7 p.m. at Eagles Stadium.
BELLE PLAINE (2-1) AT NEW ULM HIGH SCHOOL (2-1), FRIDAY, 7 P.M., EAGLES STADIUM
Fans coming to the Homecoming game against the Tigers can expect an air show by the visitors.
"They are a team that is going to try and sling the ball all over the field," Eagles head coach Derek Lieser said. "They will run a lot out of the shotgun and four or five receiver sets -- they have some good track athletes out there. Their quarterback is a talented junior, so we will have our hands full. We are going to have to play better than we did Saturday [in a 26-22 loss to Albert Lea]."
The Tigers are a team that, in their first week (a 17-13 loss to Waseca), threw the ball 80 percent of the time, Lieser said.
"They will take what the defense gives them -- their quarterback had over 300 yards passing and six touchdowns in the first half [in a 43-7 win over Central Public], and against Waseca they threw the ball 38 times out of 50 offensive plays, so they are more of a passing team than any other team that we will see."
Lieser said that, defensively, it will be a change with a different offense.
"Last week it was 90 percent run against Albert Lea and this game it will be just the opposite with the pass," Lieser said. "So we need to be locked in on our pass coverage."
Lieser said that it wil be important for his team to control the ball and sustain drives and take time off of the clock.
"That is one way to mitigate an offense," he said. "But we cannot have pre-snap penalties or have dumb mistakes or turnovers. We had three turnovers last week."
MINNESOTA VALLEY LUTHERAN (2-1) AT WINDOM AREA (0-3), FRIDAY, 7 P.M., WINDOM
The Chargers are looking to extend their winning streak to three games Friday against the Eagles.
Chargers head coach Jim Buboltz said that Windom's offense is one that will try and spread out the MVL defense that shutout Pipestone last week.
"They will want to try and get guys out of the box and use a counter-trey kind of running game," he said. "But it is really a wide open spread offense -- kind of like Pipestone tried to do to us last week. So we are hoping a very similar game plan can work."
Buboltz is hoping that his team can continue to ride the wave they are on now with two straight wins and build on the confidence that they have now.
"We do not want to give [Windom] anything to build their confidence on in the game," he said. "We want to get a good start right off of the bus again like we did last week at Pipestone."
And the MVL offense may be developing into a strong balanced offense with the running of Ben Riesgraf and Chase Tweit and the pass catching of Blake Sexton and Brecken Smith.
"We have some good weapons there, and a lot of kids who want the ball," Buboltz said. "They want the ball in their hands -- Ben has two runs of over 60 yards this season and Blake is having a monster year. Last week Pipestone wanted to put nine guys in the box on us to stop the run and Blake got over the top as well as Brecken. It is a good mix when teams want to come out and try to stop one thing but we are able to do both -- we can compliment both aspects of our offense."
Buboltz said that the Chargers offensive line wants to establish themselves again.
"We had rushed for almost 200 yards in each of our games but came up short last week," Buboltz said. "So they want to get back to that … Our key to the game and the year is coming off of the bus ready to play."
NEW ULM CATHEDRAL (3-0) AT WABASSO (3-0), SATURDAY, 3 P.M., WABASSO
If you look at the statistics for both teams through three games, you see that they both have dominated their opponents.
The Rabbits have scored 63, 62 and 46 points in their three wins and have allowed just 6 points all season.
New Ulm Cathedral has scored 47, 44 and 37 points in its three wins and have also allowed just 6 points.
"Wabasso has quite a few athletes on the field, and one thing that you notice on film is that they want to try and strike early," Cathedral head coach Denny Lux said. "Probably within the first three downs we are going to see a streak down the sidelines as they have a lot of confidence in their passing game.
"And they have different ways to score with a solid running game as well as their passing game, and they do a lot of different things on their 2-point conversions with throws. They are off to a good start."
Lux said the Greyhounds will have to not get caught out of position with Wabasso's speed.
"This game is going to come down to getting matched up with Wabasso's speed," he said. "They have that good, controlled passing game where they will throw underneath with receivers on crossing patterns -- they are looking for that long strike if they find that right matchup. We cannot give up quick scores."
Lux said the key will be setting the tone in the trenches.
"Our defensive line is going to have to be involved in [stopping] their run game," Lux said. "Our defensive backs need to stay home."
Lux said that this will be a good measuring stick for both teams.
"Both teams have had a solid first three games so it is big test for both teams," he said.
Lux feels that it is going to take a total team effort to get the road win on Saturday.
"Our special teams need to play well and I believe that we cannot rely on one phase of the game," he said. "We want to control the ball and keep their athletes on the defensive side of the ball."