GIVING CHASE — Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman defensive lineman Cael Jaskulke (12) and linebacker Matt Heckman (24) pursue Lyle/Pacelli quarterback Cole Walter (3) during prep 9-Man football action Friday night in Truman. (Photo courtesy of Susan Petrowiak)

TRUMAN — A couple of long plays made all the difference.

The Lyle-Pacelli Athletics ran through the Granada-Huntley-East Chain Jaguars 30-0 during 9-Man football action Friday night in Truman.

It was the lone game the Jaguars will play in Truman this season, with the team playing its second of only two home games in Granada.

The Athletics got on the scoreboard in under a minute.

On the opening drive of the game, Trey Anderson took a handoff for five yards, setting up a read option keeper from quarterback Cole Walter on the next play. Walter sprinted through the line and off toward the left sideline where he took it the distance for a 55-yard score at the 11:01 mark of the first quarter. Walter threw to Dylan Christianson for the two-point conversion to put Lyle-Pacelli up 8-0.

Both teams then tried to give the other the ball, with the A’s coming up with two interceptions on the next two Jaguar drives, while the Jaguars forced and recovered a fumble to split them, with Caleb Benes coming up with the recovery.

After the second Athletics interception, Walter was able to take advantage.

Lyle-Pacelli started its second scoring drive on the Jaguars’ 10, before Anderson took the ball up the middle for six yards. A Jaguar penalty got the A’s a first down, where Walter kept another read option for 12 yards. Jed Nelson then added another nine up the middle on a fullback dive before a defensive facemask got the A’s to the Jaguars’ 45. Walter found Zachary Bollingberg for a 9-yard stop route, enough for a first down, then, after two more runs from Anderson and Nelson, Walter kept another read option for a 31-yard score.

Walter found Bollingberg for the two-point conversion to put the A’s ahead 16-0 with 10:33 left in the first half.

A third interception got the Athletics’ the ball back, starting their next drive at the 21.

The A’s put together a nine-play, 89-yard drive over the next five minutes, ending with a Nelson counter run where he dragged multiple Jaguars into the end zone for a 17-yard score.

Lyle-Pacelli forced a three-and-out on the next Jaguar drive to get another chance to score with two minutes left in the half and drove down to the 2 with 17.7 seconds remaing. But the Jaguars defense held strong and forced a turnover on downs at the 1 with 10 seconds left when freshman Cohl Becker made his way through the line for a tackle on Nelson.

GHEC/Truman head coach Ben Senf said he was disappointed with the Jaguars’ first-half mistakes, but encouraged by how quickly the team improved through the game.

“The first half was pretty rough and we knew it,” Senf said. “It was like the first half of our week, we had bad practice days Monday and Tuesday, then Wednesday and Thursday were great and it showed in our game. You play on Friday night, then you have four quarters of practice during the week. We were a completely different team in the second half. … If we play like we did in the second half all the time, we would be a totally different team.

“We talked to them at halftime, all I went down and said was I challenged them to be fighters. … I asked for a leader and the guys got on each other. I told 2 (Owen Wolter) that might have been the worst first half he’s played, but the second was probably the best. He was flying around and making plays, he was coming up and making tackles. He was driving us down the field, but then we would shoot ourselves in the foot.”

Senf’s message took hold immediately, with the Jaguars driving into the red zone on their first possession of the second half. Kaiden Musser and Owen Wolter combined for eight carries and 50 yards on the drive, but Wolter came up an inch short of a first down on a fourth-down scramble at the 14.

The Jaguars offense looked better again on their next drive.

Starting at the 50, Wolter carried the ball three consecutive plays for 25 yards, before Hunter Grathwohl took a wide receiver sweep to the left for another four. Wolter scrambled on the next two plays for 17 more yards, before it looked like the Jaguars had scored their first touchdown of the season.

Cael Jaskulke came down with a Wolter pass in the back-left corner of the end zone after the ball tipped off Grathwohl’s hands, but an illegal formation penalty lost the Jaguars five yards and their first score.

Two incomplete passes and an 8-yard scramble later, the A’s got the ball back on downs.

Lyle-Pacelli scored its final touchdown with 2:32 left on a broken play. Walter scrambled around the backfield looking for a receiver until he found Bollingberg who had come out of his route and back toward the ball down the right sideline. Bollingberg caught the pass and sprinted accross to the left sideline, passing the back end of the Jaguar defense for a 61-yard touchdown. Walter ran in the two-point conversion to make the final score of 30-0.

“We gave up big plays, that’s how they beat us,” Senf said. “They weren’t methodically moving the ball down the field, just big plays. We made a lot of mental errors … I just have to get the guys more ready. I hurt for our seniors because that’s their last homecoming, but the message stays that we are just really happy for every chance we have to play together. … We’re gonna fight and we’re gonna embrace every minute together.”

Wolter led the Jaguar rushing game with 23 carries for 111 yards, while completing 4 of 11 passes for 47 yards. Grathwohl carried the ball three times for 10 yards and added two catches for 40 yards, while Kaiden Musser collected eight totes for 37 yards.

Walter led the Lyle-Pacelli offense with five completions on 15 attepts for 122 yards and a touchdown, while rushing nine times for 156 yards and two scores. Nelson added 12 totes for 75 yards and a score, while Anderson had 15 carries for 44 yards. Bollingberg totalled four catches for 106 yards and a touchdown.

The Jaguars (0-2) play host to 9-Man No. 1-ranked Hills-Beaver Creek in Granada at 7 p.m. next Friday. The A’s (2-2) play host to Spring Grove at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7.

Lyle-Pacelli 8 14 0 8 — 30

GHEC/T 0 0 0 0 — 0

Scoring Plays

1st Quarter

LP–Cole Walter 55 run (Dylan Christianson pass from Walter), 11:01.

2nd Quarter

LP–Cole Walter 31 run (Zachary Bollingberg pass from Walter), 10:33.

LP–Jed Nelson 17 run (pass failed), 4:22.

3rd Quarter

No scoring.

4th Quarter

LP–Zachary Bollingberg 61 pass from Cole Walter (Walter run good), 2:32.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: LP 13, GHEC/T 9. Rushing: LP 36-275; GHEC/T 34-158. Passing: LP 5-15-0-122; GHEC/T 4-12-3-47. Fumbles-lost: LP 1-1; GHEC/T 4-1. Penalties: LP 7-55; GHEC/T 9-76.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Offense: Passing: Walter (LP) 5-15-0-122; Wolter (GHEC/T) 4-11-3-47; Grathwohl (GHEC/T) 0-1-0-0. Rushing: Wolter (GHEC/T) 23-111; Musser (GHEC/T) 8-37; Grathwohl 3-10; Walter (LP) 9-156; Nelson (LP) 12-75; Anderson (LP) 15-44. Receiving: Bollingberg (LP) 4-106; Grathwohl (GHEC/T) 2-40.

Defense: Interceptions: Anderson (LP); Walter (LP); Truckenmiller (LP). Sacks: Clennon (LP). Fumble recoveries: Christianson (LP); Benes (GHEC/T).

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Blue Earth Area 42, Pipestone 13 — The Class 2A, No. 3-ranked Bucs continued their string of 40-point games to continue their undefeated start and move to 4-0 Friday night at Wilson Field in Blue Earth.

Max Ehrich continued his strong season, getting the Bucs on the board in the first quarter with a 4-yard touchdown. Kean Hicks extra point put BEA ahead 7-0.

Cameron Anderson then scored the first of three touchdowns on the game to start the second quarter, this one coming on a 22-yard run before quarterback Gavin Storbeck connected with Anderson for a 26-yard passing touchdown. Hicks hit the extra point on both to put the Bucs ahead 21-0.

BEA’s second-quarter offense kept scoring when Cole Warmka carried the ball for a 9-yard touchdown, then Anderson scored for the third time in the second quarter, running the ball in from five yards out. Hicks continued his string of made kicks to send the Bucs into halftime leading 35-0.

Storbeck connected with Ashton Lloyd in the third quarter for a 15-yard score to give the Bucs their final total of 42 after Hicks made his sixth kick of the day.

Kellen Johnson hit Maddox Biever for a 15-yard passing touchdown to get Pipestone on the board in the fourth quarter, then Austin Johnson ran the ball in from the 1 for the Arrows’ second score. John Ulik made one extra point for the Arrows, while Pipestone failed a two-point conversion after its first score.

Johnson completed six passes on 15 attempts for 49 yards for the Arrows.

Storbeck connected on 10 of 14 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns, including six completed tries to Anderson for 116 yards. Lloyd caught 2 passes for 49 yards, while Ehrich totalled 33 yards and a touchdown on eight carries and Austin Thielfoldt had four totes for 22 yards. Anderson carried the ball three times for 37 yards, Warmka had eight totes for 54 yards and Storbeck added six carries for 54 yards.

BEA totalled 199 yards on the ground and 184 through the air.

Blue Earth Area (4-0) travels to Windom for a 7 p.m. matchup next Friday.

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Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 14, Martin County West 13 (2 OTs) — The Knights needed two overtimes and a blocked PAT kick to overcome the Mavericks on Friday night in Lake Crystal.

After ending the fourth quarter tied at 7, neither team scored in the first overtime.

The Mavericks got the first possession of the second overtime and quarterback Blake Jagodzinske was able to take advantage when he found Zach Anderson for a 10-yard touchdown. On the extra-point attempt, the Knights blocked the kick to put the Mavericks’ lead at 13-7.

Cade Dudgeon caught an 8-yard pass from Mike Madison to tie, then Jack Richards kicked the extra point to give LCWM the win.

MCW scored its first touchdown with 7 minutes left in the first quarter. Joseph Forsberg used one of his 28 carries for a 4-yard score, helping build to his 117 yards on the ground. He followed by making the extra-point kick to put the Mavericks ahead 7-0.

With 47 seconds left in the third, LCWM tied the matchup with a Cam Ludeman 8-yard touchdown run, with Richards hitting the extra point.

Blake Jagodzinske had 31 yards passing and a touchdown, while Anderson had 2 catches for 31 yards.

MCW’s defense was making plays all game, with Anderson and Connor Simmonds bringing down interceptions, Carver Rohman recovering a fumble and Max Olson totalling 13 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Simmonds and Lucas Jagodzinske each totalled nine tackles, while Tanner Sinn added 1.5 sacks.

MCW (0-2) plays host to Maple River at 7 p.m. next Friday night in Sherburn.