UPENDED — Martin County West linebacker Connor Simmonds (6) upends Maple River running back Cooper Ochsendorf (3) during high school football action Friday night in Sherburn. The Mavericks’ Zach Anderson (far left) and Max Olson (65) look to assist on the play. (Photo by Greg Abel)

SHERBURN — Maple River’s defense forced three turnovers to keep the Maverick offense off the board.

The Eagles beat Martin County West 19-7 during prep football action Friday night in Sherburn.

Maple River intercepted a pass to end the Mavericks’ opening drive of the game, then put together a 14-play, 73-yard drive for a touchdown.

Cooper Ochsendorf carried the load on the drive, totaling six totes for 27 yards, while Landon Fox completed three passes for 23 yards to Mason Schirmer and Boden Simon. Simon finished the drive in the wildcat formation, taking a direct snap up the middle for a 1-yard score.

Neither offense lasted more than five plays on any of the next four drives, then the teams traded turnovers to end the half.

Dylan Doyen brought down an interception for the Eagles, but the ensuing drive ended when Jacob Fiala forced a fumble, which Blake Jagodzinske recovered for the Mavericks. The Mavericks punted after three plays, then Zach Anderson pulled in an interception on the second play of the next Eagle drive.

The Mavericks took two shots deep with under a minute left and the second ended in the hands of the Eagles’ Skyler Jenkins. Maple River ended the half kneeling with 0:00.2 left.

MCW head coach Tom Elliott said he was happy with his team’s defense, though there were mistakes to fix.

“Overall I’m pleased with the effort,” Elliott said. “Defensively, we were a little Jekyll and Hyde, a couple of times. A few series we tackled really well and a couple of series we let them squirt through our fingers a little. We let them out of some third-and-longs and a couple of fourth-and-longs and those are things we need to clean up.

“But overall I was happy with the defensive effort. We played a very good team, an athletic team, strong for four quarters.”

The Eagles extended their lead on the first drive of the second half, with a 53-yard drive on 10 runs and a pass.

Ochsendorf started with a dive up the middle before Fox kept a read option for 10 yards.

Ochsendorf then carried the ball the next three plays for 10 yards before Fox connected with Mason Frank for a 15-yard out route.

Ochsendorf took another three carries for 15 yards before Simon took a fullback dive up the middle to get to the Maverick 2.

Ochsendorf took the final tote two yards up the middle for a score with 6:12 left in the third quarter. A false start pushed the extra point attempt back to the 8, then the Mavericks burst through the line to block the kick attempt, leaving the score 13-0.

Joseph Forsberg gave the Mavericks all seven of their points two drives later.

After a three-and-out, the Mavericks punted to the Eagles’ 32. Maple River seemed to be starting another strong drive, but Forsberg jumped an out route on the Eagle sideline and returned his interception 50 yards to the house, putting the Mavericks on the scoreboard with 2:39 left in the third.

Forsberg kicked the extra point, missing after being hit by a defender, then making his second attempt from a yard closer after the flag.

“Offensively, we need to figure some things out,” Elliott said. “We don’t have much of a heartbeat on offense, we have to find a way to move the sticks, sustain drives and keep the ball out of the other team’s hands because right now we’re putting a lot of pressure on our defense. The defense has played outstanding these first three weeks, this is the most points we’ve given up (19 after giving up 13 and 14 in the team’s first two games, respectively).

“Hats off to the defense, I hope that effort continues, but we need to get the offense going.”

The Eagles looked to drive again, but the Mavericks made a huge fourth-down stop on an attempted wildcat run to get the ball back at their own 20.

Maple River forced a punt, then drove 55 yards on seven plays for the final score.

Ochsendorf and Simon combined to carry the ball six times for 53 yards, ending with an Ochsendorf 26-yard score on a sweep from the upback position.

Ochsendorf led the game with 29 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns, while Fox connected on 7 of 11 passes for 58 yards.

Martin County West (0-3) finishes its regular season Wednesday when it plays host to Class 2A No. 8-ranked Redwood Valley at 7 p.m. in Sherburn.

The Eagles (4-1) close with Class 2A No. 3-ranked Blue Earth Area in Blue Earth in their regular-season finale at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Maple River 7 0 6 6 — 19

Martin Co. West 0 0 7 0 — 7

Scoring Plays

1st Quarter

MR–Boden Simon 1 run (Landon Fox kick), 1:51.

2nd Quarter

No scoring.

3rd Quarter

MR–Cooper Ochsendorf 2 run (kick blocked), 6:12.

MCW–Joseph Forsberg 50 interception return (Forsberg kick), 2:39.

4th Quarter

MR–Cooper Ochsendorf 26 run (run failed), 2:31.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: MR 15; MCW 1. Rushing: MR 59-226; MCW 15-16. Passing: MR 7-11-2-58; MCW 2-15-3-32. Fumbles-lost: MR 1-1; MCW 0-0. Penalties: MR 4-31; MCW 2-12.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Offense: Rushing: Ochsendorf (MR) 29-128; Simon (MR) 16-70; Joseph Forsberg (MCW) 12-13. Passing: Fox (MR) 7-11-2-58; Blake Jagodzinske 2-15-3-32. Receiving: Simon (MR) 4-33.

Defense: Interceptions: Doyen (MR), Jenkins (MR), Anderson (MCW), Forsberg (MCW). Forced fumbles: Fiala (MCW). Fumble recovery: Blake Jagodzinske (MCW).