By John George
It was a long night at Smith Field in New York Mills last Friday as the Eagles were outgained by more than 200 yards in a 52-0 loss to Pillager.
Huskies quarterback Justin Ringler carried the ball 15 times and gained 119 yards, scoring four touchdowns. Three of those TD's came in the first half as Pillager took a 33-0 lead into halftime. Ringler also threw for 37 yards on 4-for-7 passing.
In all, Pillager rushed for 224 yards on 39 attempts, and added 64 yards through the air for 288 total yards.
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NY?Mills, meanwhile, rushed for 52 yards on 24 attempts, and completed four passes for 33 yards, an offensive output of just 85 yards.
"We are still working hard on the basics, but we are trying to make changes that will help keep the focus on what we do rather than how we do," Eagle head coach Jon Kotaska said. "One thing that we are drilling home, and I tell the kids that I only ask one thing from them, and that is they give 100 percent in everything that we do.
"When we watch film, we discuss that we are making "rookie" mistakes that young teams make," Kotaska added. "We are also trying different things each week to add to help continue with the learning."
Jordan Novak led the Eagles with 28 yards rushing on five carries. He also led the defense with 13 tackles.
New York Mills last win against Pillager came in 2006. The Huskies won last year's game, 27-9.
Up against No. 1
The Eagles will hit the road for the first time this Friday, and it won't be an easy trip. Mills travels south to face Class A's No. 1 team, K-M-S, in Murdock on Sept. 12 at 7 p.m.
"We know that we are a young team and so far have played the No. 8 team in U.S.A., we have K-M-S at No. 1, and still have Royalton (No. 3), OTC, and Browerville who gave USA more than they were ready for."
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K-M-S had an undefeated regular season last year and finished 12-1 overall, winning the Prairie Conference South with a 4-0 record. They won the Section 5A?title and advanced to the State semifinals, where they lost to the eventual state champs, Goodhue.
The Saints won last year's game at NY?Mills, 47-21. They have 18 returning letter winners and return 15-of-22 starters.
K-M-S is led by running back Joel Bauman, who as a junior, already has 3,160 career yards rushing and was conference M.V.P. as a sophomore. Senior QB?Kevin Steinhaus threw for 2,296 yards last year has been All-Conference the last two years.
Friday, September 5
Pillager 52, NYM 0
Pillager 12-21-13-6--52
NY Mills 0- 0- 0- 0-- 0
First Quarter
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P-Ringler 1 run (kick failed)
P-Nokken 1 run (kick failed)
Second Quarter
P-Ringler 5 run (Marcy pass from Gangstad)
P-Baron 33 pass from Hunstad (Baron kick)
P-Ringler 1 run (kick failed)
Third Quarter
P-Ringler 7 run (kick failed)
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P-Nokken 1 run (Baron kick)
Fourth Quarter
P- Hunstad 33 run (kick failed)
NYM Pill
Rush--yds 24-52 39-224
Pass yds 33 64
Return yds 140 86
Comp--Att-In 4-13-0 6-11-0
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Fbles-lost 2-2 0-0
Pen-yds 5-30 4-30
Individual Statistics
Rushing--Jordan Novak 5-28; Mike Baune 15-20; Erik Tumberg 4 (-5); Ryan Lee 2-4; Tyler Preuss 2-5
Passing--Baune 4-12-0, 33 yds; Nick Le Tourneau 0-1-0, 0 yds
Receiving--Jarrod Norton 1-23; Tumberg 1-5; Novak 1-5
Defense--Novak 13 tkl; Norton 11 tkl; Nate Burg 8 tkl; David Ayers 6 tkl.
Prairie Conference
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North Conf. All
OTC 1-0 2-0
Pillager 1-0 1-1
UNC 0-0 0-2
Parkers Prairie 0-1 0-2
New York Mills 0-1 0-2
South Conf. All
#1-A K-M-S 1-0 2-0
#8-A Upsala/Swanville 1-0 2-0
#3-A Royalton 0-0 2-0
Browerville 0-1 1-1
Osakis 0-1 0-2
Otter Tail Central 28, Parkers Prairie 0
Royalton 45, United North Central 6
USA 17, Browerville 14 (2 OT)
K-M-S 28, Osakis 0
