The Luverne Cardinal football season came to an end Saturday in Fairmont. Fairmont dominated all aspects of the game, taking a 21-0 lead into halftime and finishing the game with a 40-6 win.
Fairmont, the No. 1 seed in Section 3AAA playoffs will now face No. 2 seed Waseca for the section championship and the right to compete in the state tournament.
“We made improvements throughout the season but we just have a hard time matching up our roster versus teams like Waseca and Fairmont,” said Coach Oye after the game.
The Cardinals struggled offensively, and defensively could not find an answer to the Fairmont offense led by quarterback Zach Jorgensen. Jorgensen would finish the game with one running touchdown and three passing touchdowns.
After a quick three and out on their first possession and a short punt, the Cardinals gave Fairmont excellent field position for their first possession of the game.
Taking over at the Luverne 42-yard line, Jorgensen marched his team down the field with a series of runs and passes.
Facing a third and goal from the 16-yard line, Jorgensen would break through the Luverne defense and run for the first score of the game. After a successful extra-point kick, Fairmont held a 7-0 lead with 6:11 to go in the first quarter.
The Cardinals looked to answer back in their next turn with the ball. Facing a 3rd and 10, Luverne quarterback Casey Sehr connected with junior receiver Gannon Ahrendt on a 68-yard passing play which would bring the Cardinals down to the Fairmont 12-yard line.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they were not able to gain any more ground and turned the ball over on downs.
Fairmont regained momentum after the defensive stop and march right back down for an 82-yard scoring drive. Jorgensen registered a 16-yard run and a 16-yard pass on the drive and Fairmont would finish the drive with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Jorgensen to receiver Eli Anderson.
The extra-point kick was good once again and Fairmont now had a 14-0 lead with no time left in the first quarter.
The Cardinal offense was stopped again and gave Fairmont excellent field position when they took over on offense.
It took Fairmont only two plays to score as it utilized a 47-yard touchdown reception from Jorgensen to Hudson Artz. After kicking the extra-point Fairmont led 21-0 with 9:55 to go in the second quarter.
Luverne got one more chance at a score in the first half. After a defensive stand, the Cardinals took over at their own 39-yard line. Sehr would find senior receiver Eli Radtke for a 30-yard completion to get the ball into Fairmont territory.
After a pass interference on Fairmont, Luverne got all the way to the Fairmont 14-yard line before getting stopped and turning the ball over on downs.
Fairmont then marched down to the Luverne six-yard line, but the Cardinals were able to get the defensive stop after time expired for the half.
The Fairmont offense kept rolling after halftime and took the first possession into the end zone when running back Gavin Rodning scored from 21-yards out.
Fairmont missed the extra-point attempt and now held a 27-0 lead with 9:41 left in the third quarter.
The Luverne offense once again got into Fairmont territory on their next drive but the drive stalled out and Luverne gave the ball back to Fairmont.
Fairmont capitalized when Jorgensen found Anderson again for a 55-yard touchdown reception. After a successful point-after kick, Fairmont now had a 34-0 lead with 2:55 remaining in the third quarter.
The Cardinals were finally able to finish off a drive on their next possession to get their only points of the night. After taking over at their own 34-yard line, Luverne converted a fourth and six when Sehr found Ashton Sandbulte on a 26-yard passing play.
Sandbulte then broke free for a 35-yard touchdown run to get the Cardinals on the board. After an unsuccessful 2-point conversion attempt the score was now 34-6 in favor of Fairmont with 11:11 to go in the game.
Fairmont wasted no time responding as kick returner James Johnson took the ensuing kickoff back 80-yards for a touchdown.
After a missed 2-point conversion, Fairmont was now leading 40-6 with 10:59 left in the 4th quarter.
With neither team able to score the remainder of the game, the game ended with Fairmont taking the 40-6 victory. With the loss, Luverne finished the season with four wins and six losses.
Team Statistics:
Luverne: 80 rushing yards, 155 passing yards, 235 total yards, 8 first downs, 7 penalties for 45 yards, 2 turnovers.
Fairmont: 132 rushing yards, 248 passing yards, 380 total yards, 16 first downs, 2 penalties for 25 yards, 1turnover.
Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Ashton Sandbulte 16-76
Passing: Casey Sehr 5-18 for 155 yards
Receiving: Gannon Ahrendt 1-68, Eli Radtke 2-40, Ashton Sandbulte 1-26, Nathaniel Cole-Kraty 1-21
Defense: Connor Overgaard 5.5 tackles, Casey Sehr 3.5 tackles, Nathaniel Cole-Kraty 3.5 Tackles, Jamie McCarthy 3.5 tackles
Luverne 23
Worthington 7
The Luverne Cardinal football team advanced in the Section 3AAA playoffs Tuesday night with an opening-round win over Worthington in Luverne.
After a close first half which saw the Cardinals take a 6-0 lead, Luverne was able to outscore the Trojans 17-7 in the second half to take the 23-7 victory.
The Cardinals struggled in their regular-season finale versus Waseca, but Cardinal Coach Todd Oye said he proud of how his team came out to play versus Worthington.
“Our team bounced back from a loss in Week 8 and played a solid game to open the playoffs,” he said. “I felt we played well in all three phases of the game, especially defensively.”
Senior Nathaniel Cole-Kraty echoed those sentiments. “Our defense was able to do a better job of getting to the right spots and we just did a better job of making plays overall,” Cole-Kraty said.
The Cardinal defense proved to be especially important as the offense struggled for much of the first half. The defense earned stop after stop and kept the game scoreless until the final seconds of the half.
With Worthington possessing the ball on their own 35-yard line and just 1:05 to go in the half, it appeared both teams would head into halftime with no points on the board.
Luverne junior Gannon Ahrendt, however, would come up with a big defensive play to give the Cardinal offense one more chance. On first and ten for the Trojans, Ahrendt intercepted the Worthington pass and ran the ball back to the Worthington 43-yard line.
Luverne quarterback Casey Sehr would lead his team down the field quickly with two 13-yard runs and an 11-yard pass to Ahrendt which brought the Cardinals to the 6-yard line with just 22 seconds to go in the half.
Sehr then connected with wide receiver Eli Radtke in the back of the end zone to get the Cardinals their first points of the night.
After an unsuccessful two-point conversion attempt Luverne now had a 6-0 lead with just 18 seconds left in the half.
With Worthington unable to score on their next possession the Cardinals would take the 6-0 lead into the halftime break.
Luverne kept its momentum going to start the second half. Taking over at their own 17-yard line it would only take the Cardinals two plays to get back in the end zone. Facing a 2nd and 11, Luverne senior running back Ashton Sandbulte took the handoff from Sehr and broke free up the right side of the field and rushed 84-yards for the score.
Sehr then found sophomore receiver Henry Hartquist in the end zone on the 2-point conversion and the Cardinals now had a 14-0 lead with 11:03 to go in the third quarter.
Worthington would not go away, however, and would answer right back with a scoring drive of their own.
Taking over at their own 49-yard line, Worthington pounded the ball on the ground and moved deeper and deeper into Cardinal territory.
Worthington would finish off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run from running back Andrew Dorcey. After a successful point-after kick the Luverne lead was now 14-7 with 3:06 to go in the third quarter.
The Cardinals could not move the ball on their next possession, but the defense held strong once again and forced Worthington to punt as well. Taking over at their own 33-yard line the Cardinals would quickly move the ball down the field.
Sandbulte started the drive with an 11-yard run for a first down. Next Sehr connected with sophomore Henry Hartquist for a 27-yard reception.
Sehr would then find Sandbulte on the next play for a 19-yard gain to get the Cardinals to the Worthington 11-yard line.
After a 4-yard gain from Tyson Cowell, Sandbulte would finish off the 67-yard scoring drive with his second touchdown of the game.
Luverne sophomore Patrick Kroski would make the extra point to give the Cardinals a 21-7 lead with 6:18 to go in the 4th quarter.
Luverne pinned Worthington on their own five-yard line on the ensuing kickoff after an excellent kick by junior kicker Riley Sneller.
A Worthington penalty in the end zone resulted in a safety, giving the Cardinals two points to make the score 23-7 with 5:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. Neither team would advance the ball the remainder of the game and the score finished 23-7 in favor of the Cardinals.
With the win, the Cardinals earned the right to travel to Fairmont on Saturday to take on the No. 1-seeded Fairmont Cardinals.
Team Statistics:
Luverne: 188 rushing yards, 127 passing yards, 315 total yards, 15 first downs, 9 penalties for 85 yards, 1 turnover.
Worthington: 109 rushing yards, 56 passing yards, 165 total yards, 11 first downs, 8 penalties for 55 yards, 3 turnovers.
Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Ashton Sandbulte 15-141, Casey Sehr 6-30
Passing: Casey Sehr 11-20 for 127 yards
Receiving: Gannon Ahrendt 3-35, Henry Hartquist 1-27, Connor Connell 2-26, Ashton Sandbulte 2-25
Defense: Ashton Sandbulte 5.5 tackles, Casey Sehr 5.5 tackles, Anyuon Atem 4.5 tackles, Nathaniel Cole-Kraty 4.5 tackles, Connor Overgaard 4 tackles