By John George
The balanced attack of the Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sundburg was to much for the Eagle defense to overcome as the Fighting Saints upended NY Mills at Smith Field, 42-18.
The Saints ran for 236 yards and quarterback Kevin Steinhus was a perfect 8-for-8 passing for 126 yards.
"We just got beat by a better football team," head coach Matt Radniecki said. "They won the line of scrimmage battle and made some big plays in the passing game. They didn't really do anything differently than we expected, but we just couldn't stop them."
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K-M-S began the scoring on a one-yard run by Steinhus, but the Mills offense responded as Mike Baune capped the Eagles first drive with a two-yard scoring run to tie the game at 6-6.
The Saints opened the game up with 22 second quarter points with Steinhaus connected for two touchdown passes and running back Joel Bauman scored on an 11-yard run, giving K-M-S a 28-6 halftime lead.
Jason Burg scored the first points of the third quarter on a two-yard run, but the failed two-point conversion left the Eagles behind by 14 points. K-M-S scored the next 12 points to put the game away.
Jordan Novak finished the scoring with a six-yard TD run.
"The glass isn't empty, we just got beat by a better team tonight," Radniecki said. "We can sill have success and achieve our goals of the Section finals.
This week, the Eagles will head east to take on Section 6A rival, Pillager. The Huskies (2-2) are coming off a 18-12 win over Parkers Prairie. NY Mills beat Pillager, 26-8, last year.
"It's a big section game and we need to have a great week of practice to rebound with a win," Radniecki said.
The Eagles will return home on Oct. 6 for their Homecoming game against Otter Tail Central.
