NRHEG delivers another win for the homecoming crowd

Last Friday, the Panthers earned a win during their Homecoming game against LeSueur-Henderson and, although the home team lost some steam after a strong start, they still had some nice accomplishments on the field.  
Early on, the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (NRHEG) Panthers gained a commanding lead. The first touchdown came in the first quarter, when junior running back Jason Jongbloedt ran for 16 yards, followed by senior running back Trey Hoppe’s touchdown shortly thereafter. 
Despite the energy NRHEG showed early in the game, allowed the LeSueur-Henderson Giants to earn an easy seven points in the second quarter, followed by another seven in the third. 
“Honestly, I thought we came out and started strong right away, which I was concerned about, being Homecoming week, you know, I thought we might stumble a bit in the beginning then turn it on but, really, it was the opposite,” said Panther coach Dan Stork. “We came out really strong and then we went into coast mode a little bit. I think our guys are a little comfortable when we get up early like that. That’s one thing we talked about after the game: we’ve got to keep the pedal to the metal…. We lost focus there a little bit and we didn’t play real sharp at times.”
Stork admits that the  Giants took advantage of the opportunities presented. “LeSueur’s not a bad team,” Stork said. “They did some good things.” 
In fact, they came close to earning an additional touchdown in the fourth quarter when Giants’ senior quarterback Tyler Eccles sent a pass to junior running back Trevor Block, who made it inside the five-yard line, only to be called back on a penalty. 
Palmer Peterson completed two touchdown passes to senior wide receiver John Cole, and sophomore linebacker Perry Peterson brought in a touchdown of his own for the Panthers. 
In the fourth quarter, Stork put in some of the younger players on the team, who brought a refreshing enthusiasm to the field and maintained the lead. By the game’s end, the Panthers had racked up 399 years of offense and secured their Homecoming victory, 35-14. 
Peterson finished 9-12 in passing. Cole also played a strong game. Cole received six passes, totaling 134 yards (including a 59 yard touchdown pass from Peterson in the second quarter.) 
Jongbloedt and Perry Peterson also ran the well for the Panthers. Senior tight end Karter Sletten made 11 stops for NRHEG. Sam Prigge also went five for five on his PAT attempts. 
Next week, the Panthers travel to Lake Crystal to take on the Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Knights. “I don’t know how (Lake Crystal) did tonight, but they were 0-5 coming into tonight and I tell you what, they’re always a team that’s played us very, very tough,” said Stork.
 In preparation, Coach Stork will work with his team to help them correct some of the problems they experienced on Friday night. “What we need to work on is, number one, being focused for 48 minutes,” said Stork. “Regardless what the scoreboard says: up, down, whatever it is, we’ve got to play our game and we’ve got to play hard for the full 48 minutes. I think, if we can do that, we’re going to be pretty tough to beat.”
 
NRHEG 35
LeSueur-Henderson 14
Friday, Sept. 25
At New Richland
 
      1      2      3      4
LSH       0      7      7      0
NRHEG  14     7      7      7