File photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm’s Noah Mertz runs away from pressure during the South Division Central Red Subdivision football game against Marshall on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at New Ulm High School.
NEW ULM — The New Ulm High School Eagles football team will open the postseason this Tuesday at 7 p.m., playing the first round of the playoffs at home.
The fourth-seeded Eagles (4-4) will face fifth-seeded Willmar (1-7) in the opening game of the Section 2 AAAA tournament at New Ulm High School.
Anyone looking at Wilmer’s 1-7 season and thinking the Cardinals aren’t a good football team should think again.
“They’re probably the best 1-7 team in the state.” said Ulm High School’s new head coach Derek Reaser. “They played a tough schedule. Five of their eight games were against top-10 teams.”
Three of those losses were against teams like Princeton, Becker and Totino Grace, who are still undefeated at 8-0. They also lost to Marshall 33-7.
“They lost to defending (Class AAAA champion) Hutchinson (28-21).” Reaser said. “They’re certainly not a typical 1-7 type of team, so we know we have our hands full.”
Wilmer will bring a spread offense to the matchup against the Eagles.
“Their quarterback has a really great arm. He’s very agile. And they have some pretty good size receivers.” Reaser said. “And their speed is deceptive. They don’t look like super fast on film, but again, because of the quality of their opponents, some of them are super fast.”
Looking at the statistics for Round 2 AAAA, both teams’ offenses are mirror images.
Wilmer is averaging 12.9 points per game while the Eagles are averaging 15.8 points per game.
The Cardinals defense is allowing 29.4 points per game while New Ulm is allowing 24.8 points per game.
Reaser said Wilmer’s size and speed are something the Eagles need to overcome.
“We’re going to have to get a little creative in the run game.” he said. “We’re trying to come up with a game plan and get our best players on the ball a little bit. There may also be some changes in the way we attack. If possible, with size and speed. We’re looking at how we can use that against them in some way.”
(Correction note: The print headline incorrectly stated that the Eagles would host Hutchinson in the tournament opener. Hutchinson is the No. 2 seed and a bye. The information in the article itself is correct.)
