Cardinals take victory over Windom Eagles

The Luverne Cardinals registered their first win of the 2021 football season on Thursday night in Windom.  
The first half featured a defensive battle that saw the Cardinals head into halftime with a 6-0 lead. 
After struggling in the second half in the previous two games of the season, the Cardinals finally broke out for a strong second half which propelled them to a 26-6 victory.  
Luverne coach Todd Oye said he was proud of his team’s effort in the second half.
“We played a good second half after leading at halftime only 6-0,” he said. “The team did a nice job in the third quarter.”
After going three and out in their first possession of the game, the Cardinals capitalized in their second possession to take the early lead.  
The possession started with a 24-yard punt return from Luverne junior Gannon Ahrendt, which gave the Cardinals excellent field position. 
Taking over at the Windom 36-yard line, the Cardinals offense picked up a first down after senior running back Ashton Sandbulte broke through the middle of the Eagles defense for a 26-yard run to get the Cardinals to the Eagles’ 8-yard line. 
After only gaining a yard in their next three plays, the Cardinals faced a fourth and goal from the Windom seven-yard line. 
Luverne quarterback Casey Sehr was able to complete the fourth-down pass to Sandbulte, who ran in the touchdown to get the Cardinals on the board. After a failed two-point conversion, the Cardinals had the lead 6-0 with 1:40 to go in the first quarter.  
The Cardinals made their way into Windom territory just one time in the second quarter, but the drive stalled after a penalty and then an Eagles interception.  
The Cardinals’ defense held strong the rest of the quarter, and the teams went into halftime with the score remaining at 6-0.
Luverne wasted no time getting back into the end zone after halftime. 
After marching down the field quickly, Sehr found sophomore Conner Connell in the right side of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown reception just 1:52 into the third quarter.  
Sehr then connected with Ahrendt on the two-point conversion to give the Cardinals a 14-0 lead.  
After a solid defensive stand, Luverne took over on their own 40-yard line on their next possession.  Sehr and Ahrendt connected on 16-yard and 29-yard receptions to lead the Cardinals down the field.  
Sandbulte continued his strong night running the ball, and senior Braydon Ripka chipped in some solid runs to get the ball deep into Windom’s side of the field. The Cardinals finished the 60-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run from Sehr.
Luverne could not complete the two-point conversion but held a 20-0 lead with 52 seconds to go in the third quarter.
Windom bounced back after the Luverne scoring drive with a score of its own. 
The Eagles returned the kickoff 28-yards to the Luverne 46-yard line to start their drive. After a few short runs and a Luverne penalty, the Eagles used a 28-yard run from Wyatt Haugen to get their first score of the game. 
After a failed 2-point conversion the Luverne lead was now 20-6 with 10:10 to go in the fourth quarter.  
The Cardinals took over at their own 40-yard line, but a holding penalty on the first play of the drive pushed them back to the 30-yard line.  
Sandbulte, who finished with a game-high 111 rushing yards, helped erase the penalty and get the Luverne momentum back with a 21-yard run to give the Cardinals a first down.  
Luverne continued its drive when Sehr found sophomore Gavin DeBeer for a 26-yard reception that brought the Cardinals to the Windom 16-yard line.  
After a run by Sehr and a 10-yard run by Ripka, the Cardinals were on the Eagles’ 2-yard line. Ripka punched in the touchdown for the Cardinals, and after failing to complete the 2-point conversion the Cardinals held a 26-6 lead with 7:11 to go in the game.
Following a defensive stop the Cardinals were able to run out the clock and finish the game with their first victory. 
“It felt good to get the first one out of the way,” Sehr said after the game. 
“Hopefully we can use the energy we got from this game to carry on for the next couple of weeks and continue winning.”
The Cardinals will host New Ulm Friday night at 7 p.m. in their Homecoming game. 
“New Ulm is in our section and also in our division,” said Coach Oye. “It will be nice to have a big crowd in Luverne for Homecoming since we didn’t get to have full capacity last year.”
 
Team statistics:
Luverne: 157 rushing yards, 130 passing yards, 287 total yards, 14 first downs, 7 penalties for 72 yards, 2 turnovers.
Windom: 186 rushing yards, 20 passing yards, 206 total yards, 14 first downs, 6 penalties for 40 yards, 2 turnovers.
 
Individual statistics:
Rushing: Ashton Sandbulte 14-111, Braydon Ripka 7-37
Passing: Casey Sehr 8-12 for 130 yards
Receiving: Gannon Ahrendt 3-49, Ashton Sandbulte, 2-30
Defense: Braydon Ripka 7.5 tackles, Ashton Sandbulte 7 tackles, Eli Radtke 5 tackles.