Trojans get a football victory as they rally from two TDs down, top Austin
The Worthington Trojans football team broke a 15-game losing streak Thursday night, scoring 20 consecutive points in the second half to rally past host Austin 33-26.
Two long TD passes helped boost the Trojans to their first win since Sept. 20, 2024, when they captured a 10-3 Homecoming victory over New Ulm.
Worthington trailed 26-13 with 6:25 remaining in the third quarter after the Packers scored a 28-yard touchdown on a pass deflected by a WHS defender. The Trojans would answer with 1:18 left in the period when Isaiah Schroeder connected with Austin Gruis on a 76-yard scoring play, trimming the deficit to 26-20 following the successful PAT.
WHS then recovered a short kickoff and went downfield to knot the score at 26, then scooped up a fumble on the ensuing Austin possession. That led to a 61-yard hookup between Schroeder and Ethan Anderson for another six points, and the PAT made it 33-26 Trojans with 7:03 to go. The Packers got the ball at the Trojan 30 later in the quarter, but ultimately turned it over on downs and Worthington held on from there.
Austin took the game's early lead at 6-0, but the Trojans put up their initial offensive touchdown of the season before the first quarter ended to tie it up. On a third down and 13 from the Packers' 14, Schroeder hit Gruis on a TD pass; t he point-after kick was blocked.
The other first-half TD for Worthington came on a pick-six — the second in two weeks for the Trojans — by Logan Kerkaert. Austin led at halftime, 20-13.
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The WHS boys soccer team got its second dominating shutout on its home field this week as the Trojans cruised by Waseca 9-0 at Trojan Field to win their fifth in a row.
Worthington built a 6-0 lead in the first 40 minutes of play. Eddy Chavez scored the first goal of the match just four minutes in; it was the first of three goals in the half for him. Chavez made it 2-0 two minutes later and Kain Thepmonty put the Trojans ahead 3-0 with eight minutes gone by. Thepmontry later added a second goal and Roelme Gonzalez also scored before the half.
Chavez got his fourth of the night and Thepmontry his third in the second half, and Deymar Rojas also netted a goal.
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Aiden Appel and Laiken Farris, both of Murray County Central/Fulda, were the individual winners in the boys and girls varsity races Thursday at the Turkey Trot cross country meet in Worthington.
Among the boys, Appel was first with a personal-best time of 16:19.4. Teammate Micah Janssen also had a PR and was sixth as MCC/Fulda finished third behind Sioux Falls Lincoln and Windom Area. Four Eagles runners placed in the top 10 — Nolan Tjentland was third, Braylen Lyons fourth, Isaac Bordewyck seventh and Caelen Ralston 10th.
Asrat Bonnett was 13th to lead Worthington. Evan Meyer was 17th for the Trojans and had a personal-best time, as did Braddock Marquardt in 23rd and Ryan Phelps in 29th. WHS was fourth in team points with 98. Adrian-Ellsworth's top finisher was Aiden Lichter, who placed 19th with a PR.
In the girls race, Farris won in a time of 19:52; teammates Mara Clarke and Holland Vogel were fourth and eighth, respectively. Keyona Klingenberg was fourth with a personal best for Adrian-Ellsworth; Olvia Bullerman was 12th and Lucy Thier 15th for the Dragons. Emily Dahlquist paced Worthington with an 18th-place effort; Annika Kinser was next in 36th with a PR.
Sioux Falls Lincoln, Murray County Central/Fulda and Adrian-Ellsworth were first, second and third in the team standings.
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In area high school volleyball Thursday night, it was:
Mayer Lutheran 3, Jackson County Central 0
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 3, Adrian-Ellsworth 0
Hills-Beaver Creek 3, Edgerton 0
Murray County Central 3, Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey 0
Martin County West 3, Alden-Conger 0
Kirkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 3, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 1
Westbrook-Walnut Grove 3, Pipestone Area 0
Southwest Minnesota Christian 3, Red Rock Central 1
Fairmont 3, Waseca 0
Marshall 3, Sioux Falls Christian 1
In area high school football Thursday:
Martin County West 60, Madelia 16
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