Ashton Sandbulte rushed for 130 yards and a pair of touchdowns Friday to lead the Luverne Cardinals to a 29-0 victory over the Worthington Trojans in a high school football game at Trojan Field.
Sandbulte scored on a 19-yard run on the first quarter and a 4-yard rush on the final play of the third quarter. Braydon Ripka added a TD of his own on a 3-yard run, and Casey Sehr tossed a 3-yard pass to Gannon Ahrendt for the Cardinals’ other touchdown. Luverne improved to 3-2 on the season.
For the Trojans, now 0-5, Jake Brandner completed 9-of-19 passes for 114 yards and was also the leading WHS rusher with 43 yards. Blake Ahrenstorff caught two passes for a team-high 34 yards receiving, and Marenono Opiew and Omot Okony also had two catches each.
Ahrendt caught five passes for 54 yards for Luverne. Ripka and Conner Connell had two receptions each.
Defensively for the Trojans, Levi Kuhl had five tackles and Antonio Heser, Nasim Zeidi and Andrew Benson had four tackles apiece. WHS will travel to Fairmont for its next game on Friday night.
In area high school football Friday night, it was:
Renville County West 18, Hills-Beaver Creek 12
Mountain Lake Area 53, Heron Lake-Okabena-Fulda 20
Westbrook-Walnut Grove 30, Edgerton 16
Murray County Central 41, Sleepy Eye 0
Minnesota Valley Lutheran 16, Adrian 15
Jackson County Central 21, Redwood Valley 18
Pipestone Area 33, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 6
Windom Area 28, LeSueur-Henderson 0
Marshall 35, Tri-City United 0
Fairmont 35, New Ulm 6
Sheldon 28, Cherokee 20
Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 48, Sioux Center 16
Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 48, Unity Christian 0
Western Christian 30, Sibley-Ocheyedan 0
West Lyon 50, Okoboji 14
West Hancock 20, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 6
Estherville/Lincoln Central 14, Spirit Lake 6
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The Minnesota West football team hit the road for a long road trip to Ely to take on Vermilion Community College and wound up losing 24-14 on Saturday.
The Bluejays, now 2-4, grabbed an 11-0 lead in the first quarter as Mike Peralta connected on a 35-yard field goal and Willard Carl Holm tossed a 25-yard TD pass to Bailey Cowell, who then tossed to Mike Maanum for the subsequent two-point conversion. After a Vermilion safety and touchdown made it an 11-10 game, Peralta hit on a 21-yard field goal with 2:52 left before halftime, and Minnesota West led 14-10 at the break.
Holm, though, threw a fourth-quarter interception that was brought back six yards for a Vermilion TD, and the hosts added another score later in the period. Vermilion’s defense completely stymied the Minnesota West rushing attack, as the Jays ended up with minus-54 net yards on the ground. Holm completed 14 of 28 passes for 170 yards, one TD and two interceptions. Cowell caught six passes for 74 yards.
Defensively, Mylin Duffie, Larry Williams III and Kendrick Gordon each had interceptions for Minnesota West. Noah Tyler had three solo tackles and 10 assisted tackles for the Jays; Kent Lais had three solo tackles and nine assisted, and Josh Okere two solo tackles and 10 assisted. Minnesota West sacked Vermilion nine times in the game, Izaya Atkinson and Ethan Nenlich had two apiece.
The Bluejays will be on the road next Saturday for a noon game at Itasca Community College.
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In boys high school soccer on Saturday afternoon, the Worthington Trojans remained unbeaten, improving to 14-0 overall by winning at Faribault 6-0.
Jonathan Banegas scored three goals for the Trojans, who are ranked fourth in the latest state Class AA poll and 14-0 overall. Elmer Guzman scored twice, and Francisco Esteban had a goal. WHS will play its next match Tuesday at New Ulm.
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In high school volleyball, the Worthington Trojans captured the Brown division on Saturday at the St. James tournament by going 3-0 on the tourney’s second day. The Trojans went 4-1 during the two-day event, with their lone loss coming at the hands of tournament champion Saint Michael Albertville.
The Trojans captured 2-0 wins over Montevideo, Cedar Mountain-Comfrey and Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Saturday in taking the Brown title and finishing ninth overall out of 22 teams. Among the composite statistical leaders for Worthington over the weekend were: Serving — Karissa Maxwell 53/56 for 26 points with five aces; Addison Gerber, 43/45 for 22 points with two aces; and Tarren Spartz, 34/39 for 21 Points with seven aces. Kills — Ellie Weg 38, Tarren Spartz 36 and Madison Beckmann 24. Digs — Brooklyn Scheitel-Taylor 30, Tarren Spartz 23 and Weg, Kamryn Spartz and Maxwell, 17 each. Blocks — Weg 12, Olivia Hayenga 10 and Beckmann eight. Gerber passes for 96 set assists and has now surpassed the 500 career set assist mark; all her assists have come this season.
Worthington is now 13-12 overall on the season. The Trojans will play their next match on Thursday at home against Red Rock Central. Fans are encouraged to wear pink for Dink Pink and Breast Cancer Awareness night.
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The Minnesota West Lady Jays volleyball team dropped matches on the road on both Friday and Saturday.
On Friday night, Minnesota West lost 3-2 at St. Cloud Tech by game scores of 26-24, 26-28, 21-25, 25-22, 14-16. Kennedy Buckneberg has 16 kills in the match, while Shelby Christensen and Emily Wilke had 10 kills apiece. Christensen contributed 26 digs, Taya Mason had 20 digs and 20 set assists, and Emma Keith added 19 set assists and 14 digs.
On Saturday, the Lady Jays fell on the road at Fergus Falls 3-0 by scores of 25-19, 25-23, 25-17. Christensen had six kills and 20 digs, Emily Dunlop added five kills and four blocks, and Grace Suttle chipped in with 18 digs. Keith and Mason combined for 18 set assists.
Minnesota West will host Anoka-Ramsey at 6 p.m. Monday.
