Luverne senior defender Tyler Elbers (42) chases down Windom quarterback Brock Zimmerman during Friday’s Southwest Conference football game in Windom. Elbers gave the Cardinals a 6-0 lead with a rushing touchdown in the first quarter, but the Eagles blanked LHS the rest of the way during a 33-6 victory.By John RittenhouseA promising start turned into a disappointing finish when Luverne traveled to Windom for a Southwest Conference football clash Friday.Luverne was looking to run its SWC record to 2-0 at the expense of the unbeaten Eagles, and there were signs that it might happen when the Cardinals dictated play for the first eight minutes while taking a 6-0 lead.Windom, however, unleashed a powerful running game on the Cardinals while going on a 33-0 scoring run to defeat LHS 33-6.It was a disappointing game," said Cardinal coach Todd Oye. "We started out strong and had a chance to get Windom with a good offense down. We had the opportunity to do that, but we didn’t cash in when we were down in the red zone."The Cardinals did start the game off in a positive way.Luverne received the opening kick and put together a nine-play, 73-yard scoring drive that ended with senior tailback Tyler Elbers scoring on a nine-yard run at the 7:54 mark of the opening period. A failed extra-point attempt kept the score at 6-0.While Luverne’s touchdown came at the end of a running play, it was a trio of successful passes that set up the score.Cardinal quarterback Andy Stegemann, who was five of seven passing in the game, completed all three of his attempts in the opening series. He hooked up with Ben Cornish for a 32-yard gain and tossed two completions to Jared Pick for a total of 20 yards.Luverne received an opportunity to increase its lead when Cardinal defender Brad Herman recovered a fumble on the LHS 36-yard line two plays into Windom’s first possession of the game.Elbers broke loose for a 39-yard run to the Windom 25 on the first play of scrimmage. The Cards faced a fourth-and-five situation 20 minutes later, which set up a 37-yard field goal try that kicker Adam Kurtz was unable to convert.Luverne’s lost scoring opportunity seemed to inspire the Windom offense, which started its second possession on the WHS 20 with 4:19 left in the first period and finished with quarterback Brock Zimmerman scoring on a nine-yard run.The seven-play, 80-yard drive was followed by an extra point from Trevor Baloun, giving the Eagles a 7-6 edge with 1:47 remaining in the opening period.Windom stole the game’s momentum for good when it scored 13 points in a span of 1:41 late in the first half.It looked like the Cardinals would get the ball when the Eagles lined up in punt formation during a fourth-and-seven situation in LHS territory. Windom, however, deceived the Cards with a nine-yard run for a first down.The play kept alive what turned into an 11-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Trenton Anderson scoring on a one-yard run with 1:47 left in the second quarter. The extra-point attempt failed, leaving the Eagles with a 13-6 cushion.Windom burned all three of its timeouts when three unsuccessful runs forced the Cardinals to punt.A long punt return gave the Eagles the ball on the LHS 37 with 32 seconds remaining. Three plays later, Zimmerman tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Mitch Masters with eight seconds left. Baloun added the extra point to make it a 20-6 game at the intermission."The score very easily could have been in our favor at halftime," Oye said. "Our special teams left us in a hole a couple of times, and we were not making the plays on defense. The kids had to go through a lot of reads, and they were getting into the right spots. They just were not making the tackles."Another letdown on special teams by Luverne set the tone for the second half.Windom’s Drew Zimmerman fielded the kick to start the third quarter and returned it 66 yards to the LHS 22.Drew Zimmerman scored on a seven-yard run seven plays later to make the score 26-6 at 7:56 mark of the third period. Elbers sacked Windom’s holder when he bobbled the snap during a failed extra-point attempt.Luverne fumbled the ball five plays into its first possession of the third quarter and Windom’s Nick Johnson recovered the loose ball on the Luverne 48.The Eagles covered the remaining 48 yards in nine plays with Anderson scoring on a two-yard plunge with 32 seconds left in the period. When Baloun added the extra point, the scoring was complete.Luverne, 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the league, will try to bounce back from the loss when it hosts Worthington Friday.The Trojans are 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the SWC. Worthington’s conference loss was to Windom."Worthington is the defending conference champion, but they graduated a lot of seniors last year. They are a team that runs play-action passes pretty well. The keys for us will be to stop their passing game and put more points on the scoreboard," Oye concluded.Team statisticsLuverne: 143 rushing yards, 73 passing yards, 216 total yards, nine first downs, three penalties, two turnovers.Windom: 269 rushing yards, 29 passing yards, 298 total yards, 15 first downs, three penalties, two turnovers.Individual statisticsRushing: Elbers 9-55, Mark Remme 12-36, Herman 4-41, Stegemann 1-minus six, Nate Siebenahler 3-13, Tim Rust 1-8.Passing: Stegemann 5-7 for 73 yards, Herman 0-1 for zero yards.Receiving: Pick 3-28, Cornish 1-32, Remme 1-13.Defense: Herman one fumble recovery, Elbers one sack, Tony Willers one sack and one fumble recovery.
