RUNNING ROOM — Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman’s Kayden Loeschen (4) eludes a Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s tackler and sprints away from Knights’ defenders Hayden Zarn (57) and Riley Rutscher (51) during 9-Man football action Friday night in Granada. (Photo courtesy of Susan Petrowiak)

GRANADA — The Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman Jaguars pulled off a 36-20 Homecoming victory over the Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s Knights during 9-Man football action Friday night.

It’s the Jaguars’ fourth straight win after a season-opening loss to unbeaten Hills-Beaver Creek.

“The goal was to shut down No. 16 (Jonathan Petermann), which we did,” Jaguars’ head coach Alex Roorda said. “It hurt when Hunter (Grathwohl) went down with the inury; so we wanted to win it for him. We played a great defensive game, outside of giving up those two long touchdown passes.”

“We wanted to win the game for Hunter when he left the game,” Jaguars’ starting quarterback Kaiden Musser said. “In the second half, we went away from the pass and ran the ball. We had a lot of success running the ball and won a big game against a good team.”

Grathwohl hurt his left ankle with 8:51 left in the second quarter.

Musser carried the load, rushing for 129 yards on 21 attempts with four touchdowns and completed 11 of 22 passes for 122 yards to lift the Jaguars.

Kayden Loeschen had a solid game, rushing for 105 yards on 24 carries and Jackson Madsen rushed for 55 yards on a handful of attempts, plus returned a kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown.

The Knights’ Mark Anderson threw for 198 yards on nine completions with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

In addition to a solid offensive showing, the Jaguars’ defense was gritty, picking up one quarterback sack and intercepting two passes.

The Jaguars’ defense held Petermann to only 42 yards rushing on 17 carries for a little less than 2.5 yards per rush. Loeschen and Peyton Franzen shared the quarterback sack, while Musser and Madsen had the interceptions.

The Knights actually scored first. Knights’ quarterback Mark Anderson connected with Wyatt Pollard for a 17-yard scoring pass with 2:11 left in the opening quarter. Hayden Zarn ran in the two-point conversion to make it 8-0.

The Jaguars’ Madsen answered, returning the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for the touchdown and Musser ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game 8-all with 1:57 left in the first quarter.

The home team grabbed a 16-8 halftime lead when Musser scored on an 8-yard run and Loeschen ran in the two-point conversion with 4:02 remaining before halftime.

In the third quarter, Musser scored his second touchdown of the game. This time it was a 4-yard run with 6:25 left, but the two-point conversion failed, making the score 22-8, Jaguars.

The Knights came back to score a touchdown. Anderson hit Pollard for a 47-yard score at the 5:28 mark of the third quarter, but they failed on the two-point conversion.

Anderson also hit Kaleb Wait on a 55-yard scoring pass with 10:49 left in the fourth quarter, but once again their two-point conversion failed.

The Jaguars put the game away, scoring twice in the final quarter for the 16-point win.

Musser scored on runs of 4 yards and 1 yard to ice the game. Musser also added a two-point conversion after his fourth TD, accounting for the final points of the game.

The Jaguars (4-1) travel to Madelia on Thursday, while the Knights (3-3) are idle until playing in Adams against the Southland Rebels at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14.

SM 8 0 6 6 — 20

G/T 8 8 6 14 — 36

Scoring Plays

1st Quarter

SM–Mark Anderson 17 yard pass to Wyatt Pollard (Hayden Zarn two-point run), 2:11.

GHECT–Jackson Madsen 83 yard kickoff return (Kaiden Musser two-point run), 1:57.

2nd Quarter

GHECT–Kaiden Musser 8 yard run (Kayden Loeschen two-point run), 4:02.

3rd Quarter

GHECT–Kaiden Musser 4 yard run (two-point conversion failed), 6:25.

SM–Mark Anderson 47 yard pass to Wyatt Pollard (two-point conversion failed), 5:28.

4th Quarter

SM–Mark Anderson 55 yard pass to Kaleb Wait (two-point conversion failed), 10:49.

GHECT–Kaiden Musser 4 yard run (Kaiden Musser two-point run), 4:19.

GHECT–Kaiden Musser 1 yard run (Kaiden Musser two-point failed), 1:02.

•

Martin County West 43, New Ulm Cathedral 0 — Five victories in five straight games.

The Mavericks maintained their undefeated season by stampeding to a 43-point shutout over the Greyhounds on Friday night at Johnson Field in New Ulm.

Quarterback Zach Anderson completed his lone pass of the contest — a 5-yarder to Wyatt Williamson — for the initial touchdown with 3:20 remaining in the opening quarter. Williamson kicked the PAT for a 7-0 lead.

Running back Joseph Forsberg, who topped all rushers with 130 yards on 15 carries, sprinted 72 yards for a score before Williamson added the PAT kick to double MCW’s margin to 14-0 with 11:04 left in the second frame.

Anderson then broke free for a 5-yard touchdown run before Williamson nailed the third of his five PAT kicks for a 21-0 advantage at the 6:38 juncture of the third quarter.

Riley Allen then blocked a New Ulm Cathedral punt and recovered it in the end zone for six points before Williamson added the extra point for a commanding 28-0 lead with 1:34 to go in the third quarter.

Rylan Cutler pounded across the goal line from 3 yards out before Williamson’s PAT extended the Mavericks’ lead to 35-0 with 7:15 remaining in regulation.

Berent Kosbab concluded MCW’s touchdowns by scoring from 19 yards out before Cam Meyer rushed for the 2-point conversion to cap the point production with 1:50 left in the game.

Max Olson paced the Mavericks’ smothering defense by recording six tackles and a game-best three quarterback sacks, while Williamson delivered five tackles.

Cutler and Cody Potts also made five stops, Allen collected four tackles and two quarterback sacks, while Joseph Forsberg and Carver Rohman chipped in four stops apiece.

Rohman rushed for 32 yards on nine carries, Kosbab tallied 27 yards on the ground, while Anderson and Cutler added 26 and 19, respectively.

Martin County West (5-0) plays host to Murray County Central for its Homecoming game at 7 p.m. next Friday night in Sherburn.