Panthers fall 10-7 in weather delayed game at Maple River
By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
MAPLETON – It was the type of game you expected from two teams battling for first place in the conference. You just didn’t expect it to take two days to decide the outcome.
NRHEG and Maple River started their first-place battle in Mapleton Friday evening. The game was suspended late in the third quarter due to inclement weather and resumed Saturday afternoon.
When it was over, Maple River remained undefeated by edging the Panthers 10-7 in overtime.
“Our kids played hard,” said NRHEG coach Dan Stork. “I’m proud of the effort they put forward.”
Maple River took over undisputed first place in the Gopher/Valley AA Conference at 4-0 and climbed to 6-0 overall.NRHEG slipped into a tie for second place with Medford at 3-1 and dropped to 3-3 for the year.
NRHEG stunned the Eagles, scoring the first time it got its hands on the ball. The Panthers covered 89 yards in eight plays with Nick Bartness crashing over from the one-yard line. Trevor Tracy booted the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
The Panther defense stopped Maple River on its first two possessions before falling victim to the big play.
After running two plays, Jeff Lewis and Casey Decker hooked up on a 61-yard scoring play. Tyler Olson kicked the conversion and the teams were knotted 7-7.
Defenses dominated the second half.
NRHEG had to punt all five times it had the ball. The Panthers longest possession totaled 29 yards.
The Eagles had a little more success, but not much. They punted three times, turned it over on downs and threw an interception.
NRHEG had the ball first in overtime. The Panthers got down to the one-yard stripe, but could not score.
Olson ended the contest when he nailed an 18-yard field goal on Maple River’s third play with the ball.
“Maple River was very physical up front,” said Stork. “They made it tough to do some of the things we wanted to do.”
NRHEG ran 57 plays for 191 yards. The Panthers piled up 163 yards on the ground.
The Eagles ran 54 plays for 218 yards. MR had 112 rushing yards and 106 through the air.
Dillon Parpart had another monster game for NRHEG. He carried the ball 38 times for 159 yards.
Decker topped the Eagles with 71 yards on 24 attempts.
Tracy completed 3-5 passes for 28 yards. No Panther receiver had more than one catch.
Lewis completed 2-5 passes, Jay Sohre hit 3-9 and Decker completed 1-4.
Braden Rahn had three receptions for 32 yards for the Eagles.
Parpart led the Panther defense with 10 tackles, three of them solo stops.
Noah Krell made nine tackles, including four solo hits. Spencer Tollefson was in on six tackles and Trey Hoppe had four stops.
NRHEG did not turn the ball over in the game. Maple River had one miscue and was penalized eight times for 65 yards.
It’s homecoming week at NRHEG. Winless Mankato Loyola brings a 0-6 record to town. Blooming Prairie belted the Crusaders 48-6 last week.
The Panthers close their regular season at Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Oct. 16.
Maple River 10, NRHEG 7
NRHEG 7 0 0 0 0 7
MR 0 7 0 0 3 10
Scoring
1st Quarter: (NRHEG)-Bartness 1 yd. run (EP-Tracy kick).
2nd Quarter: (MR)-Decker 61 yd. pass from Lewis (EP-Olson kick).
3rd Quarter: No scoring.
4th Quarter: No scoring.
OT1: (MR)-Olson 18 yd. field goal.
Team statistics
NRHEG MR
First downs 9 13
Yds. Rushing 163 112
Yds. Passing 28 106
Passes 3-6 (0) 6-18 (1)
Total yds. 57/191 54/218
Turnovers 0 1
Penalties 4/30 8/65
Individual Stats
NRHEG rushing: Parpart 38/159, Tollefson 3/12, Bartness 3/2 (1 TD), Tracy 7/-10.
NRHEG passing: Tracy 3-5 (0 TD, 0 intcp.) 28 yds. Tollefson 0-1 (0 TD, 0 intcp.) 0 yds.
NRHEG receiving: Tollefson 1/11, Ignaszewski 1/10, Peterson 1/7.
MR rushing: Decker 24/71, Trio 11/40, Sohre 1/1.
MR passing: Lewis 2-5 (1 TD, 0 intcp.) 69 yds. Sohre 3-9 (0 TD, 1 intcp.) 27 yds. Decker 1-4 (0 TD, 0 intcp.) 10 yds.
MR receiving: Rahn 3/32, Decker 2/64 (1 TD), Brietar 1/10.
NRHEG defense: Parpart-10 tackles, Krell-9, Tollefson-6, Hoppe-4, Peterson-3, Bartness-2, Tracy-1 (1 intcp.), Krause-1, Sletten-1, Weller-1.
NEXT: Friday – Mankato Loyola at NRHEG (HC), 7 p.m.