The Worthington Trojans football team’s effort to pick up its first win of the season came up just short Friday night as Luverne captured a 22-14 home win over the Trojans.
Worthington scored first in the contest as Anthony Linder ran into the end zone from a yard out with 5:58 left in the opening quarter. Triston Sauerbrei added the extra point, and it was 7-0 Trojans. Luverne answered quickly, as a nine-yard TD pass from Conner Connell to Kaleb Hein on its ensuing possession and the Casey Sehr point-after kick made it 7-7.
WHS, though, responded with a TD of its own, as Tucker Brandner reached paydirt from five yards out on the first play of the second quarter for a 14-7 advantage. Luverne then scored another TD on its next drive, as Hein had a nine-yard rushing TD and a two-point pass from Sehr to Elliot Domagala made it 15-14 with 8:20 still left in the half.
That would be the last scoring until late in the fourth quarter, when Connell added an eight-yard scoring run for Luverne. The Cardinals, now 3-2 on the season, got 149 rushing yards from Tyler Cowell and 69 yards on the ground from Connell. Gannon Ahrendt had 52 yards receiving to top Luverne in that category.
For the Trojans, Abagotte Opiew took multiple snaps from the quarterback spot and wound up gaining 129 yards on the ground on nine carries, and he also added an interception on defense. Marenono Opiew had 10 total tackles and forced a fumble. Ryan Lais added eight total tackles, and Nasim Zeidi had six total tackles and a fumble recovery.
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The Worthington Trojans boys soccer team dropped its second game in five days on Saturday as it was edged on the road by Academy of Holy Angels, 2-1.
WHS got a goal from Jonathan Banegas in the 27th minute of the first half and led 1-0 at intermission, but Holy Angels scored twice in the second half. The Trojans struggled with offensively for a majority of the game and while the defense played well, Holy Angels mostly controlled field position. The match also got physical, with both squads getting red card violations.
Worthington, now 12-2, plays its final regular season games of the season; they will be each be at home on Tuesday and Thursday.
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The Minnesota West volleyball team won the first two sets against Minnesota State-Fergus Falls on Saturday afternoon, but the host Blue Jays ended being edged by the nation’s No. 6-ranked team 3-2. Scores were 22-25, 14-25, 25-23, 27-25, 15-9.
Kennedy Buckneberg led the way for Minnesota West with 23 digs and 13 kills, and Kiarra Danielson added 10 kills, 17 digs, five blocks and 17 set assists. Other contributors for the Lady Jays were Dannyn Peterson, who had 12 kills, 10 digs and seven blocks; Kat Polzine, nine kills, 12 digs and three ace serves; Sami Polzin, nine kills and 16 digs; Courtney Moser, 12 digs and 27 set assists; and Sophie Larson, three ace serves.
Saturday’s loss followed a 3-0 sweep of St. Cloud on Friday night. Scores were 25-21, 25-22, 25-20. Buckneberg had eight kills, 14 digs and two blocks, and Danielson added seven kills, nine digs and 14 set assists. Also chipping in were: Peterson, seven digs and 5 kills; Sami Polzin, seven digs and six kills; Kat Polzine, three kills and seven digs along with 16-of-16 serving and two aces; Jaenid Torrres, seven digs along with 13-15 serving and one ace; and Moser, 13 set assists.
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The Trojans were defeated at home by Jordan 8-2 on Saturday night. The score was 4-2 at halftime, but Jordan controlled play in the second half
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In other high school football action, it was:
Edgerton 56, Westbrook-Walnut Grove 36
Mountain Lake Area 53, Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda 18
Renville County West 37, Hills-Beaver Creek 6
Cedar Mountain 22, Red Rock Central 13
Martin County West 43, New Ulm Cathedral 0
Murray County Central 27, Sleepy Eye 0
Minnesota Valley Lutheran 36, Adrian 15
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 56, Wabasso 0
LeSueur-Henderson 30, Windom Area 16
Pipestone Area 34, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 0
Jackson County Central 35, Redwood Valley 0
Marshall 17, Tri-City United 8
Fairmont 48, New Ulm 12
Sheldon 35, Cherokee 0
West Lyon 49, Okoboji 7
Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 39, Unity 7
Sioux Center 21, Boyden-Hull-Rock Valley 14
Western Christian 45, Sibley-Ocheyedan 0
Harris-Lake Park 42, GTRA 40
West Hancock 31, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 18
In high school volleyball Friday, it was:
Springfield 3, Red Rock Central 0
In high school volleyball Saturday, it was:
Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey 2, St. Clair 0
Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey 2, United Christian Academy 0
Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey 2, Blue Earth 0
Martin County West 2, St. Charles 0
Redwood Valley 2, Martin County West 0
Blooming Prairie 2, Martin County West 1
Martin County West 2, Maple River 0
Martin County West 2, Cedar Mountain 0
Marshall 3, Brookings, S.D. 0
Cherokee 2, Okoboji 0
Spirit Lake 2, Okoboji 0
Spirit Lake 2, GTRA 0
E-LC 2, Okoboji 0
Okoboji 2, Harris-Lake Park 0
Okoboji 2, GRTA 1
GTRA 2, Harris-Lake Park 0
