Week 6: Chargers face tough road test at Luverne

Eagles host tough TCU team, Greyhounds at Mountain Lake

Week 6 of the local high school football season has both the New Ulm Eagles and the Greyhounds of New Ulm Cathedral at 4-1, with the Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers at 3-2 as teams prepare for the tail end of the regular season.

Both MVL and Cathedral have road games at Luverne and Mountain Lake, respectively, while the Eagles host Tri-City United.

MINNESOTA VALLEY LUTHERAN (3-2) AT LUVERNE (5-0), 7 P.M., FRIDAY, LUVERNE

Last week the Chargers faced an unbeaten Jackson County Central team and this week they face another unbeaten squad at Luverne.

The Cardinals come into their meeting with the Chargers averaging 47 points per game and have allowed a total of 10 points in five games with three shutouts.

"We have a long bus trip ahead of us and it is a team that will definitely test us, and we are going to have to be up for it," Chargers head coach Jim Buboltz said.

Buboltz said that Cardinals quarterback Benjamin Hartquist is an amazing athlete.

"They run the split back veer and he runs the option incredibly well -- he is super talented in not only just reading the defense but also is an incredible runner," Buboltz said. "And we have not played a team that runs the veer this season to this degree but not with quarterbacks that are the main option. He definitely is, so it makes him a threat every time. He can be in shotgun or under center, so he has to be our focal point on every single play."

Hartquist has thrown for 536 yards and seven touchdowns with just one interception this year while adding 17 carries for 282 yards and seven scores.

Buboltz said that the veer offense is assignment football.

"So we need to make sure that whenever it gets to be anything outside of the A gap that and after the handoff we have to be on that quarterback -- we have to make him pitch the ball," he said. "And they are a good-sized team. But we have to tackle better than what we did last game."

Buboltz said that the Chargers need to replicate the first drive they had in the second half against Jackson County against Luverne Friday.

"We have to mix run and pass on our early downs an use them like running plays," he said. "We need to put our running game in better downs and that was what we did on our first drive [of the second half]. We have to look at that drive and replicate that."

And the Chargers need to produce positive yardage on drives.

"Anything positive right away," Buboltz said. "We gave up a touchdown last week on their first drive and that set the tone for the game. We cannot let that quarterback from Luverne do the same thing.

"We need to execute better and we have to remind ourselves about the level of play of teams like Minneota and Jackson -- they both have some of the longest winning streaks not only in Minnesota but the country."

Buboltz believes that the first quarter Friday is going to hold a big key to the game.

"We need to see where we are at right away and stay in the game in that first quarter," Buboltz said. "To me that first quarter is a tone-setter for the rest of the year because we have a tough Lake Crystal game the week after, so we are looking if we can fight for a playoff game or not so it sets the tone."

TCU (4-1) AT NEW ULM HIGH SCHOOL (4-1), 7 P.M., FRIDAY, EAGLES STADIUM

Both the Titans and the Eagles are coming off wins last week, with TCU defeating a good Waseca team 14-12 and the Eagles shutting out Worthington 37-0.

Eagles head coach Derek Lieser said that TCU is a heavily-based run offense.

"Their one loss -- a lot like us -- came on a non-Friday night," he said. "They are a physical team -- very similar to us. And they run the ball at a high clip -- 80 percent run -- and they have some good players and their offense really fits their personnel.

"And on defense they really try and stop the run and force you to throw the ball. So we need to make sure we minimize our mistakes and prevent the big play."

Lieser said that the Titans do have some speed players on the edge.

"And when they get to the edge they can be pretty fast," he said. "They have good team speed and good size up front -- they have three sophomores starting on their [offensive] line, so we are hoping that we can take advantage of their youth and inexperience. But they do have some size, [250- to 270-] pound kids."

Lieser said that the Titans will be the most physical team that the Eagles have faced so far this season and probably the best team.

"But there are a lot of teams in our area that on any given Friday night," he said. "We beat Belle Plaine, Belle Plaine beat TCU, so it depends on the matchups."

Lieser said that the Eagles are going to continue to rely on their defense.

"Last year we only had three offensive plays in the first quarter as their offense just kept moving the ball on the ground, which is similar to what we have done this season," he said. "We need to step up defensively and have 11 white hats to the football.

"They are OK with 3 yards and a cloud of dust. We need to put them in situations where they have to do things that they do not want to do."

Lieser said that the Eagles are going to have to be creative offensively.

"They sell out to stop the run, so we are looking at a few different ways to attack them," he said. "We need to find multiple guys to attack them."

He said that last season -- in a 29-22 loss -- the Eagles left points on the field.

"We had some mistakes in key situations -- we fumbled on their 3-yard line with under two minutes to go in the game. So we know that if we come out and take care of the football and take advantage of when we get in the red zone -- if we do -- we will have a chance. And if we do not, it will be a lot harder to be on the right side of the scoreboard Friday."

NEW ULM CATHEDRAL (4-1) AT MOUNTAIN LAKE AREA (0-5), 7 P.M., FRIDAY, MOUNTAIN LAKE

The Greyhounds head to Mountain Lake Friday to take on a struggling Wolverine team that is young and working hard to get better, Cathedral head coach Denny Lux said.

"I have relatives down in that area and I know that they are working hard and they are trying to get things going again," Lux said. "But as far as we are concerned, we need to clean up some of the mistakes that we made last Saturday against Nicollet."

Some of the miscues Lux wants his Greyhounds to correct include penalties that they had in the Nicollet game.

"We had a number of penalties and some of them were hustling, but at times we are putting our defense in a tougher spot because of those penalties we have had," he said. "And even offensively I know that our guys are downfield blocking and working really hard but if a guy turns on them they have to keep their hands off of their back."

Lux said that he wants to focus his team Friday by looking at their whole offense.

"We have a few sets that we have not really run yet in games and we want to look at a couple of different offensive sets," he said. "Come playoff time we are going to be playing some teams for the second time so we are going to have to adjust to what we are doing.

"So this would be an opportune time for us to look at some of the things that we have been practicing all year."

Lux is also hoping to get all of his players ready.

"We have a couple of seniors who have not had a lot of playing time and if we can do our jobs right, there is no reason why those seniors cannot be in the mix of things and helping our team move the ball down the field," he said.