Cardinals fall to longtime rival Jackson on the road

The Luverne Cardinals football team fell to 0-2 on the season after a loss Friday night to longtime rival Jackson County Central.
The Cardinals started strong and took a 16-14 lead into halftime before JCC scored 22 unanswered points in the second half to ultimately put the Cardinals away by a score of 36-16. 
Friday night's game resembled Luverne's loss in Week 1 to Redwood Valley. The Cardinals played a close first half but then didn’t execute in the second half, according to Luverne coach Todd Oye. 
“Unfortunately, we once again struggled in the second half,” he said. “It was very apparent that JCC was physically stronger than us on both sides of the ball tonight.” 
After a strong defensive stand by Luverne to start the game, the Cardinals took over at their own 35-yard line and needed just two plays to start the scoring for the night. 
Luverne senior Ashton Sandbulte gained nine yards with a nice run up the left side of the field with the first offensive play of the night to set up second and short for Luverne.
The next play turned out to be the play of the game for Luverne.
Senior quarterback Casey Sehr dropped back and threw what Oye called “a beautiful pass” to junior Gannon Ahrendt for a 56-yard touchdown. 
Sehr and Ahrendt connected again on the two-point conversion to give the Cardinals an 8-0 lead just 3:09 into the game. 
The Cardinal defense held strong again on JCC’s second possession of the game, but the next Cardinal drive ended with an interception and JCC took over at the Luverne 46-yard line.
JCC marched down the field to score their first touchdown when junior running back Thomas Freking crossed the goal line with a five-yard run with 3:02 to go in the first quarter. JCC’s two-point conversion attempt was no good, leaving the score at 8-6 in Luverne’s favor.
Luverne’s next scoring drive would come early in the second quarter. After JCC’s snap flew over the head of their punter, the Cardinals took over at the JCC 24-yard line.
The Cardinals took advantage of a JCC penalty and finished the scoring drive with a three-yard pass from Sehr to Luverne sophomore Conner Connell.
The Cardinals then converted the two-point conversion on another pass from Sehr to Connell, and Luverne took a 16-6 lead with 11:06 to go in the second quarter. 
Jackson County Central wasted no time and utilized a strong kick return and a 30-yard passing play to get deep into Cardinal territory.
JCC senior Levi Lindley finished the Huskies scoring drive with a 2-yard touchdown run, and Lindley also punched in the two-point conversion to make the score 16-14 with 8:25 to go in the half.  
Neither team was able to put points on the board the rest of the quarter, and the Cardinals headed into halftime with the lead. 
Luverne’s offense struggled much of the second half, and JCC’s running game proved to be too much for the Cardinals to handle. 
JCC utilized three rushing touchdowns in the third quarter to put the game out of reach for the Cardinals.
Lindley rushed for two of the Huskies’ touchdowns, and senior Will Freking rushed for the last JCC touchdown. Neither team would put points on the board in the fourth quarter, and the score finished at 36-16 in favor of the Huskies.
The Cardinals will look to get their first win of the season when they travel to Windom this week.
“Windom also has lost their first two games, so both teams will be desperate for a win,” Oye said. “We need to play better in the second half to be successful.”
This week’s game at Windom has been moved to Thursday night due to a shortage of referees. The game will start at 7:30 p.m. 
 
Team statistics:
Luverne: 45 rushing yards, 168 passing yards, 213 total yards, 7 first downs, 3 penalties for 15 yards, 3 turnovers.
Jackson County Central: 233 rushing yards, 91 passing yards, 324 total yards, 16 first downs, 7 penalties for 45 yards, 0 turnovers.
 
Individual statistics:
Rushing: Ashton Sandbulte 6-33, Kaleb Hein 2-8
Passing: Casey Sehr 12-23 for 168 yards
Receiving: Gannon Ahrendt 5-113, Eli Radtke 1-31
Defense: Connor Overgaard 7.5 tackles, Jamie McCarthy 5.5 tackles, Eli Radtke 3.5 tackles