Panthers fall to Blooming Prairie in season opener
By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
NEW RICHLAND – The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva football team entered its season opener knowing it would face one of the top passing attacks of the entire season. The Blooming Prairie Blossoms did not disappoint.
Blooming Prairie junior quarterback John Rumpza hurled four touchdown passes to lead the Blossoms to a 28-7 victory in New Richland Friday.
“Blooming Prairie is a very good football team that puts a ton of pressure on your secondary,” said NRHEG coach Dan Stork. “We simply didn’t make plays when we needed to.”
The Blossoms put together a four-play, 49-yard drive the second time they had the ball. Rumpza fired a 35-yard scoring strike to Hunter Rudlong. Brett Wacek kicked the extra point for a 7-0 BP lead at the quarter break.
NRHEG’s defense toughened up and stopped BP on its next two possessions. However, the Blossoms put together an eight-play, 56-yard drive before the half to take a 14-0 advantage at the break.Rumpza and Rudlong teamed up again, this time from 26-yards out. Wacek kicked the conversion.
NRHEG’s offense had four possessions in the first half, ending with three punts and one turnover.
“We struggled with our run game and gave up too many big plays,” said Stork.
The Panthers were forced to punt on all three of their third-quarter possessions, while BP tacked on another score.
A 10-play, 50-yard drive ended with Rumpza finding Rudlong in the end zone for the third time, this time from three-yards out. Wacek’s boot gave the Blossoms a 21-0 lead after three quarters.
Blooming Prairie quickly upped the margin to 28-0 with a nine-play, 52-yard drive to start the final quarter. Rumpza threw a 22-yard scoring strike to Kameron Holmes and Wacek nailed his fourth straight conversion kick.
NRHEG avoided the shutout when Trevor Tracy hit Preston Peterson on a 67-yard pass play late in the game.
“We did some good things that we need to build on,” said Stork. “We have to continue to get better each and every practice.”
Blooming Prairie ran 80 plays to just 39 for the Panthers, and held a 439 to 177 margin in total yards. Neither team had much success running the ball with the Blossoms holding a 59 to 45 margin. BP picked up 380 passing yards compared to 132 for NRHEG.
Nick Bartness managed 20 rushing yards on five attempts to top the Panther ground game. Jake Decker picked up 36 yards for the Blossoms.
Tracy completed 7-15 passes for 132 yards with one TD and one interception.
Rumpza was 28 of 42 for 380 yards with four scores and one interception.
Peterson topped the NRHEG receivers with four catches for 114 yards and a TD.
BP’s Rudlong had eight receptions for 86 yards and three scores. Decker caught five passes, one more than Cole Sunde.
“Bartness and Dillon Parpart played well tonight,” said Stork. “I thought our sophomores, Zeke Erickson, Wyatt Fitterer and John Weller looked pretty good.”
Bartness and Parpart were in on 13 tackles apiece. Parpart had 10 solo stops, one more than Bartness.
Spencer Tollefson and Peterson were in on seven hits apiece. Tollefsonhad an interception.
NRHEG remains at home Friday, opening Gopher/Valley play against Waterville-Elysian-Morristown. The Bucs suffered a 35-8 defeat to Tri City United in its opener.
Blooming Pr. 28, NRHEG 7
1 2 3 4 F
BP 7 7 7 7 28
NRHEG 0 0 0 0 7
Scoring
1st Quarter: (BP)-Rudlong 35 yd. pass from Rumpza (EP-Wacek kick).
2nd Quarter: (BP)-Rudlong 26 yd. pass from Rumpza (EP-Wacek kick).
3rd Quarter: (BP)-Rudlong 3 yd. pass from Rumpza (EP-Wacek kick).
4th Quarter: (BP)-Holmes 16 yd. pass from Rumpza (EP-Wacek kick).
(NR)-Peterson 67 yd. pass from Tracy (EP-Tracy kick).
Team Statistics
NR BP
1st downs 5 22
Yds. Rushing 45 59
Yds. Passing 132 380
Passes 7-15 (1) 28-42 (1)
Total Plays 39 80
Total Yds. 177 439
Turnovers 1 1
Penalties/yds. 2/10 2/15
Individual Stats
NRHEG Rushing: Bartness 5/20, Logan 9/13, Tracy 8/12, Fitterer 1/0, Krause 1/0.
BP Rushing: Decker 10/36, Sunde 4/18, Hatch 9/16, Holmes 4/12, Hansen 1/0, Rumpza 10/-23.
NRHEG Passing: Tracy 7-15 (1 TD, 1 intcp.), 132 yds.
BP Passing: Rumpza 28-42 (4 TDs, 1 intcp.), 380 yds.
NRHEG Receiving: Peterson 4/114 (1 TD), Tollefson 2/13, Bartness 1/5.
BP Receiving: Rudlong 8/86 (3 TDS), Decker 5/78, Sunde 4/67, Fiebiger 3/41, Swenson 2/52, Holmes 2/21 (1 TD). Haberman 2/15, Hatch 1/13, Meyer 1/7.
NRHEG Defense: Parpart – 13 tackles, Bartness – 13, Tollefson – 7 (1 intcp.), Peterson – 7, Weller – 5, Stenzel – 4, Krell – 3, Fitterer – 2, Tracy – 2, Krause – 1, Wayne – 1, Sletten – 1, Logan – 1, Merritt -1.
NEXT: Friday – WEM at NRHEG, 7 p.m.