Prep Football: New York Mills snaps losing streak; upend Fighting Saints 26-13

The last time New York Mills savored the sweet taste of victory came when the Eagles defeated Upsala-Swanville Area 21-13 to start off the 2007 season.

New York Mills wouldn’t win again until nearly three years and 26 games later.

The Eagles put together an overall strong game—both offensively and defensively—and reached into their bag of tricks to finally get the gorilla off their back with the 26-13 Prairie Conference victory over Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Friday.

“First of all we won...ending the streak!” exclaimed New York Mills Head Coach Matt Radniecki. “We played a very good game offensively and defensively.”

New York Mills wasted little time shredding the Fighting Saints defense when Charlie Peeters hit Spencer Imsande for a 40-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage. The Eagles’ first drive will end on a two-yard touchdown run by Tanner Wegscheid.

The Eagles second drive featured timely passes from Wegscheid and good, hard running from Erik Tumberg. Wegscheid ended up connecting with Imsande for a 15-yard scoring strike to cap the drive and put the Eagles up 13-0.

“On offense, Erik Tumberg was running hard and broke tackles to gain extra yards,” Radniecki explained. “Tanner Wegscheid had two touchdown passes and was also successful in running the ball.”

Another nice drive by the Eagles in the first half stalled at the Fighting Saints 10-yard line. Radniecki opted to run a fake field goal that turned out to be successful with Wegscheid hitting Tumberg with a touchdown pass to increase the Eagles lead to 19-0.

The Fighting Saints responded on their ensuing drive to score with 10 seconds left in the second quarter. Aaron Doraska scampered into the end zone from 11 yards out to make it 19-6 at halftime.

The New York Mills offense went right back to work on their first possession of the second half. Tumberg capped the nice drive when he broke loose for a 24-yard touchdown run to put the Eagles up 26-6.

However, KMS still had some fight left in them to make the rest of the game interesting. After Jonah Johnson punched in for a three-yard touchdown run to trim the deficit to 26-13, the Fighting Saints had one final drive going late in the game but Nick LeTourneau interception sealed the victory for the Eagles.

“We made some big plays on offense and defense,” Radniecki said.

Offensively, New York Mills racked up 300 total yards, with Tumberg amassing 112 yards rushing on 22 carries. Wegscheid added 69 yards rushing. The Eagles gained 94 yards in the air with Imsande leading the receiving corps with 49 yards on two catches.

On the defensive side, the Eagles held the Fighting Saints to 196 yards in total offense. Noah Pesola led the team in 12 tackles and recovered a fumble.

“This was a great win for us and our seniors who have stuck with it and never gave up,” Radniecki said. “I am very proud of their effort and give them credit for keeping a positive attitude toward the football program.”

New York Mills (2-1) hosts conference rival United North Central for homecoming at 7 p.m. Friday.

New York Mills at Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg on September 17
Eagles 26, Fighting Saints 13
New York Mills 13 6 7 0—26
KMS 0 6 0 7—13
First Quarter
NYM—Tanner Wegscheid 2 run (kick failed)
NYM—Spencer Imsande 14 pass from Wegscheid (Brandon Kupfer kick)
Second Quarter
NYM—Erik Tumberg 10 pass from Wegscheid (kick failed)
KMS—Aaron Doraska 11 run (kick fail)
Third Quarter
NYM—Tumberg 24 run (Kupfer kick)
Fourth Quarter
KMS—Jonah Johnson 3 run (Johnson kick)
Team Stats
Rushes-Yards: NYM 40-206; KMS 39-158
Pass Comp-Att-Int-Yards: NYM 6-10-0-94; KMS 9-13-1-38
Total Offense: NYM 300; KMS 196
First Downs: NYM 14; KMS 9
Turnovers: NYM 0; KMS 2
Penalties-Yards: NYM 2-15; KMS 2-10
Individual Stats
Rushing: NYM—Tanner Wegscheid 13-69; Erik Tumberg 22-112; Shane Novak 3-22; Sam Sleiter 1-7; Nick LeTourneau 1-6
Passing: NYM—Wegscheid 5-9-0-54
Receiving: NYM—Spencer Imsande 2-49; Sleiter 1-24; Tumberg 1-10
Defensive: NYM— Ty Bell 6.5 tackles; Noah Pesola 12 tackles and fumble recovery; Zach Umland 4.5 tackles; Wegscheid 4 tackles; Tumberg 5 tackles; Nick LeTourneau 5 tackles and interception