By John RittenhouseLuverne’s football season came to a sudden end under a pile of points in Redwood Falls Tuesday night.The Cardinals hoped to upset Redwood Valley when the Southwest Conference teams met in the quarterfinal-round of the Section 3AAA Playoffs, but RWV proved to be an unkind host while rolling to a 49-23 victory over LHS.The win sends RWV into Saturday’s semifinals.Luverne’s 3-6 campaign comes to an end.Unlike the 33-30 game RWV won when the teams met in Luverne Oct. 10, LHS didn’t have an answer to RWV’s offensive prowess in the game’s first half.RWV scored 43 consecutive points in the game’s first 24 minutes to take control of the contest before the intermission.The scoring spree began early as RWV received the opening kickoff and put the ball in the end zone after running nine plays.Scott Leopold capped the drive with a 19-yard touchdown run at the 8:08 mark of the first period.Luverne had to punt four plays into its opening possession of the game, and RWV put together another nine-play drive that ended with Blake Hagert scoring on a two-yard run with 1:04 remaining in the first quarter.When Bryan Busack returned a punt 50 yards for the hosts before the first period was complete, RWV sported a 22-0 lead.The situation grew worse for LHS in the second period.Hagert capped a five-play drive with a three-yard touchdown run early in the second stanza, and RWV turned a Luverne fumble into some more points when quarterback Travis Fluck tossed a 78-yard touchdown pass to Busack at the 4:00 mark of the period.It looked like Luverne might score when it moved the ball into RWV territory late in the half, but RWV’s Leopold intercepted a pass and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown with 10 seconds left to make it a 43-0 game.Luverne did put together three nice scoring drives in the second half.Senior quarterback Andy Stegemann scored Luverne’s first points with a 14-yard run at the 5:23 mark of the third quarter. Stegemann tossed a successful conversion pass to Brad Herman to make it a 43-8 game.Senior running back Tyler Elbers scored on a 38-yard dash with 35 seconds left in the third stanza. The Stegemann-to-Herman combination clicked for another conversion pass to make the score 43-16.Luverne’s final touchdown came with 5:38 left in the fourth quarter, when junior running back Scott Goebel scored on a 14-yard scamper. Elbers booted the extra point to make the difference 43-23.RWV, however, cappd the scoring when Dusty Bauman raced 59 yards for a touchdown with 3:03 left to play.Individual statisticsRushing: Elbers 11-80, Mark Remme 15-84, Nate Siebenahler 2-5, Stegemann 6-53, Nick Heronimus 2-25, Goebel 6-48.Passing: Stegemann 0-1 for zero yards; Heronimus 5-11 for 40 yards.Receiving: Ben Cornish 3-23, Scott Pick 1-9, Elbers 1-8.
