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Eagles beaten by bolstered Bluejays

By Travis Rosenau 6 min read

NEW ULM -- The New Ulm Eagles had their moments Wednesday night, but there weren't enough of them to take down one of Class AAA's top teams in the Waseca Bluejays.

The tough and physical Bluejays held the Eagles off the scoreboard in the first half and built a four-touchdown lead in the second half before holding on for a 35-14 win in a Southeast Central District, Red Subdistrict football game.

"I think we continue to show moments of being a really good football team and the biggest thing is we've just got to find ways to continue to play at a more consistent level," Eagles head coach Derek Lieser said. "We have highs and lows and if we can minimize the lows as much as possible -- offensively in the first half we moved the ball but had a sack or fumble the ball, put ourselves in just tough situations where we won't have great offensive calls for second-and-20 or third-and-20. We just shot ourselves [in the foot] a little it and defensively just gave up a couple of long runs."

After Waseca (6-2) drove down the field with a handful of big runs on its first drive, a 12-yard run by Samuel Selthun put points on the board with 8:06 left in the first quarter. The PAT kick by Owen Rupe, who was 5 for 5 on his PAT attempts, made it 7-0.

The Eagles (4-4) got a 25-yard return to their own 34 by Hunter Heil, but a 3-yard reception by Jayden Broste was followed by a fumbled handoff that led to a loss of 12. A 3-yard QB keeper by Owen Drill then led to a three-and-out for the Eagles.

On the next Waseca drive that looked like it would too end in points, the Eagles were fortunate to see Heil recover a fumble at the New Ulm 1-yard line and keep Waseca from scoring on back-to-back drives. New Ulm put together a better second drive, led by a 13-yard pass from Drill to Miles Castleman and a 17-yard run by Heil, but the Bluejays forced a New Ulm turnover on downs at the Waseca 22 after a QB keeper by Drill went for 7 yards, 2 short of the first down.

Waseca made it 14-0 with 5:02 left in the half after quarterback Kellen Klinger dropped an 18-yard pass in the hands of Rupe for a touchdown.

Heil wasn't just a bright spot for the Eagles in the first half, he made his mark in the second half also and was the first one to get his team on the board with a 28-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

"He had a couple of tough weeks, not because of anything he did, we just weren't able to get things going for him," Lieser said of Heil. "So I was really happy for him to just be able to see good things happen when he touched the ball, because the last two weeks we just weren't able to do a good enough job up front for him when he did get the ball in his hands. … He's a tough runner, he's strong, he's fast, he's physical, he's a good football player."

Before the end of the first half, New Ulm bluffed a bunt on fourth-and-1 and went with a reverse and throw by Brody Powers to the sideline, but the throw was intercepted by Jaxton Rohl and taken to the New Ulm 30. New Ulm held Waseca off the board, however, as Powers made up for his pick by defecting a pass near the goal line that was then intercepted by Broste in the end zone for a touchback.

After a three-and-out by the Eagles started the second half, the Bluejays made it a 21-0 game after a 5-yard TD keeper by Klinger.

Drill looked to Broste with back-to-back throws on the next New Ulm drive, but they fell incomplete to bring up third down. The third time was the charm for Drill and Broste as Broste hauled in an 11-yard completion to move the chains. Another 8-yard completion to Broste was followed by a 9-yard completion to Miles Castleman up the middle for another New Ulm first down.

Moments later, Drill was hit hard on a third-down pass and had to take a minute on the sideline, forcing senior Noah Mertz to fill in under center on fourth-and-5. Mertz was sacked by Rohl to turn it over on downs.

That pressure caused issues for the New Ulm pass game, but it was to be expected with the pressure and physicality the Waseca defensive line brought all night.

Drill, a sophomore, has had to step in under center after starting quarterback Owen Castleman suffered a hand injury that occurred during New Ulm's last home game against Tri-City United on Oct. 9.

"As a sophomore, we're asking a lot of him, so I think he's done a fantastic job of being thrust into the role he's being thrust into and there's a reason we trust him to be able to do that," Lieser said of Drill. "Did he play a perfect game, certainly not, but do we expect any of our athletes to play perfectly, no. I thought he continued to gut it out, took some shots. We've got to do a better job of protecting him … but I think he hung in there and was gritty and tough and I think kids want to play for him."

After that turnover on downs, the Bluejays needed one play to find the end zone again as Selthun broke loose down the right sideline for a 54-yard TD run with 2:20 left in the third quarter.

Drill returned the next series for New Ulm and drew a roughing the passer penalty on third down to set the Eagles up at the Waseca 28. After a run for no gain, Heil was able to shed a tackle and run up the middle for a 28-yard TD run with 10:25 left in the game. The PAT kick by Kaden Stueber was good and the Eagles trailed 28-7.

Waseca continued to move the ball down the field on the ground and finished a seven-play drive with a 1-yard TD keeper by Klinger for a 35-7 lead. After runs of 10 and 20 yards by Charlie Arndt, the Eagles finished their final drive of the night with points when Jeffrey Kral broke away for an 18-yard TD run and Stueber added the PAT kick.

The Eagles will open the Section 2AAA Football Tournament on the road as the No. 6 seed as they travel to No. 3-seeded Hutchinson for a 7 p.m. game Tuesday night.

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