File photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Cathedral’s Colin Anderson makes a tackle during the South Division West Subdistrict 9-a-side soccer game against Hills Beavercreek on Wednesday, Oct. 16.
NEW ULM — New Ulm Cathedral, the fourth seed in Round 2 of the nine-man football tournament, will host the fifth-seeded Raiders from Nicollet at Johnson Field on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
The Raiders brought a 4-4 record into the game against the 5-3 Greyhounds.
The Raiders also enter the game as the highest-scoring team of the Nine in Game 2, averaging 36.8 points per game, just ahead of the second-place Greyhounds in the section with 34.8 points.
Defensively, the Raiders allow just over 30 points per game, but Cathedral brings in the best defense, holding the team to an average of 15.8 points per game.
That defense is led by senior linebacker Joe Gillis, who broke Brandon Beranek’s school career tackle record with 340 tackles this season.
Gillis currently has 376 tackles, including 90 this season.
Cathedral head coach Denny Lux said Nicollet is an explosive team that will test the Greyhounds’ stingy defense.
“They have some high scores this year (58 and 62 points) and had a great win in their last game against Heron Lake Okabena/Fulda.” Lux said. “When you watch the footage of that game, they came from behind to win, so they never give up on anything.”
Lux said the Raiders are primarily a throwing team.
“Tom Murphy (former Nicollet head football coach) started it and they continue to do it.” Lux said. “Their receivers know how to run their routes, so they’re going to be a very good opponent for us.”
Coach Lux said the Raiders are a team that plays hard for four quarters.
“So our players are going to have to be ready for that.” he said. “We’re on track for this game.”
Despite Cathedral having the same record as top-seeded Cedar Mountain and an 18-8 win over Cedar Mountain this season, Lux is worried about the No. 4 seed in the section. I haven’t done it.
“We had a lot of wins against some programs that were struggling and trying to get back on their feet.” he said. “The QRF takes all of that into account, and that’s understandable.”
And looking at the teams in this section, most believe they have a good chance of winning.
“People felt this addition, and they felt the same way last year.” Lux said. “We have good teams in this section, but we don’t have the dominant teams that you see in Section 1 or Section 3.”
Lux said he wants to see the team get into a rhythm Tuesday.
“We need to establish our run. Josh (Bentler) is a very good runner, so that’s important.” he said.
Bentler recently surpassed 1,000 rushing yards on the season in Week 8 against Hills-Beavercreek.
