NRHEG gridders reach end zone, but fall to 0-2 with 20-7 loss at GFW
By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
WINTHROP – The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva football team continued to struggle to put points on the scoreboard in week two.
Coach Dan Stork’s Panthers suffered their second straight loss, falling 20-7 to Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop in Winthrop Friday.
“The mistakes we made and the penalties we committed were too much for us to overcome,” said Stork. “The time of possession was extremely lopsided.”
The Thunderbirds, who were drubbed 73-8 by NRHEG a year ago, evened their record at 1-1.
The Panthers clung to a one-point lead after three quarters, but GFW rallied for 14 fourth-quarter points.
GFW scored the only points of the first half in the second quarter. Frank Fairchild broke lose on a 19-yard scoring run to give the T-Birds a 6-0 advantage at the halftime break, stretching the NRHEG scoreless streak to six straight quarters to start the year.
The Panthers ended their scoreless drought in the third quarter when Brad Claycomb reached the end zone from five yards out. Casey Rosacker booted the PAT to give NRHEG a 7-6 lead entering the final quarter.The Panthers ran just two offensive plays in the third quarter, but one of them was Claycomb’s touchdown run.
However, the fourth quarter was controlled by GFW with Tony Weber scoring all 14 points. Weber blasted into the end zone from six yards out, putting GFW on top 12-7.
Later, he scored from one yard out, and then ran across the two-point conversion.
The final statistics weighed heavily in GFW’s favor.
The Thunderbirds had a 17-8 margin in first downs, a 76-41 advantage in total plays and a 318-172 edge in total yards.
GFW held a 36 to 12 minutes advantage in time of possession.
NRHEG was held to just 68 yards on the ground and finished with 104 yards through the air. The Panthers had three turnovers and were penalized 10 times for 70 yards.
Claycomb was NRHEG’s lone running threat, finishing with 60 yards on 11 carries.
Rosacker completed 6-19 passes, and was picked off three times.
Dillon Parpart and Nic Mangskau both had two receptions for the Panthers.
The T-Birds ran for 257 yards and chipped in with 61 passing yards. GFW had just one turnover and was penalized eight times for 42 yards.
GFW had a pair of 100-yard runners. Weber carried 27 times for 120 yards, while Fairchild netted 102 yards on 22 attempts.
Fairchild completed 6-11 passes with three of them going to Mitch Kiecker.
Parpart was in on 17 tackles to lead the Panther defense, Nick Bartness made 15 stops and Noah Krell was in on 11 hits.
Keith Maxon and Nic Goette made nine tackles apiece, Claycomb and Kevin Minter had seven stops each and Rosacker and Spencer Tollefson both made six hits.
The Panther defense did have four sacks, three of them by Parpart. Brendon Arnold recovered a fumble.
“We will continue to work hard each and every day and hopefully improve with practice,” said Stork. “The guys are working hard and it will pay off.”
Martin County West comes to New Richland for the first Panther home game Friday. The Mavs are 1-1 after losing to Medford Friday, 37-34.
MCW shut out the Panthers 14-0 a year ago.
GFW 20, NRHEG 7
1 2 3 4 F
NRHEG 0 0 7 0 7
GFW 6 0 0 14 20
SCORING
1st Quarter: (GFW)-Fairchild 19 yd. run. (EP failed).
2nd Quarter: No scoring.
3rd Quarter: (NR)-Claycomb 5 yd. run (EP-Rosacker kick).
4th Quarter: (GFW)-Weber 6 yd. run (EP failed). (GFW)-Weber 1 yd. run (EP-Weber run).
TEAM STATS
NR GFW
First downs 8 17
Yds. Rushing 22/68 64/257
Yds. Passing 104 61
Passes 6-19-3 6-12-0
Total Yds. 41/172 76/318
Turnovers 3 0
Penalties/yds. 10/70 8/42
INDIVIDUAL STATS
NRHEG Rushing: Claycomb 11/60 (1 TD), Rosacker 9/8, Minter 2/0.
NRHEG Passing: Rosacker 6-19 () TDs, 3 intcp.), 104 yds.
NRHEG Receiving: Parpart 2/23, Mangskau 2/16, Claycomb 1/40, Tollefson 1/25.
NRHEG Defense: Parpart-17 tackles (3 sacks), Bartness-15, Krell-11, Maxon-9 (1 sack), Goette-9, Claycomb-7, Minter-7, Tollefson-6, Rosacker-6, Arnold-5 (1 fumble), Jewett-4, Ripka-3, Mangskau-3, Hanson-2, White-1, Logan-1, Jensen-1, Field-1
NEXT: Friday-Martin County West at NRHEG, 7 p.m.