The Panthers first lost sophomore running back Perry Peterson, who suffered a broken leg on NRHEG’s second offensive play. They also lost his brother, quarterback Palmer Peterson, early in the second half with a knee injury, standout lineman Zeke Erickson with an ankle, Jon Weller with a knee and Jason Jongbloedt to a broken hand.
“We were hit hard tonight,” said Stork.
The fifth-seeded Buccaneers advanced to face top seed WEM Tuesday, Oct. 20. The section championship game is Saturday, Oct. 24.
The Panthers were hoping for better things in the playoffs after one of their best seasons in years. They were edged 13-7 by undefeated WEM and lost by one to Maple River. But it wasn’t to be as a bigger, more physical Blue Earth Area team built leads of 14-0 after one quarter and 35-0 at halftime.
The Panthers got on the board when backup quarterback Sam Prigge threw three yards to John Cole for a fourth-quarter touchdown.
The Buccaneers outgained the Panthers 404-203, inlcluding 325-147 rushing.
Blue Earth Area 48, NRHEG 22
BEA 14 21 7 6 — 48
NRHEG 0 0 0 22 — 22
First Quarter
BEA — Ba.Olson 56 run (Riegelsberger kick)
BEA — Bowers 82 run (Riegelsberger kick)
Second Quarter
BEA — Br.Olson 10 run (Riegelsberger kick)
BEA — Br.Olson 2 run (Riegelsberger kick)
BEA — Sanders 3 pass from Ba.Olson (Riegelsberger kick)
Third Quarter
BEA — Legred 29 pass from Ba.Olson (Riegelsberger kick)
Fourth Quarter
NRHEG — Cole 3 pass from Prigge (PAT failed)
NRHEG — Agrimson 14 pass from Prigge (PAT failed)
BEA — Jahnke 73 run (PAT failed)
NRHEG — Hoppe 9 run (Fitterer run)
BEA NRHEG
First Downs 6 12
Rushing attempts 41 34
Yds. Rushing 325 147
Passing 5-10-0 11-25-1
Yds. Passing 82 86
Total plays 51 59
Total Yds. 404 203
Penalties 7-70 5-35
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Third down 6-11 2-13
Punts-Avg. 5-33.6 8-19.0
Time of Poss. 20:51 27:09
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — NRHEG: Hoppe 7-73; Jongbloedt 12-40; Pe.Peterson 1-28; Bailey 4-15; Buckmeier 1-3; Pa.Peterson 8 —12; BEA: Ba.Olson 14-132; Bowers 4-101; Jahnke 2-76; Br. Olson 7-15; Pettit 7-5; Buseman 1 —1; Legred 3 —1; Mauris 1 —2
Passing — NRHEG: Prigge 4-6, 31; Pa.Peterson 7-18, 25; Jongbloedt 0-1, 0; BEA: Ba.Olson 5-10-0, 82
Receiving — NRHEG: Cole 3-19, Agrimson 1-14, Staloch 3-8, Wicks 1-6, Jongbloedt 1-6, K.Sletten 1-6, N.Sletten 1 —3; BEA: DeMarre 2-45, Legred 1-29, Br.Olson 1-5, Sanders 1-3
NRHEG DEFENSE (tackles)
K.Sletten 6, Hoppe 5, Fitterer 4, Buckmeier 4, Agrimson 3.5, Schultz 2.5, Erickson 2.5 Jongbloedt 2, Weller 2, Castle 2, Fischer 1, Bailey 1, N.Sletten 1, Wicks .5
