Prep Football: Warriors spoil New York Mills’ homecoming, 16-6

United North Central rode behind workhorse running back Tom Gruchow to spoil New York Mills’ homecoming festivities with the 16-6 Prairie Conference victory Friday night.

“I thought that we played well on defense by not giving [United North Central] any big plays.” New York Mills head coach Matt Radniecki said. “They like to spread you out with different formations but they are really a run oriented team with [Gruchow] being the powerhouse back for them.”

Gruchow lit up the Eagles’ defense for 205 yards rushing on 27 carries and added five receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown in the victory.

“Tom is one of the leaders of our team,” United North Central head coach Jeremy Nordick explained. “He wants the ball—I mean—he really wants the ball because he’s the type of player who likes to punish the opposing defense and at the same time feel like he’s working to make things happen for us on the field.”

United North Central needed just six plays to find the end zone in the first quarter with Gruchow taking the screen pass from senior quarterback Kasey Tyge and hightailed it 13-yards to cap the 46-yard drive. Tyge added the conversion run for the 8-0 lead.

New York Mills responded by taking the ensuing kickoff and putting together a nice drive downfield behind a couple of big plays. Facing third-and 10 on their 35 yard line, senior quarterback Tanner Wegscheid hit Cody Clarksean with an 11-yard pass. Two plays later, Wegscheid found Spenser Imsande with a quick outside slant and the senior receiver picked up some additional yardage along the Eagles sideline before getting tackled at the United North Central 19.

Unfortunately, the Eagles were unable to cash in on the drive after a fourth down pass to Imsande was batted away in the end zone by the Warriors Tanner Burgau.

The Warriors took over at the 13-yard line and went 59 yards on seven plays to the Eagles’ 28-yard line. Gruchow reeled off runs of 20 and 15 yards and Tyge completed a 12-yard pass to Ben Skoog during the drive.

The Eagles defense rose up to stop the Warriors on three consecutive plays to bring up fourth-and-nine with seven seconds left in the first quarter. United North Central reached in their bag of tricks and almost pulled it off when Tyge took the handoff from Gruchow on a reverse and fired off a pass to Markus Tolkkinen cutting across behind the Eagles secondary. Tolkkinen nabbed the pass but dropped it when he came down in the end zone.

“We had two dropped passes, a penalty and a fumble that stopped our drives tonight,” Nordick said. “Those things prevented us from getting the points we should’ve had in this game.”

The Warriors had a short field to work from on their next drive but an illegal block penalty nullified a crucial 13-yard catch during a third-and-long situation.

New York Mills mounted one more serious threat before halftime but a penalty killed the drive. Facing fourth-and-five from midfield, the Eagles picked up 12 yards on a pass from Eric Tumberg to Nick LeTourneau on a fake punt—only to have it brought back by an illegal motion penalty.

The Eagles continued to reach into their bag of tricks in the opening drive of the second half. After the first two plays went nowhere, Wegscheid hit Derik Gaudette with a swing pass and the receiver waited for the Warrior defenders to commit before pulling off the classic hook-and-ladder play by lateraling the ball to LeTourneau, who took it 40 yards downfield to the Warrior 34-yard line.

However, an interception a few plays later would kill that drive. The Warriors made little headway with the turnover, going three-and-out after picking up just five yards.

Both teams drove downfield on their next possessions but couldn’t punch in the end zone. New York Mills ended up turning the ball over on downs after reaching the Warrior 19-yard line and United North Central fumbled the ball away at the Eagles’ 16-yard line.

The Warriors finally broke through to cap an eight-play, 44-yard drive on an 11-yard pass from Tyge to Tanner Burgau with less than five minutes remaining in the game. Gruchow ran in the conversion for the 16-0 Warrior lead.

New York Mills answered right back with a quick touchdown to get on the scoreboard. Shane Novak had a 31-yard reception to open the drive and unnecessary roughness penalty on the play spotted the ball on the Warrior 21-yard line. Four plays later, Wescheid found Tumberg coming underneath for an 11-yard touchdown pass.

United North Central recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock to preserve the 16-6 victory.

“It was a win, and we’ll take it.” Nordick said. “I give credit to New York Mills. They came ready to play and played well.”

United North Central ended up amassing 409 total yards with a big chunk of it coming from the ground game and Gruchow. Tyge completed 13-of-19 passes for 128 yards.

New York Mills had more success in the air, with Wegscheid notching 172 yards on 13 completions as the Eagles were limited to 15 yards on the ground.

“On offense, we just couldn't get anything going on the ground.” Radniecki explained. “I thought our pass blocking and Tanner did a nice job of giving us some success through the air. We made some nice catches but we still need to go and get the football. We need to go and get it to even have more success.”

Defensively, the Eagles were led by Ty Bell, Noah Pesola and Adam Patron with 7.5 tackles apiece while Gruchow led all Warrior defenders with nine tackles and an interception.

“The kids played hard and really wanted to get a homecoming victory.” Radniecki said.

New York Mills (1-3) travels to Osakis while United North Central (3-1) hosts Ottertail Central for homecoming in Menahga. Both games kick off at 7 p.m.

Editors Note: Radniecki would like to congratulate the New York Mills junior varsity squad for their 6-0 victory over United North Central last week. It was the second win in a row for the young Eagles football squad.

“These kids have been working hard and deserve some praise,” he said. “Good job guys!”

United North Central at New York Mills on September 24
United North Central 8 0 0 8—16
New York Mills 0 0 0 6—6
First Quarter
UNC—Tom Gruchow 13 pass from Kasey Tyge (Tyge run) 8:18
Fourth Quarter
UNC—Tanner Burgau 11 pass from Tyge (Gruchow run) 4:59
NYM—Eric Tumberg 11 pass from Tanner Wegscheid (pass failed) 3:47
Team Stats
Rushes-Yards: UNC 43-281; NYM 18-15
Pass Comp-Att-Int-Yards: UNC 13-19-0-128; NYM 13-30-1-172
Total Offense: UNC 409; NYM 187
First Downs: UNC 16; NYM 9
Penalties-Yards: UNC 4-38; NYM 8-60
Individual Stats
Rushing: UNC—Tom Gruchow 27-205, Ksey Tyge 12-68, Carlos Castro 3-6, Jeff Skoog 1-2; NYM—Eric Tumberg 10-12
Passing: UNC—Tyge 13-19-0-128; NYM—Tanner Wegscheid 13-30-1-172
Receiving: UNC—Gruchow 5-59, Tanner Burgau 4-39, Ben Skoog 3-22, Markus Tolkkinen 1-8; NYM—Tumberg 3-49, Shane Novak 5-39, Cody Clarksean 1-11, Nick LeTourneau 1-43, Spencer Imsande 2-48
Defensive: UNC—Gruchow 9 tackles and interception, Justin Luedke 7 tackles, Bryson Vasey 6 tackles, Tolkkinen 5 tackles; NYM—Ty Bell 7.5 tackles, Noah Pesola 7.5 tackles, Adam Patron 7.5 tackles, Tumberg 4 tackles, Frank Peeters 4 tackles, LeTourneau 4 tackles