Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm’s Josh Bentler (center) recovers a fumble early in the first quarter before attacking teammates Jake Finstad (15), Brock Carlson (51), He is surrounded by Rylan Koopman (25 years old) and Joe Gillis (40 years old). Friday’s homecoming football game against Granada-Huntley East Chain/Truman at Johnson Field in New Ulm.
NEW ULM — For the third straight game, New Ulm Cathedral completely dominated.
Josh Bentler scored on touchdown runs of 80, 30 and 44 yards in the first half and finished the game with 237 yards on 15 carries to lead Cathedral. Jake Finstad has three touches as the Greyhounds celebrate homecoming with a 50-0 victory over Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman in a nine-man South Division football game Friday at Johnson Field. He threw for a touchdown and scored a touchdown.
Finstad had a 27-yard scoring pass to Josh Forstner, a 26-yard touchdown pass to Bentler, a 15-yard scoring pass to Rylan Koopman, and added a 1-yard touchdown run.
Alex Portner added to the scoring for the Greyhounds with a 43-yard scoring run.
For Cathedral head coach Denny Lux, the win was an example of the team once again using all its assets.
“We are giving it everything we have.” he said. “Defensively he’s knocking down passes, and offensively he’s making a lot of athletic plays. You see that with Jake. When he scrambles, he finds somebody. Our running backs are at full strength. Breaking tackles. It’s a real team effort.”
The Greyhounds got on the scoreboard early and often in the first quarter.
A bad snap on a Jaguars punt sent the ball to their own 4-yard line. Two plays later, Finstad drove into the end zone for a 6-0 lead.
After Cathedral’s defense forced a three-and-out, the Greyhounds struck quickly on the first play of their next possession, with Bentler breaking up the right side for an 80-yard touchdown run for a 12-0 lead. .
Bentler’s second touchdown run of the game (30 yards) made it 18-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Cathedral’s fourth scoring drive of the game began late in the first quarter and ended with Finstad’s 27-yard scoring strike to Forsner, capping a seven-play, 71-yard drive and extending the lead to 24-0.
Bentler and the Greyhounds outscored the Jaguars with Bentler’s 44-yard touchdown run to make it 30-0 at halftime.
In the first half, Bentler carried the ball 11 times for 165 yards and three touchdowns.
“He’s very strong.” Lux said of Bentler. “And he’s been working really hard on his lifting in the weight room for the last two years, and that strength shows on the field. He’s tough to beat and he’s very quick off the bat.”
And while the Greyhounds were dominant on the offensive side of the ball in the first half, they were just as convincing on the defensive side of the ball.
Cathedral allowed just 47 yards of offense to the Jaguars in the first half, 18 of which came on the final two plays of the first half.
“Our players are doing a really good job.” Cathedral defensive coordinator Jesse Nosbusch said. “We’ve been emphasizing flying to the ball, getting everyone close to the ball, and when nine guys do that, there aren’t a lot of open lanes left. They’re playing well. ”
Joe Gillis led the Greyhounds with 12 tackles, Colin Anderson had eight tackles and Joey Schugel finished with six tackles and one sack.
After the Greyhounds’ first drive of the third quarter resulted in a 26-yard touchdown pass from Finstad to Bentler, extending the lead to 37-0, Cathedral’s defense set up another touchdown.
After holding off the Jaguars, Cathedral ended a 49-yard scoring march with a 15-yard scoring pass from Finstad to Koopman to take a 44-0 lead.
Another three-and-out by the Greyhounds defense led to Alex Portner’s 43-yard run for a 50-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.
GHEC/T came close to scoring late in the game via a 27-yard pass from quarterback Regan Emmert to Carter Langford and a 14-yard pass from Emmert to Bryce Borkenhagen. But with four tries from the 7-yard line, Cathedral’s defense kept it out of the end zone.
Coach Nosbusch said that the backup players on the defense played a big role in maintaining the shutout.
“That was the loudest our sideline has been in a while.” he said. “When we get a shutout, we treat the team to ice cream.”
Cathedral (4-2) is at Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart next Friday.
Courtesy of Adam Hasman/MLC SID ST. Bonifacius — The Martin Luther University volleyball team…
Prep Football New Ulm 22, St. Peter 18 ST.Peter — The New Ulm Eagles battled back to beat St. Peter’s…
