By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team locked up the Southwest Ridge Conference championship and completed an undefeated regular season by rolling to a 37-14 victory over Lakeview in Hills Wednesday, Oct. 17.

Junior running back Chris Reid ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns and snagged a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback David Top to help the Patriots cap an 8-0 regular season.

The victory locked up the No. 1 seed for the Section 2 Nine-Man football playoffs for H-BC-E.

The Patriots receive a bye in the opening round and host No. 4 Nicollet, a 39-0 winner over No. 5 Edgerton during a semifinal-round game played in Nicollet Tuesday.

The H-BC-E-Nicollet clash will be played at 3 p.m. Saturday in Hills.

H-BC-E needed a win to win the SRC title outright. Westbrook-Walnut Grove beat Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster Oct. 17 to up its league record to 6-1, which was good for second place behind the 7-0 Patriots.

"Winning a conference championship is something we didn’t talk much about at the beginning of the year," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "As the season went along, we realized it was something we could accomplish and thought we could do. I think the kids were really happy with it (to win the conference). They are focused, so hopefully we can come back and play well Saturday."

The Patriots scored two touchdowns in each of the first three quarters to put the Lakers away Oct. 17.

H-BC-E received the opening kick and gained momentum and a 7-0 lead moments later.

After a 49-yard run by Lyle DeBoer to the Lakeview one-yard line, Jesse Leuthold found the end zone during the next play. Tyler Bush added the extra point.

After Kevin Van Batavia recovered a fumble to end Lakeview’s first possession, the Patriots increased their lead to 13 points when Top hit Reid for a five-yard touchdown pass. The extra-point attempt was blocked.

Ellingson said scoring early against the Lakers was one of the keys to victory.

Lakeview showed some signs of life when Tyler Jeseritz scored on a one-yard run and carried in the two-point conversion to make it a 13-8 game early in the second quarter, but H-BC-E scored the next 24 points to put the game out of reach.

Reid found the end zone two more times before the first half was complete.

During H-BC-E's possession following Lakeview’s first touchdown, Reid exploded for an 85-yard touchdown run during a third-and-long situation. A run for a two-point conversion failed.

Reid scored on a four-yard run in the final minute of the first half. Another conversion run failed, leaving the Patriots with a 25-8 halftime advantage.

Top, who completed 12 of 18 passes for 146 yards, tossed a pair of touchdown passes in the third quarter to ice the game.

The senior quarterback hit Darin DeBoer for a 15-yard touchdown, which was followed by a blocked extra-point attempt.

Top and Reid hooked up for a 33-yard score as the third quarter progressed. A pass for a conversion fell incomplete, leaving the hosts with a 37-8 cushion.

Jeseritz capped the scoring for Lakeview with a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Team statistics
H-BC-E: 224 rushing yards, 146 passing yards, 360 total yards, 12 first downs, six penalties for 62 yards, one turnover.

Lakeview: 258 total yards, 24 passing yards. 282 total yards, 17 first downs, three penalties for 15 yards, six turnovers.

Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 13-155, L.DeBoer 10-86, Leuthold 3-8, Chris Tiesler six-(minus 11), Jordan Scott 1-(minus 1), Top 1-(minus 13).

Passing: Top 12-18 for 146 yards, Curt Schilling 0-3 for zero yards, Bush 0-1 for zero yards.

Receiving: D.DeBoer 4-69, Brad Haak 3-22, Reid 2-38, L.DeBoer 2-11, Van Batavia 1-3.

Defense: Schilling 16 tackles, Haak seven tackles and one interception, Brant Deutsch seven tackles and one interception, Leuthold five tackles and one interception, Kyle Braun five tackles and one knocked down pass, Van Batavia one fumble recovery, Tiesler one fumble recovery, Tyson Metzger one fumble recovery.

By Sara Quam
A lineman died Saturday in Luverne while working on cable lines by the northwest corner of the Armory.

Brad Gerald Herr, 20, died after an electrical shock and subsequent fall from a utility pole. The official cause of death is listed as massive head injuries secondary to electrocution.

HerrÕs 22-year-old co-worker immediately ran to the Randy Schneekloth residence where an ambulance was called.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is in town investigating the incident by interviewing city employees and related workers. As of Tuesday, it was still unclear exactly how the accident occurred.

Herr, of Waubay, S.D., had been staying at the Super 8 while working in Luverne as a subcontractor for RCH Cable, which was doing work for Mediacom.

While the investigation is ongoing, the city is concerned about employees who saw the victim or are disturbed by just knowing of his death.

Herr's funeral is Friday in Waubay. Mohs Funeral Home, Webster, S.D., is handling arrangements.

By Lori Ehde
The Luverne High School marching band is basking in the glow of an outstanding competitive season.
According to director Dale Nelson, this has been the most successful season he's had in his 26 years in Luverne.

The trophies and plaques this year represent 18 awards, 17 of them first-place honors, plus three sweepstakes awards.

Nelson said Luverne has won a total of two or three sweepstakes awards in his 25 years prior to this year, but three in one year is unprecedented.

To what does he owe the success?

"Good kids," Nelson said. "They work hard. And they really focus on what we do."

He said he's enjoyed all the students he's had in previous years, but he said there was something special about this group of 123 students.

"When you have success, you also have more fun, so it kind of feeds on itself," Nelson said. "They know what needs to be done. You don't have to keep reinforcing it. They take ownership in it. They want everything to be as good as it can be."

Nelson said Luverne's competitive success has improved progressively since he started using professional drill writers in 1997.

Now he said all the students are familiar with it, and he has requested more difficult material.

"The music this year was the most difficult we ever played. We got a lot of comments from judges on that," Nelson said. "We're able to do those things because the kids are at that level."

Luverne's marching band members start practicing in August. During the first two weeks in August, they practice four hours a day for 10 days. When school starts, they practice before school, starting at 7 a.m.

After the Tri-State Band Festival, they taper off a bit, starting after 7:30 and then taking some days off.

"The biggest thing is we don't want to feel like it's a terrible task," he said. "You want to work hard, but you want it to be fun - to balance between the two."

Nelson said he and his band members enjoy practicing in front of more than 100 elementary students who line up to watch them each day.

"They talk about what instrument they want to play some day, and some talk about being a drum major," Nelson said.

He said one dark morning at 7 a.m. an elementary student was already there waiting for band practice to start.

For Nelson, that's not hard to understand. "I never get tired of listening to the band," he said.

Following are results from this season's competitions:

Waseca Marching Classic>
1st place Parade Class AA
1st place Field Class AA
Outstanding Guard

Tri-State Band Festival>
1st place Parade Class AA
2nd place Field Class AA

Chamberlain River City Band Festival
1st place Parade Class AAAA
1st place Field Class AAAA
Outstanding Drum Majors
Outstanding Guard
Sweepstakes

Brandon Big Sioux Review Field Competition
1st place Field Class AAA
Outstanding Horn Line
Outstanding Guard
Sweepstakes

Spirit of Madison Field Competition
1st place Field Class AA
Outstanding Guard
Combined Sweepstakes
(total score of Brandon
and Madison)

Brookings Optimists
Field Competition
1st place Field Class AA

By Sara Quam
Nan Karr Kaufenberg is still a grieving mother, but she's also an artist.

Kaufenberg is the mother of murder victim Carrie Nelson and is one of the featured local artists this month at the Carnegie Cultural Center.

Two of her prints, marked with Carrie's favorite color, orange, are on display.

"I don't think I could have made it a couple months ago," Kaufenberg said. "It was nice to be able to put it up in the art center now that a few more months have gone by."

"Remembering Carrie" is a linoleum block print that was inspired by a picture of Carrie on Minnesota's north shore, one of her favorite places. The scene is black and white, and Carrie stands out in orange.

Kaufenberg placed an orange ribbon in the corner of the frame. "It's the one I wore to the funeral," she said.

The other print on display was intended for Carrie. "I just finished the orange poppies that she wanted for her apartment in September. 'Remembering Carrie' was just finished a few weeks ago."

Kaufenberg said the little memorials she's made for Carrie and her family have been a little therapeutic.

"It was hard to do, but it helped. Our family and friends loved it and I'm not selling it, but I'm giving prints to some people," Kaufenberg said.

Since Carrie's death in May, Kaufenberg said she's taken life day by day and will never be the same.

"We really want the investigators to get the right phone call and find who did this."

She acknowledges that the circumstances of Carrie's death have put a different spin on what would be devastating to any parent. "It's so hard to lose a child that it doesnÕt matter if it's public or not. It changes you totally."

Kaufenberg now lives on a farm near Madison, S.D., but still feels ties to Rock County.

Carrie is a Luverne graduate so the family set up a Carrie Christine Nelson Memorial Scholarship Fund through Dollars for Scholars.

Carrie Nelson, 20, was killed while working at Blue Mounds State Park, and local investigators and from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension continue to seek tips at 283-1301.

By Sara Quam
Rock County Rural Water and the city of Luverne are still committed to the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System, even though its water won't reach the area until 2011.

RCRW Monday night passed a resolution recommending to the county that it stay with the project that will cost $440,000 for its share of the water service.

The Monday meeting was a result of the board needing to spend more than was first anticipated. But even with a slightly higher cost, the board voted to support the project. The cost figure uses 2001 dollars and could increase by the time the water reaches the county.

RCRW manager Dan Cook and Lewis and Clark director Pam Bonrud presented the Rock County Board of Commissioners a progress report at last weekÕs County Board meeting.

They noted that most recently, Lewis and Clark has been testing sites south of Vermillion, S.D., for future well sites. The test sites will give crews ideas on how to construct and pump from the wells.

Bonrud said, "We should let people know that a lot is going on with the project, but it's quiet work right now."

Lewis and Clark's mission is to provide the region, including 22 communities and rural water systems, better quality water and a larger quantity of water.

Luverne has been on board since the beginning, and RCRW joined shortly after. The project, which received federal authorization last year, has been in the works since 1990.

With federal authorization, projects have usually continued to be funded. However, after the events of Sept. 11 and changing national priorities, the County Board questioned whether funding can be counted on.

"All I can tell you is what history shows," Bonrud said. She said federal funding of projects with authorization has continued through different administrations and changing times in the past. She said the project may not get the full amount requested but that losing funding is unlikely.

The $2 million in appropriations promised by President Bush is still waiting to be passed but is still in the language.

Rather than seeing Sept. 11 as a threat to reducing projects like Lewis and Clark, Bonrud said it will continue to get support. "This sort of infrastructure is important to the federal government and ties in with stimulating the economy," Bonrud said.

Ideally, Lewis and Clark would like $12 million in 2003. Local financial support has come in small increments on monthly water bills, and the city of Luverne doesn't see rates increasing. RCRW said a maximum of $5 a month from its customers would cover the project over 40 years. However, it is hoping to dip into reserves or use other sources of loans to defer those costs.

RCRW is allotted an additional 300,000 gallons a day from Lewis and Clark, and Luverne increased its allotment to 750,000 gallons a day, or half of what it expects to use at high capacity.

Part of what makes Lewis and Clark an attractive offer is the cost, which is at or below what the systems can provide on their own. Other positive aspects are the water itself, which is softer than what this area already has, and the decreased risk of pollution.

By Lori Ehde
Cal Saarloos, Luverne, is referred to lately as "a walking miracle," since he survived what easily could have been a fatal accident Friday.

"The good Lord was with him," his wife, Betty, said Tuesday. "That's all I can say."

Shortly after 9 a.m. Friday, Cal Saarloos parked his Ford pickup alongside the family van on Highway 75 about a mile south of Luverne where it ran out of gas that morning.

With his hazard lights flashing, he had just started pouring gas in the van's tank when an International grain truck hit his pickup from behind, catapulting Saarloos through the air.

He was airlifted to McKennan Hospital and was held overnight for observation. He'd suffered a concussion, but doctors released him later the next day under orders to rest.

"I feel like a man given a second chance," Cal said from his home Wednesday.

"I'm just thankful for all the wonderful help I had at the scene of the accident."

He received stitches on the top of his head and on a puncture wound under a knee. Otherwise he's scraped and bruised and generally sore.

Their 17-year-old daughter, Jennifer, had been waiting in the van and was the first one to find her father when the dust settled.

"I automatically assumed he was dead," Jennifer said. "He was covered with blood, and he wasn't responding."

She said people are speculating how far her dad was thrown in the air, but she said she didn't see that part.

"I all of sudden saw the truck fly into the ditch. People say the only way he could have survived is if he went over the grain truck," she said.

In retrospect, she knows she's also lucky to be alive. She had been waiting outside between the pickup and the van, but since it was chilly that morning, her dad told her to wait in the van.

That turned out to be a lifesaving suggestion, since the van was sideswiped during the accident, possibly by the pickup being towed by the grain truck.

"That night, I didn't sleep at all," she said. "I kept thinking about the accident."

Though he's under doctor's orders to take it easy, that's easier said than done for a farmer in the middle of harvest season.

"I have to yell at him to rest, but it's hard to keep him down," Betty said.

She said their 15-year-old son, Jeremiah, has handled much of the duties, with extra help from uncles and cousins.

According to the Minnesota Highway Patrol, the grain truck and pickup it was towing are owned by Van Berkel Farms, Hull, Iowa.

It was driven by Todd DeJong, also of Hull. He was treated and released at Luverne Community Hospital.

Jennifer said her dad's pickup was highly visible on a flat stretch of road.

Phyllis Schaefer's first-grade class is the featured Luverne Elementary classroom of the week. Pictured are (front row, from left) Matthew Sterrett, Lucas Dohlmann, Cassandra Liebhard, Kellsie Cowell, Isaac Petersen, Sara Ramirez, (row two) Caleb Dressen, Jonathan Solma, Kelly Sandager, Dustin Deutsch, Victor Phommaracksa, Skyler Wenninger, (back row) Brett Heronimus, Taylor Stratton, Jacob Conger, Katie Kooiker, Caitria Sweeney and Nicholas Buss. Mrs. Schaefer's class is excited about learning how to read and write stories. "We read every night to our parents and enjoy sharing what we have read to our classmates." It has been a busy month for these first-graders, with field trips to the fire station and flower shop. Mr. McGruff also visited school and talked to the class about the McGruff houses and ways to be safe. They are off to a great start in first grade.

Photo by Lori Ehde

A grain truck was towing a pickup when it hit Cal Saarloos' pickup from behind in an accident south of Luverne on Highway 75 Friday. Saarloos was in the bed of the pickup at the time of impact and was thrown from the vehicle.

Photo by Lori Ehde

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek has drawn the fourth seed for the upcoming Sub-Section 10 (of Section 3A) Volleyball Tournament.

The Patriots will open tournament play Friday, Oct. 26, in the Luverne Elementary School gym. H-BC faces No. 5 Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster, a team it beat 3-1 in Round Lake Sept. 27, in the tournament's quarterfinals.

The H-BC match will follow a clash involving No. 1 Southwest Christian on the 26th. Southwest will take on the winner of a match between No. 8 Ellsworth and No. 9 Faith Christian that will be played in Ellsworth at 7 p.m. Monday.

The SWC quarterfinal round match begins at 6 p.m. with the H-BC-SV-RL-B clash to follow.

Quarterfinal-round matches in the tournament's lower bracket will be played in the Luverne High School gym on Oct. 26.

No. 2 Fulda meets No. 7 Adrian at 6 p.m., with No. 3 Edgerton playing No. 6 Southwest Star Concept after the first match.

The tournament's quarterfinals will be played in Luverne Elementary School on Oct. 30.

No site has been announced for the finals, which will be played Nov. 1.