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First-time drive from 45

Stern’s record kick sends Greyhounds over Flying Dutchmen

NEW ULM -- Down 30-29 with 55 seconds to play in a Nine-Player South District, West Subdistrict football game against Edgerton, New Ulm Cathedral faced a 4th-and-medium from the Edgerton 32-yard line.

"I had a pass called first after that timeout," New Ulm head coach Denny Lux said. "And then when I was coming off the field, somebody said, 'What about a field goal?' and I thought, why not. Why not put your team in a situation where really nobody loses if you don't make a 45-yarder. You really don't lose the game."

The Greyhounds sent out senior placekicker Andrew Stern, who had been solid on extra points all season and had hit one earlier on the game, but had never made a field goal in a game in his entire career. Still, Lux had seen the work Stern had put in during practice, and with a slight tailwind, Lux put his trust in his kicker.

"Andrew has been working on field goals and kicking off ever since he was probably in junior high," Lux said. "In practice, we see the distance that he has. And actually, what we've noticed is when we get into these games and are kicking extra points … he actually kicks it deeper. I think the adrenaline and having the rush come at him, he can kick it that far."

From 45 yards away, Stern lined up his kick.

"I'm going to be honest, I was dead nervous," Stern said. "The game was on the line, and if I miss, it's pretty much over. But you've really just got to trust your teammates in the end. I know that me making it through the uprights is what gets us the points, but I've got to trust my linemen to block and snap and hold. Definitely nerve-wracking."

Stern drilled it.

"I haven't had a chance for a field goal my entire career," Stern said. "I knew once I was given the opportunity, I'd live up to the moment. It just means so much to me. For my coach to give me the opportunity to kick it from that far. It's not just up to me -- it was a great snap, great hold, I've been trusting them the whole season. We've been kicking it that far in practice, and I'm just so happy to get the opportunity."

The Greyhounds were able to hang on defensively for the remaining 52 seconds of gametime, with Ryler Collins intercepting a pass on the final play of the game to clinch the 32-30 win.

The 45-yard field goal was not only Stern's first varsity make, but it also set a school record, shattering Joey Kral's previous mark of 36 yards set in 2006. Stern said the yardage was close to his maximum distance.

"We don't do max in practice, but when I've been by myself, I can do 45," Stern said, mentioning that he didn't know how far the kick was at the time. "Maybe if I had some adrenaline, a little bit of wind, I could do 50."

With the win, Cathedral improves to 7-1 overall and awaits section playoff seeding for a game next Saturday.

"I think we need to keep up what we're doing," New Ulm's Eli Anderson said. "This last season game really tested us, and I think that's a perfect game to end off the regular season to battle out. We showed ourselves how much power and how fast we can play. If we can keep that up, we can beat a lot of the teams out there. We've got to keep that up and stay confident in what we are doing."

Alex Portner led the Greyhounds with 10 rushes for 83 yards and two touchdowns and added two catches for 152 yards and another TD. Anderson had 10 carries for 42 yards and a touchdown and completed seven of nine passes for 172 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Josh Forstner had 12 tackles, and Evan Blekestad had 11 tackles, with Camden Berg adding 10 tackles.

Cathedral forced a three-and-out on the firs drive of the game, then Portner took the Greyhounds' first offensive play 63 yards for a touchdown, with Stern adding the extra point for a 7-0 lead. Edgerton strung together a 17-play, 65-yard touchdown drive in response, adding a 2-point conversion to take an 8-7 lead. The teams traded punts as the game entered the second quarter, but Cathedral fumbled to set up Edgerton for another touchdown as the Flying Dutchmen took a 16-7 lead. The Greyhounds were able to respond as Portner took a screen pass 65 yards to the house, with Anderson connecting with Blake Aufderheide for the 2-point conversion to cut the lead to 16-15. Cathedral forced a fumble of its own on the next drive, with Berg recovering to help set up Anderson for a 29-yard touchdown scamper as Cathedral took a 21-16 lead.

Edgerton quarterback Colin Scholten connected with Reece Gilbertson for a 40-yard pass, but a touchdown-saving tackle by Anderson allowed Cathedral to make a red zone stand, turning the Flying Dutchmen over on downs before halftime.

Edgerton took the lead again after the break, putting together another long drive, taking 15 plays to go 74 yards for another touchdown, not getting the 2-point conversion to make it a 22-21 game.

But Cathedral didn't let the long drives wear it down as the Greyhounds responded.

"It's confidence," Anderson said. "We've got to hype each other up every play, we have to tell each other to do our job, we've got to trust what we've been doing all week long. If we get that right, something right would go our way."

Another screen to Portner went 60 yards to set up an 8-yard touchdown rush by Portner, with Hudson Lieser punching in the 2-point conversion to go up 29-22 as the game rolled into the fourth quarter.

"We just had to stay confident in each other," Portner said. "We knew that we could come back and win this game. We just needed to trust in each other and believe that we can."

But Edgerton's rushing attack remained steady, and the Greyhounds were unable to prevent a 12-play drive from ending in another Edgerton touchdown as the Flying Dutchmen took their 30-29 lead with 5:12 to play in the game.

Cathedral had strong starting field position at their own 44 to start the drive, but the offense stalled after gaining two first downs. Stern took to the field, and hit his game-winning field goal.

"I think we just trusted the process," Anderson said. "We've got to listen to what coach is saying, we've got to trust our blocks. Also grit -- we've got to know that, even if we get our bell rung one time, to show up the next play and hit them as hard as they hit us. We've got to show up every single play and be consistent."

Lux said that Stern's kick gives the Greyhounds an extra weapon for the playoffs.

"I think as much as it does for us, it will also put opposing defenses on edge too," Lux said. "Because they know now that we can get inside that red zone and we don't have to go for it on fourth down, that we've got a really good kicker. That puts pressure on those guys defensively."