The Luverne Cardinals fell to the Redwood Valley Cardinals 20-16 in the season opener Thursday night at Cardinal Field.
The game featured a matchup of last year’s 3AA section champions (Redwood Valley) versus last year’s 3AAA section champions (Luverne).
Taking a 7-6 lead into halftime, Redwood Valley scored 13 unanswered points in the second half to win the game by 14 points.
“Redwood Valley is a very good team that returned many players from last year’s team that we played in an overtime game with,” said Luverne head coach Todd Oye.
“We played very well defensively in the first half but we weren’t able to continue that into the second half.”
Luverne received the opening kickoff, but just three plays into their opening drive the Cardinals fumbled and the ball was recovered by Redwood Valley at the Luverne 20-yard line.
Redwood Valley wasted no time taking advantage of the turnover and scored the game’s first touchdown just three plays later with a 5-yard touchdown run from quarterback Alex Lang.
After a successful extra point kick, Redwood Valley took the early lead 7-0 with 10:22 to go in the first quarter.
Luverne bounced back in their next possession when LHS junior Gavin Baum returned the kickoff to the Luverne 24-yard line.
After one failed play the Cardinals got their first touchdown of the season from senior Ashton Sandbulte. Taking the handoff from senior quarterback Casey Sehr, Sandbulte avoided the tackle of a Redwood Valley defender and sprinted for a 76-yard touchdown run. After a missed extra point, Luverne trailed Redwood Valley 7-6 with 9:52 to go in the first quarter.
Both teams’ defenses settled in after the action-packed first few minutes.
Luverne’s best opportunity to score came on fourth and 10 from the Redwood Valley 15-yard line with 5:13 to go in the second quarter.
Casey Sehr’s pass to fellow senior Eli Radtke was ruled out of bounds in the end zone. Both teams would each have one possession after the near touchdown, but the defenses held strong and the teams went into halftime with Redwood Valley leading 7-6.
Coming out of halftime, Redwood Valley put together a 12-play, 61-yard scoring drive that ended with a 1-yard rushing touchdown for quarterback Alex Lang with 8:22 remaining in the third quarter. After a failed extra point attempt, Redwood Valley held a 13-6 lead.
Luverne’s next possession saw the Cardinals gain only three yards in three plays, and they were forced to attempt a punt on 4th and 7 from their own 30-yard line.
Unfortunately for the Luverne Cardinals, a bad snap forced punter Jordan Friedrichsen to fall on the ball at the team’s own 13-yard line.
Redwood Valley took advantage of the Luverne mistake and scored two plays later on a 4-yard touchdown run from running back Maverick Goblirsch. After a completed extra point, Redwood Valley led 20-6 with 5:25 to go in the third quarter.
Neither team could gain offensive momentum the rest of the half as the game ended with the final score of 20-6.
“Offensively we had good field position and multiple opportunities to score,” Oye said. “But besides Ashton Sandbulte’s long run, we weren’t able to capitalize on those opportunities.”
The Luverne Cardinals are looking to bounce back from the loss when they travel to Jackson Friday night.
“JCC is traditionally a very good team,” Oye said. “They also return many key players, and for our team to be successful we need to eliminate the mental mistakes from Week 1.”
Team statistics:
Luverne: 114 rushing yards, 35 passing yards, 149 total yards, 6 first downs, 5 penalties for 35 yards, one turnover.
Redwood Valley: 200 rushing yards, 47 passing yards, 247 total yards, 18 first downs, 5 penalties for 45 yards, zero turnovers.
Individual statistics:
Rushing: Ashton Sandbulte 10-95, Zach Kruse 5-10, Gannon Ahrendt 1-5, Casey Sehr 7-4.
Passing: Casey Sehr 5-16 for 35 yards.
Receiving: Ashton Sandbulte 2-14, Connor Connell 1-11, Gavin DeBeer 1-11
Defense: Riley Sneller 10.5 tackles, Braydon Ripka 7.5 tackles, Zach Kruse 5 tackles, Ashton Sandbulte 4 tackles, Micah Anderson 4 tackles, Jamie McCarthy 3.5 tackles.