Details: Created: 13 October 2015; Hits: 9743

NRHEG to host playoff game Wednesday

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LINE UP — NRHEG wide receiver John Cole checks with the linesman during the Panthers’ regular-season finale at New Richland Thursday, Oct. 8. The Panthers lost 24-23 to Maple River. They host Blue Earth Area in an opening round section playoff game Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. (Star Eagle photos by Chris Schlaak)

By JIM LUTGENS

Editor/Publisher

Once again, the NRHEG Panthers controlled the line of scrimmage and the pace of the game.

They just couldn’t control the scoreboard.

The Panthers, despite holding Maple River to 163 yards — 125 of which came on two plays — fell just short 24-23 in their regular-season finale at New Richland Thursday, Oct. 8. The loss left the Panthers 6-2 overall and in third place behind WEM and Maple River in the South Central Blue District football final 2015 standings.

“It’s not often you hold a team to 163 yards and lose,” said NRHEG coach Dan Stork.

The story for the Panthers was mistakes.

“We made far to many mistakes tonight, which is very concerning at this point in the season,” said Stork. “But I am confident that we will correct those mistakes and make some noise in the playoffs.”

The Panthers drew the No. 4 seed in Section 2AA and hosted No. 5 Blue Earth Area in the opening round Wednesday, Oct. 21. The winner will likely play at top-seeded WEM Tuesday, Oct. 20. The section title game is Oct. 24.

The Panthers fell behind early against Maple River, trailing 10-0 at halftime, but they rallied to take a 14-10 lead after three quarters before falling short in the fourth.

Both teams had trouble running the ball, though the Panthers possessed the ball for 37:42 compare to 14:09 for the Eagles.

Palmer Peterson was 15-for-32 passing for 180 yards and two interceptions, with touchdown passes to Jason Jongbloedt and John Cole. Zeke Erickson led the defense with 6.5 tackles and two sacks.

Maple River 24, NRHEG 23

MR 7 3 0 14 — 24

NRHEG 0 0 14 9 — 23

First Quarter

MR — Greenfield 66 pass from Lewis (Moore kick)

Second Quarter

MR — Moore 36 field goal

Third Quarter

NRHEG — Jongbloedt 15 pass from Pa.Peterson (Prigge kick)

NRHEG — Cole 12 pass from Pa.Peterson (Prigge kick)

Fourth Quarter

MR — Moore 4 run (Moore kick)

MR — Lewis 14 run (Moore kick)

NRHEG — Cole 3 pass from Pa.Peterson (Prigge kick)

NRHEG — Safety, Lewis tackled in end zone

MR NRHEG

First Downs 6 12

Rushing attempts 29 32

Yds. Rushing 12 41

Passing 7-22-3 15-32-2

Yds. Passing 151 180

Total plays 51 64

Total Yds. 163 221

Penalties 12-110 7-45

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Third down 3-16 4-18

Punts-Avg. 6-28.0 9-12.0

Time of Poss. 14:09 37:42

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — NRHEG: Jongbloedt 9-17; Pe.Peterson 6-14; Hoppe 5-10; Pa.Peterson 12-0; MR: Greenfield 10-12; Arndt 7-6; Moore 1-4; Lewis 11 —10

Passing — NRHEG: Pa.Peterson 15-32-2, 180; MR: Lewis 5-20-3, 142; Sohre 2-2-0, 9

Receiving — NRHEG: Jongbloedt 4-90; Cole 6-53; Wicks 4-30; Staloch 1-7; MR: Greenfield 1-66; Arndt 1-59; Sohre 3-17; See 1-12; Schmidt 1 —3

NRHEG DEFENSE (tackles)

Erickson 6.5 (2 sacks), Schultz 5.5, Hoppe 3.5, K.Sletten 3.5, Agrimson 3, Pe.Peterson 3, Jongbloedt 3, Fitterer 2.3 (1 sack), Fischer 1.5, Cole 1, Pa.Peterson 1, Bailey .5, Herrmann .5

Football

South Central Blue District

2015 Final Standings

Ov. Dist.

WEM 8-0 7-0

Maple River 7-1 6-1

NRHEG 6-2 6-2

Mayer Lutheran 5-3 5-3

Lester Pr.-Holy Trinity 4-4 4-3

Sibley East 3-5 3-4

Norwood-YA 2-6 2-5

LeSueur-Henderson 2-6 2-5