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The Luverne Cardinal football team celebrated a homecoming victory after defeating the Worthington Trojans on Friday night at Cardinal Field.
The Cardinals held a 15-14 lead at halftime and added one touchdown in the second half to complete a 22-14 victory over the Trojans.
With the win, the Cardinals moved to 3-2 on the season.
“It felt good to come back and get a win after last week’s tough loss,” said senior Gannon Ahrendt after the game.
After giving up a season-high 42 points versus New Ulm last week, the Luverne defense looked to bounce back and came up with an excellent second half to lead the Cardinals to victory.
“After the first quarter our defense played a very solid game,” said Luverne coach Todd Oye.
The Cardinal offense didn’t do their defense any favors after fumbling on their first offensive play.
Taking over at the Luverne 35-yard line, Worthington was able to put together a 12-play scoring drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run by Worthington senior running back Abagotte Opiew.
After a successful extra point kick, Worthington held a 7-0 lead with 5:58 to go in the first quarter.
The Cardinals answered back with a scoring drive of their own.
Starting at their own 43-yard line, Luverne moved the ball quickly into Worthington territory when quarterback Conner Connell threw to Ahrendt for a 13-yard gain on Luverne’s first play of the drive.
Connell added a 10-yard run, and senior Tyson Cowell chipped in with a 7-yard run to get the Cardinals inside the red zone.
Facing a fourth and 2 from the Worthington 19-yard line, the Cardinals got a key run by Cowell for a 9-yard gain which kept their drive alive.
Just two plays later the Cardinals found the endzone for their first score of the game when senior running back Kaleb Hein caught a pass from Connell and ran 9 yards for a Cardinal touchdown. After a successful kick from Patrick Kroski, the score was 7-7 with 1:17 to go in the first quarter.
The Trojan offense continued right where they left off when they got the ball back for their next possession. On first down, Opiew broke free for a 60-yard run to bring the Trojans to the Luverne 6-yard. Two plays later Opiew was back in the endzone after a 5-yard touchdown run. After another successful extra point kick, the Trojans led 14-7 with 11:51 to go in the second quarter.
The Cardinals took over at their own 20-yard line and faced a third and 20 from the 10-yard line two plays later after an offensive penalty.
Junior receiver Elliot Domagala came up with a big play for the Cardinals when he hauled in a 19-yard reception from Connell.
Luverne converted the fourth and 1 to keep the drive going after a Connell quarterback keeper resulted in a 5-yard gain.
The Cardinals kept the momentum going on first down when Connell found Ahrendt for a 24-yard reception. Connell tacked on another 12-yard run, and Cowell broke free for a 21-yard run to give the Cardinals three straight first downs with the ball inside the Worthington 10-yard line.
Hein finished off the drive with his second touchdown of the game, this time on a 9-yard scoring run. Luverne opted to go for two points after the touchdown, and it paid off when Carter Sehr’s pass found Domagala in the end zone to give the Cardinals a 15-14 lead with 8:20 to go in the second quarter.
The Luverne defense got two quick stops in the final eight minutes of the second quarter. The Cardinal offense continued to move the ball but was unable to score as their final drive of the half ended on the Worthington 1-yard line as time expired, with the Luverne lead remaining 15-14.
What looked to be an offensive shootout turned into a defensive battle in the second half with both teams struggling to make the same big offensive plays that they made in the first half.
Neither team could score in the third quarter, and the offensive drought for both teams continued into the fourth quarter.
The Cardinal defense had its biggest stand of the game as the Trojans lined up for a fourth and 1 from their own 48-yard line with 4:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Worthington quarterback Tucker Brandner faked a handoff and scrambled with multiple Cardinal defenders chasing him. Riley Sneller tackled Brandner for an 11-yard loss to stop the Trojan drive and give the ball back to the Cardinals.
Taking over at the Worthington 37-yard line, the Cardinals were able to ice the game with a 5-play scoring drive that was capped by a Connell 7-yard touchdown run. Kroski added another extra point to give Luverne a 22-14 lead with 1:16 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Luverne defense held strong one last time, and the Cardinals were able to kneel the ball to finish off the game and secure the 22-14 win.
“It’s always fun to get a win in your homecoming game,” said Ahrendt.
“Hopefully this will give us some momentum as we prepare for the Pipestone game next week.”
The Cardinals will travel to Pipestone to take on the Arrows Friday night in the annual “Battle Axe” game. Game time is 7 p.m.
Team statistics:
Luverne: 176 rushing yards, 154 passing yards, 330 total yards, 20 first downs, 5 penalties for 50 yards, 2 turnovers.
Worthington: 175 rushing yards, 19 passing yards, 194 total yards, 9 first downs, 4 penalties for 35 yards, 1 turnover.
Individual statistics:
Rushing: Conner Connell 13-66 (1 TD), Tyson Cowell 13-64, Kaleb Hein 6-19 (1 TD), Carter Sehr 1-13
Passing: Conner Connell 12-21, 154 yards (1 TD). Carter Sehr 2-5, 71 yards, Gannon Ahrendt 1-1, 13 yards (1 TD).
Receiving: Tyson Cowell 6-68, Gannon Ahrendt 3-52, Elliot Domagala 1-19, Kaleb Hein 1-9 (1 TD)
Defense: Eli Woodley 5.5 tackles, Anyuon Atem 4.5 tackles, Tyler Gebauer 3.5 tackles, Conner Connell 3 tackles