READY - Tyrone Wilson prepares to take the snap from Ben Schoenrock.
Photos by Chris Schlaak
The game was close, until it wasn’t. Poor defense and inability to stop the run cost the NRHEG Panthers, as they lost to Blooming Prairie 42-20 on the road Friday.
The defending state champions proved to be a worthy opponent, and one NRHEG Head Coach Marc Kruger hopes the Panthers get another crack at them again.
“Just too many mistakes in the second half cost us,” Coach Kruger said. “We are looking forward to another shot at them, potentially in the playoffs.”
Following a scoreless first quarter, the Blossoms struck first on a 17-yard pass play from Drew Kittleson to Samuel Skillestad.
On the next possession, the Panthers responded with a touchdown of their own on a 15-yard pass from Junior quarterback Charlie Nissen, making his third start, to Junior running back Andrew Phillips.
A score of 7-7 would hold until 13 seconds left in the first half when Blossoms running back Cole Wangen scored from one-yard out, making the score at halftime 14-7.
The third quarter is when the Blossoms began running away with the game. An opening possession 5-yard touchdown pass from Kittelson to Colin Jordison pushed the score to 21-7. Another touchdown five minutes later on an eight-yard run by Carson Brennecke made it 28-7.
Opening the fourth quarter, the Blossoms padded their lead on a nine-yard run by quarterback Kittelson. The Blossoms scored one more time on a one-yard run by Wangen.
However, the Panthers were able to put up some fourth quarter points, answering with two scoring drives of their own. Stepping in to play quarterback, Tyrone Wilson connected with senior receiver Bo Budach for a six-yard score. Junior back Phillips again scored a long rushing touchdown, this time from 62 yards out.
“We did a lot of great things, specifically running the ball,” coach Kruger said. “Andrew Phillips had another great game.”
Unfortunately, a good running game by the Panthers was met by an even more dominant performance from their opponent. The Blossoms ran nearly twice as many plays as the Panthers and combined for more than 500 yards on offense.
“The blossoms really took advantage of our turnovers and mistakes,” coach Kruger said. “On defense, we ended up giving up 400+ yards on the ground to them, and that is something that needs to be fixed.”
Coach Kruger went on to say the Panthers just need to put together a whole game. Defensively the Panthers were led in tackles by Jack Olson with 12, Clay Stenzel, 11.5, and Budach with 9.
The Panthers played WEM in their final regular season game, Wednesday.