NRHEG gridders blanked at LCWM
NOT THIS TIME — The Panthers’ Nic Goette (71) sacks LCWM quarterback Kolten Barker at Lake Crystal last Friday. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)
By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
LAKE CRYSTAL – Undefeated Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial’s stingy defense made it another tough night for the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva football team at Lake Crystal Friday.
The Knights held NRHEG to under 100 total yards and shut out the Panthers for the second time in four games in posting a 36-0, Gopher/Valley AA Conference win.
“We simply did not play well tonight,” said NRHEG coach Dan Stork. “We are struggling to play with the intensity necessary to compete at the level we are capable of.”
The loss was the fourth straight for the Panthers, three of them coming in conference play.
LCWM, which nipped the Panthers 13-12 last season, climbed to 2-0 in the conference and 4-0 for the year.
The injuries continued to mount for NRHEG. Leading tackler Dillon Parpart missed his second straight game, while the top two running backs, Brad Claycomb and Kevin Minter, were both knocked from the game with possible concussions.LCWM senior quarterback Kolten Barker passed for over 200 yards, hurled five touchdown passes and threw for three two-point conversions.
LCWM led 8-0 after one quarter. Barker found Bryan Davis with a 27-yard scoring pass. The same combination hooked up for the PAT.
The Knights added 14 second-quarter points to take a 22-0 advantage at the intermission.
Bryson Yackle grabbed a 43-yard scoring strike from Barker and also snared the two-point conversion.
Nolan Wrightson snared a 22-yard scoring pas from Barker later in the quarter.
It became a 30-0 game after three quarters. Barker found Wrightson with a 10-yard scoring pass, and tossed the conversion pass to Davis.
The final score came in the fourth quarter and found Yackel and Barker hooking up for the second time, this one a 51-yarder.
LCWM ran just six more plays than the Panthers, but held a huge edge in total yards.
NRHEG netted a mere 13 rushing yards on 31 attempts. The Panthers did gain 79 yards through the air to net them 92 totals yards.
LCWM ran the ball for 69 yards, but threw for 263 yards, for a 332-yard night.
Nick Bartness topped NRHEG’s meager rushing attack with 15 yards on eight attempts. Tyler Logan added 14 yards on four carries.
Corey Devantey topped the Knights with 67 rushing yards.
Casey Rosacker completed 9-19 passes for 65 yards.
Preston Peterson topped the Panther receivers with three receptions for 34 yards.
LCWM’s Barker hit on 12 of 25 passes for 242 yards.
Davis had six receptions for 104 yards, Wrightson caught three passes for 53 yards, while Yackel had two catches for 94 yards.
Noah Krell led the NRHEG defense with seven tackles in the game, one more than Nic Goette and Bartness. Peterson, Logan and Sam Jewett contributed four tackles, one more than John White, Minter and Matt Webster.
NRHEG travels to Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Friday. The Bucs are 3-1 after thumping GFW 57-18 Friday. WEM defeated NRHEG twice last season, 30-0 and 53-28.
LCWM 36, NRHEG 0
NRHEG 0 0 0 0 0
LCWM 8 14 8 6 36
Scoring
1st Quarter: (LCWM)-Davis 27 yd. pass from Barker (EP-Davis pass from Barker.
2nd Quarter: (LCWM)-Yackel 43 yd. pass from Barker (EP-Yackel pass from Barker). (LCWM)-Wrightson 22 yd. pass from Barker (EP-no).
3rd Quarter: (LCWM)-Wrightson 10 yd. pass from Barker (EP-Davis pass from Barker).
4th Quarter: (LCWM)-Yackel 51 yd. pass from Barker (EP-no)
Team Statistics
NR LC
1st Downs 8 14
Yds. Rushing 31/13 31/69
Yds. Passing 79 263
Passes 10-20 (0) 13-26 (0)
Total yds. 51/92 57/332
Turnovers 0 0
Penalties/yds. 4/18 4/20
Individual Stats
NRHEG Rushing: Bartness 8/15, Logan 4/14, Claycomb 6/9, Minter 2/5, Tracy 1/-9, Rosacker 10/-21.
NRHEG Passing: Rosacker 9-19 (0 TD, 0 intcp.) 65 yds. Tracy 1-1 (0 TD, 0 intcp.) 14 yds.
NRHEG Receiving: Peterson 3/34, Mangskau 2/6, Bartness 2/6, Tollefson 1/14, Ryg 1/14, White 1/5.
NRHEG Defense: Krell-7 tackles, Bartness-6, Goette-6, Peterson-4, Logan-4, Jewett-4, White-3, Minter-3, Webster 3, Arnold-3, Tollefson-2, Rosacker-2, Zimmerman-1, Maxon-1, Jensen-1, Mangskau-1.
NEXT: Friday-NRHEG at WEM, 7 p.m.