By John George
Friday's football game in Henning seemed to almost be over soon afte it began. Despite a solid effort after the first quarter, New York Mills dropped to 0-4 on the season after a 56-13 loss to Otter Tail Central.
The Bulldogs (3-1, 2-0 Prairie North) scored 34 first quarter points, 21 coming in the final 3:25 of the quarter. OTC took the opening kick-off and went 52 yards on six plays to go up 7-0. After a Mills fumble, the Bulldogs needed just five plays to go 35 yards to score again. The Eagles went three-and-out, giving OTC the ball back at midfield. Six plays later, they were up 21-0.
NY?Mills had just three offensive plays before OTC's Troy Thorson scored his second TD?of the game on a 45-yard interception return. ?An Eagle fumble on the first play of their next drive gave the Bulldogs another opportunity. They took advantage three plays later when quarterback Erik Smith scored on a 10-yard run.
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The Eagles finally got on track as the first quarter ended with their first complete pass, a 10-yard grab by Jarrod Norton set them up at mid-field. Three plays into the second quarter, Jordan Novak broke open for a 34-yard TD?run.
Unfortunatly, NYM?gave the points right back, as Smith returned the ensuing kick-off 71 yards.
Later in the second, Mills put together their best drive of the game. They went on a 10-play, 77-yard drive, capped by a scoring pass from Mike Baune to Collin Ness from 37 yards out. The Eagles converted a key fourth down play on the drive as Baune hit Norton on a 10-yard pass, setting up the TD.
OTC put together another long drive in the third quarter, going 71 yards on 10 plays. The finished off the scoring with 3:09 in the fourth.
Besides their big first quarter, OTC put the Eagles away by continuing drives, going 8-for-9 on third down conversions.
"Take away that first quarter, and I thought we played pretty well," head coach Jon Kotaska said.
Homecoming
Someone will walk away with their first win of the season Friday at Smith Field in New York Mills as the Eagles host Parkers Prairie for their Homecoming game.
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The Panthers (0-4, 0-1 Prairie North), are coming off a 55-14 loss to No. 1 K-M-S last week. Parkers Prairie won a close battle last year against NY?Mills, 14-6.
Friday, September 19
Otter Tail Central 56, NYM 13
NYM 0-13-0-0--13
OTC 34-7-7-8--56
First Quarter
OTC--Winkler 13 run (Daher kick) 9:46
OTC--Thorson 1 run (Daher kick) 7:09
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OTC--Ukelberg 1 run (Daher kick) 3:25
OTC--Thorson 45 Int Return (kick blocked) 2:25
OTC--Smith 10 tun (Daher kick) :48
Second Quarter
NYM--Jordan Novak 34 run (Novak kick) 10:54
OTC--Smith 71 KO?Return (Daher kick) 10:40
NYM--Mike Baune 27 pass to Collin Ness (kick blocked) :32
Third Quarter
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OTC--Owings 4 run (Daher kick) 3:38
Fourth Quarter
OTC--Koch 11 run (Koch run) 3:09
NYM OTC
1st Downs 9 20
Rush--yds 22-95 47-341
Pass yds 142 34
Return yds 104 85
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Comp--Att-In 13-25-1 1-5-0
Punts 3 0
3rd Downs 2/8 8/9
4th Downs 1/2 0/0
Fbles-lost 2-1 3-1
Pen-yds 5-13 3-10
Individual Statistics
Rushing--Novak 9-59-1; Eric Tumberg 5-17; Baune 5-17; Ryan Lee 2-3.
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Passing--Baune 13-24-1, 142 yds, TD; Wegscheid 0-1-0, 0 yds.
Receiving--David Ayers 3-19; Jarrod Norton 4-34; Novak 2-40; Ness 1-27-1; Dylan?Curtis 2-27; Tumberg 1 (-5).
Defense--Novak 12 Tkl; Tanner Wegscheid 7 Tkl; David Ayers 5 Tkl, FR.
Prairie Conference
North Conf. All
OTC 2-0 3-1
Pillager 1-1 1-3
United North Central 1-0 1-3
Parkers Prairie 0-1 0-4
New York Mills 0-2 0-4
South Conf. All
#6-A Upsala/Swanville 2-0 2-0
#1-A K-M-S 1-0 4-0
Browerville 1-1 3-1
#2-A Royalton 0-1 3-1
Osakis 0-2 1-3
K-M-S 55, Parkers Prairie 14
Browerville 26, Osakis 6
UNC 8, Pillager 6
USA 23, Royalton 22
