Skip to main content

Fire damages Page 1 Printers, affects local ad inserts

A fire Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 15,  at Page 1 Printers in Slayton caused damage to the warehouse portion of the building and sent four people for medical treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the warehouse, sparing the facility’s printing operations.
The Rock County Star Herald and Luverne Announcer are printed at Page One in Slayton, and publications themselves weren’t affected by the fire.
However, the Announcer inserts, such as Bomgaars, Sunshine and Runnings, were already printed and waiting in the warehouse to be inserted in the Announcer in the coming days.
Those inserts were destroyed, and the Announcer was distributed over the weekend minus the advertising inserts. 
Bomgaars was able to share its files directly with Page One and some of those inserts were printed in time for distribution.
The fire began in the paper baler, while a worker was packing waste newsprint and paper trimmings into bales for recycling. A motor apparently failed, producing sparks that ignited paper in the baler. 
While the company is still assessing structural and equipment damage, Page 1 Printers has made arrangements to continue printing the Announcer and Star Herald, as well as other publications and commercial print jobs it handles in the region.
The baler was destroyed and there was loss of newsprint and other paper inventory, due to fire, smoke and water. 
 Because smoke spread throughout the plant, extensive cleaning is required and all equipment must be wiped clean and gone over to ensure ash and smoke particles are removed, especially in electronic components. Owners of the plant are Chuck Draper of Pipestone and Jim Keul of Tracy. 
The plant employs about 55 people, full and part-time, and none will lose their jobs. The loss was insured.

Luverne High School celebrates Homecoming

Fifty years after his grandfather, Steve Sehr, was crowned LHS Homecoming King, his grandson, Casey Sehr, followed in his footsteps Monday night as Casey and Brooklynn VerSteeg were crowned LHS Homecoming King and Queen respectively in the new performing arts center.
Steve said he was crowned homecoming king in the fall of 1971 and the late Kim (Dougherty) Larson was crowned queen.
He considered it quite an honor.
“You don’t think about it at the time as to what an honor it is,” the elder Sehr said. “Hopefully, he has a better football team.”
The current Cardinals have a chance to reach .500 against New Ulm Friday night.
Casey Sehr is the son of Micky and Heidi Sehr.
VerSteeg’s parents are Nate and Tonya VerSteeg.
Other royalty members include king candidates Hunter Ahrendt, Trygve Gangestad, Ashton Sandbulte, Luke Thorson; queen candidates Trista Baustian, Billi Connell, Elise Ferrell and Olivia Wieneke.
Class representatives included freshmen Payton Behr and Keaton Ahrent, sophomores Belle Smidt and Will Serie; juniors Cedar Viessman and Trenton Carson.
Program attendents were Kendall Buss, Griffen Jarchow, Mary Opitz and Elie Radtke.
Pages were Charlotte Rensink and Hobey Sandbulte.
Mia Wenzel and Ethan Rahm were mistress and master of ceremonies.

Dreckman seeks variance to build storage units at former mink ranch

Rock County Commissioners will consider an ordinance change to include storage units as a conditional use on zoned agricultural land during an Oct. 5 public hearing.
The hearing begins at 9 a.m. in the commissioners’ room of the courthouse.
Land Management Director Eric Hartman brought the proposed zoning change to commissioners Sept. 7 as a recommendation from the County Planning Commission.
Hartman said his office received a petition earlier this year from Rich Dreckman of RSD Development, Luverne. 
He requested that the former mink ranch property northeast of Luverne near the Blue Mounds State Park be rezoned from its current A-1 limited ag classification to residential.
At that time, Dreckman proposed building up to six homes on the 10 acres of land. 
However, an onsite investigation of the Vienna Township property revealed the land was not conducive to onsite septic systems.
“That original idea was not going to work, so he withdrew his application for rezoning that property for residential and put forth the request to allow self-storage in an A-1 district,” Hartman said.
On Aug. 30, the zoning commission took up Dreckman’s rezoning request and also suggested adding storage facilities as a conditional use to A-2 general agriculture classified properties.
In the ordinance change, the commission defined self-storage facilities as “a building or group of buildings containing separate, individual and private storage space of varying sizes for lease or rent for varying periods of time.” 
 
Commissioners approve tax abatement
In other business, the commissioners reinstated the veterans’ disability waiver to Alice Hansen’s home on East First Street in Hardwick.
Due to a system error, the property was assessed $628 in property taxes for 2021. Commissioners unanimously abated that amount.
As a widow of a disabled veteran, Hansen is eligible for the program.
A special assessment fee of $42, however, was paid by Hansen and will not be refunded.

Views expressed on this page may not reflect those of the Star Herald

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors. They do not reflect the opinions or views of the Rock County Star Herald.
This should be obvious. It’s the Opinion Page, after all. We invite our readers to submit letters expressing their views, and we encourage opposing viewpoints to play out on this page. It’s a sign of a healthy and engaged readership.
Since the advent of Facebook and other social media, opposing viewpoints are way more likely to play out online rather than on this page.
Facebook has also made possible the wild and reckless online sharing of “disinformation” (lies) which came to a head in the 2016 presidential election.
Facebook scrollers discovered abrasive memes or unsourced “breaking news” that matched their own opinions and clicked and shared at will. The more they clicked, the more the Facebook algorithms fed their fancies.
This went on unchecked among otherwise respectable and educated people, unaware that they were pawns in foreign meddlers’ attempt to “divide and conquer” an unsuspecting American public.
Since then, tech companies have weeded out many suspicious actors, and Facebook users are becoming more savvy about posts they trust and share.
But the damage is done.
Foreign players got the American leadership they wanted, and the American public is more divided and polarized than ever.
Meanwhile it’s become acceptable to discredit the credible and lend credibility to the uncredible. (A dictator’s first item of business is to label the press as “enemies of the people” in order to push propaganda.)
The disinformation is spilling out into live, person-to-person conversations, and now we’re seeing it on our Opinion Page.
… which we do reserve the right to steer toward a degree of accuracy.
On the bottom of the page, the “Letters Policy” states that letters containing offensive language, libelous or slanderous material or misleading or false information will be rewritten before being published.
On this front, our Star Herald editorial board has been asleep at the wheel. We’ve allowed letters to appear that we should have moderated or added disclaimers to. 
One such letter last week was so full of inaccurate statements we wouldn’t have known where to start editing. 
We hoped that the headline, “Things that you won’t hear on the news that are 100 percent true,” would suggest caution, but in hindsight, we should have done better. 
Beware, dear readers, of what you click and share. And please check your sources if you’re sharing “truths” on our opinion page.

Homeschooling is not without shortcomings

Our homeschool, 1994-2012, was not without its shortcomings. 
We had a school shooting the day a rabid raccoon climbed a tree outside our son’s bedroom during math class. 
Blam.
We had a stabbing the day one student became so blazing furious with her brother that she plunged the tip of her pencil into his arm.
Strife among the staff (Mom), the administration (Dad), and the student body (the children) was not uncommon.
There were protests. “Why can’t we be like everybody else? Everybody else gets to. Why can’t we?” 
There were standardized testing disasters. “Two? Two!?! How can anyone get two right out of 100 on a spelling test? You almost need to know how to spell the words to be that consistently wrong.”
There was the science experiment gone awry when the brother attempted to send the sister downstream in an old bathtub.
Hypothesis: a bathtub with a sister in it acts like a boat.
Conclusion: It does not.
The husbandry program became a forensics program as the chickens were killed one by one. 
“Looks like a mink got this one. Notice how the body appears unharmed? The mink sucks the blood but does not consume the chicken.” 
Other possible causes of chicken death included dogs, foxes, heat and of course – crossing the road.
The student body nearly died as one the day I rolled the family van driving to homeschool bowling. I was literally in the process of explaining to the students the dangers of driving on icy roads when the van began to sway. They thought it was a demonstration.
And then the students grew up. “The reader girl” became an engineer who manages 64 men in a manufacturing plant.
“The salesman” grew up to be a salesman who uses much of his salesmanship to convince six- and three-year-old daughters that it is almost bedtime. He also sells real estate.
“The homebody” became a world traveler who’s lived in London, Beijing and Bangkok. Right now she’s teaching English to students in Ho Chi Min City, Viet Nam.  
Each of our students overcame the adversities inflicted upon them by the educational system in which they were raised. 
Your kid will, too.

Fire shows 'stronger together' works a lot better than 'weaker apart'

You may or may not be aware that Page One in Slayton is where we print the Rock County Star Herald and Luverne Announcer. 
We send our pages online to the Slayton printing plant, and a driver delivers our papers to the post office for mail distribution and to our office for news stand distribution.
Last week a fire broke out in the warehouse area of Page One, where many of the advertising inserts (Sunshine, Bomgaars and Runnings) were destroyed before they could be inserted into the Announcer.
Four employees of Page One suffered from smoke inhalation and received medical attention, and one of those was airlifted to the Twin Cities for additional treatment. Thankfully all have recovered and are doing fine. 
The pandemic has made it a hectic 18 months in our business and many others with labor shortages, employee illnesses and quarantining, and loss of revenue.
Page One can add to this list a shutdown due to fire. 
All of this has been exhausting, to say the least, but the thing that is driving me over the edge is the constant fighting about what is the right or wrong way to fight the pandemic.
There seems to be no common ground anymore in this country. We have this “either you’re with us or you’re against us” mentality.
Friends, families, neighbors, co-workers and others have picked sides and are going to disagree until the bitter end. 
I think about how bad things could have been if the fire at Page One would have raged out of control. 
Workers would have been displaced probably for a very long time. We would have experienced a shutdown in production and loss of revenue. But worst of all, there could have possibly been loss of life.
For a brief few days we scrambled to make arrangements for printing while the staff at Page One worked to get the printing plant back in operation.
During this time there was no right or wrong, there was no “you’re with us or you’re against us.” We just all worked together to put the pieces back together.
“Stronger together” works a lot better than “weaker apart.”

Voices of our readers

 
Mundt: 'I am not willing to play Russian Roulette with our children's lives. Are you?'
 
To the Editor:
My name is Ashley Mundt. My husband and I have lived in Luverne for six years, and we have three children. I was going to speak in favor of the mask/face covering mandate at the public forum, but since the decision was made before members of the community were heard, I’ll speak here.
I’m not sure how the school could say there was a “lack of community support” for masking when the only members of the community that were listened to were the ones throwing a tantrum at the school doors.
First of all, when we send our children to school, we all expect them to be safe there. We expect the school to have our children’s best interests in mind.
 I have never heard a parent complain about the school doing ALICE drills, fire drills, or tornado drills. I’ve never heard a parent complain that their child is asked not to bring a weapon on school property or for show and tell. 
I’ve never heard parents complain that their child couldn’t bring peanuts into a room that has a nut allergy.
So why are we having such an issue with masks? I believe the end goal to all these precautions is to keep our children safe.
We don’t wait for a school shooter to open fire before putting precautions in place, so why would we wait for a student or staff member to get critically sick or die before doing something to prevent that?
I’m guessing that it is because masks have been made political when they never should have been. This is a medical crisis around the world, and it is not limited to the U.S. and just our politics, so we need to stop turning it into a political fight.
In our house we value and teach our children to be compassionate and empathetic toward others. 
This mask mandate is not all about you. It affects other people around you. It affects kids that have medical conditions. It affects the teachers and staff who are trying to help your child learn.
If you want to go without a mask mandate, our COVID numbers will increase and then we will have school through ZOOM again. 
Then we will be seeing more mental health issues in our children and staff. 
Right now they can be in school, around friends and teachers, and they are learning in person. Isn’t that how we all want to keep it? We have a chance to by wearing a mask.
Please do research through respectable sites. Check with pediatric journals that are written by doctors or talk to your own child’s pediatrician.
Face masks do not make it harder for children to breathe, they do not harm their lung function, they do not produce harmful amounts of carbon dioxide. I guarantee there is a difference if a kid sneezes on you with or without a mask on. 
And if you are worried about their mask getting germs on it during the day, send two. Face shields can help also. I guarantee it is more the parent that has a problem with the idea of face coverings than it is the actual child. 
Our children deserve more credit than we are giving them. They did it last year, and they can do it again if parents and teachers give them a little respect.
I am not willing to play Russian Roulette with our children’s lives. Are you?
Ashley Mundt,
Luverne
Kracht: Kids got to school to learn, not worry about masks
 
To the Editor:
This letter is in response to what went on with the mask mandate for the Luverne School District last week.
At the start of the school year, the parents were told the school would go by the CDC and MDH recommendations, which are masking is recommended, but not mandated. Parents made the decision on where they would send their kids to school based on this. On Monday, Sept. 13, at 6 p.m., an email was sent out saying that masks were mandated in school on Tuesday, the 14th.
No discussion with the public. No warning. Nothing! This was the way it was going to be!
Tuesday morning, several parents and students gathered outside the school, waiting for an explanation. No one would talk to us! Finally, a school board member and a reporter came out and asked what was going on. We explained our view on masking our kids and standing up for our rights. After a short discussion, we were told our kids could go to class, and masks would be optional.
Over the next two days, some kids were told to put a mask on, and if they declined, their names were written on a paper. There seemed to be different rules, depending on the teachers.
A group of parents requested an emergency school board meeting to express our views. We were granted a meeting on Friday, the 17th, at 6 p.m. On Thursday at 7 p.m., an email went out that the school board was having a meeting at 8:45 to rescind the mask mandate. As you can imagine, with such short notice, many people couldn’t make it. However, a large group of concerned parents showed up. 
What happened next was appalling! We were told we were playing Russian roulette with our kids! We were told we didn’t know what we were doing! We were told we didn’t respect the school board and their decisions! Well, respect works both ways. No data was presented, no numbers, just the parents being talked down to like we were nobody! Only one young man on the school board thanked us for our concern.
This is not your school! This is the Luverne Public School. Paid for by our tax dollars! We send our kids to school to get an education, not to have to worry about getting in trouble about wearing masks!
Could this all have been handled in a better way? Maybe some public input? Maybe a little communication? I think so!
Mert Kracht,
Luverne
 
Thumbs down to the Star Herald

 
To the Editor:
After reading the article in the Sept. 9 Star Herald about the settlement between the County and the ACLU, I understand why they might have settled without going through a lengthy court case that could cost the County much more money. 
However, I am curious as to why the need to publish pictures of Sheriff Verbrugge and Deputy Hamm and not everyone else who was involved. 
Since apparently it was determined that no one committed an offense worth going to trial for, why not publish a picture of the accuser and the attorney who benefited financially. 
And I wonder, since no one was found guilty of any wrongdoing, couldn’t Sheriff Verbrugge and Deputy Hamm also be awarded $140,000 to share between the two of them for being falsely accused? 
I want to be clear, I am all for disciplining those who abuse their authority, but I felt the way the article was written, it led me to believe that you are guilty until proven innocent. 
And based on other information in the article, apparently you can win a large settlement of money by falsely accusing someone. I give this story a thumbs down. 
Mike Altena,
Luverne
Thanks for insightful letter

To the Editor:
That was a very insightful letter in the Sept. 9 Star Herald.
I know about our constitution, but I had not heard of this Convention of States.
To quote John Adams, our second president of the United States, who said: “Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.” This is true.
Thanks, Kristi, for the information.
Marilyn Sasker,
Luverne
 
Blake: The U.S. needs to protect our power grid
To the Editor:
We must do more to strengthen our power grid against an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) event.  Such an event can result from an attack by terrorists or another country (e.g. 
China may already have the capability – which it may use in an economic crisis,) or it can occur naturally.  It could result in devastating loss of life.  There is disagreement on this, but why takechances?
We should also have a ground-based GPS back-up system (like Russia has), or we could lose internet at the least in an anti-satellite attack.
Alvin Blake,
Luverne
 

Rock County well represented at state 4-H horse show

Seven Rock County 4-H’ers participated in the Minnesota State 4-H Horse Show Sept. 17-20 at the state fairgrounds in St. Paul.
Local riders included Kallie Chapa, Kennedy Safar, Kellie VanDerBrink, Ayden Bonnett, Morgan Bonnett, Mallie Fick and Cash Bonnett. 
Chapa represented Rock County in the grand entry event by carrying the county 4-H flag.
In the show, ribbons are awarded to the top exhibitors in each class.
Chapa placed sixth in Grade 13 poles and second in barrels.
Safar placed 10th in Grade 12-13 trail and fourth in Grade 12 English equitation.
VanDerBrink placed 10th in Grade 11 barrels.
Ayden Bonnett placed seventh in Grade 11 key race.
Morgan Bonnett placed ninth in Grade 9 western horsemanship.
Fick placed ninth in both Grade 8 showmanship and western horsemanship.
The local youth were among several hundred 4-H’ers from across the state who participated in the show’s 50th anniversary. 
The show began in 1970. However, the 2020 event was canceled due to the coronavirus. The anniversary was celebrated at this year’s event.
 
Western Heritage results
Five Rock County 4-H’ers participated in the state finals of the 4-H Western Heritage event Aug. 8 in Morton.
Kennedy Safar, Morgan Bonnett, Kellie VanDerBrink, Ayden Bonnett and Cash Bonnett participated at the event.
The team of Ayden Bonnett and Cash Bonnett earned first place in senior pen-to-pen event.
Ayden also placed eighth individually in senior goat tying.
VanDerBrink placed fifth in senior goat tying.
Participants in Western Heritage learn and practice skills of roping, wrangling and sorting of livestock, which were common cowboy skills from the timeframe of 1860 to 1900.

H-BC enjoys Homecoming win Friday

The Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots pushed their record to 3-0 with a 45-12 Homecoming victory over the Heron Lake-Okabena-Fulda Coyotes on Friday in Hills. 
Andrew Harris was one of the Patriots with an outstanding game in the win. 
Harris accounted for a touchdown pass reception, a two-point conversion catch, a 75-yard kick-off return for a touchdown, an interception on defense and three tackles for the game. 
On the Monday preceding the Homecoming game, he was also crowned Homecoming king. It was a memorable week and game for Harris and the rest of the Patriots squad.
On the Coyotes’ opening possession, they converted a fourth and one from their own 36-yard line; however, the Patriots’ defense forced the Coyotes to punt the ball away three plays later.
During the Patriots’ first possession, quarterback Oliver Deelstra hooked up with receiver Ty Bundesen on a crucial third down and 11 for a 25-yard gain and a first down at the Coyotes 37-yard line. 
Two plays later Deelstra connected with Harris on a 36-yard tight-end screen for a touchdown. Deelstra completed the conversion pass to Drew Leenderts for two points, giving the Patriots an 8-0 lead with 5:45 left in the first quarter.
A first-quarter Harris interception and return to the 19-yard line set up a three-yard run by Cole Baker, and a successful conversion run by Bundesen gave H-BC a 16-0 lead. 
The Coyotes struck back quickly through the air with a 71-yard touchdown pass on their first play of their next possession. On the two-point conversion attempt, the Coyotes lined up with two receivers wide left, four linemen wide right and a receiver lined up directly behind them. 
Only the center and quarterback lined up in the middle of the field near the ball. The Coyotes completed the pass to the receiver with four blockers and only two Patriot defenders in front of him. 
However, Patriot Cole Baker broke through the blockers and stopped the Coyote receiver for a two-yard loss. The two point conversion was no good. 
On the ensuing kick-off, Harris busted up the middle on the return, cut up in front of the Patriots sideline and dashed to a 75-yard kick-off return for a touchdown. Baker’s conversion run was good, and the Patriots held a 24-6 lead after one quarter.
The HBC defensive units’ play led to the home team’s next score. 
Defensive lineman Max Scholten intercepted a Coyote pass and rumbled nine yards to the Patriots’ 39-yard line. 
Two plays later, a Deelstra-to-Baker 60-yard pass for a touchdown moved the score to 30-6 in favor of the Patriots with 10:41 left in the half. 
“We were able to make some big turnovers that put us in control early,” Patriots coach Rex Metzger said. 
Deelstra closed out the scoring in the first half with a 38-yard sprint for six points, followed by a successful conversion pass to Harris, making the score Patriots 38, Coyotes 6.  
Late in the second quarter, the Patriots were held on fourth down by the Coyotes at the six-yard line with 20 seconds left in the half. Even with that turnover on downs, the home team held a 38-6 halftime lead.
The third quarter saw a Deelstra-to-Baker connection, a 13-yard touchdown pass. 
Bundesen booted the extra point to extend the lead to 45-6 after three quarters of play. 
The lone fourth quarter score was by the Coyotes on a 12-yard touchdown run. The conversion attempt failed, closing out the game’s scoring. 
In summing up the game, Coach Metzger said, “They came out and stacked the box defensively, so we were able to throw over the top and connect on a few passes.”
  The 3-0 Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots travel to Westbrook-Walnut Grove Friday to take on the 2-1  Chargers. Game time is 7 p.m. in Westbrook.
 
Team statistics
HBC: 240 rushing yards, 160 passing yards,400 total yards, 14 first downs, 8 penalties for 48 yards, zero turnovers.
HLOF: 141 rushing yards, 107 passing yards, 251 total yards, 10 first downs, five penalties for 35 yards, three turnovers.
 
Individual statistics: 
Rushing: Baker 15–91, Deelstra 11- 81, Sawyer Bosch 2–35, Bundesen 2–10,
 Drew Leenderts 1–10, Luke Fuerstenberg 2–7, Brock Harnack 2–6.
Passing: Deelstra 8–10 for 160 yards.
Receiving: Baker 4-82, Bundesen 3-42, Andrew Harris 1-36, Drew Leenderts 1 extra point.
Defense: Casey Kueter 10 tackles, Troy Durst five tackles, Austin Allen five tackles, Baker five tackles and one sack, Max Scholten two tackles and one Interception, Andrew Harris three tackles and one Interception, Gideon Taubert two tackles and one fumble recovery.

Cardinals take victory over Windom Eagles

The Luverne Cardinals registered their first win of the 2021 football season on Thursday night in Windom.  
The first half featured a defensive battle that saw the Cardinals head into halftime with a 6-0 lead. 
After struggling in the second half in the previous two games of the season, the Cardinals finally broke out for a strong second half which propelled them to a 26-6 victory.  
Luverne coach Todd Oye said he was proud of his team’s effort in the second half.
“We played a good second half after leading at halftime only 6-0,” he said. “The team did a nice job in the third quarter.”
After going three and out in their first possession of the game, the Cardinals capitalized in their second possession to take the early lead.  
The possession started with a 24-yard punt return from Luverne junior Gannon Ahrendt, which gave the Cardinals excellent field position. 
Taking over at the Windom 36-yard line, the Cardinals offense picked up a first down after senior running back Ashton Sandbulte broke through the middle of the Eagles defense for a 26-yard run to get the Cardinals to the Eagles’ 8-yard line. 
After only gaining a yard in their next three plays, the Cardinals faced a fourth and goal from the Windom seven-yard line. 
Luverne quarterback Casey Sehr was able to complete the fourth-down pass to Sandbulte, who ran in the touchdown to get the Cardinals on the board. After a failed two-point conversion, the Cardinals had the lead 6-0 with 1:40 to go in the first quarter.  
The Cardinals made their way into Windom territory just one time in the second quarter, but the drive stalled after a penalty and then an Eagles interception.  
The Cardinals’ defense held strong the rest of the quarter, and the teams went into halftime with the score remaining at 6-0.
Luverne wasted no time getting back into the end zone after halftime. 
After marching down the field quickly, Sehr found sophomore Conner Connell in the right side of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown reception just 1:52 into the third quarter.  
Sehr then connected with Ahrendt on the two-point conversion to give the Cardinals a 14-0 lead.  
After a solid defensive stand, Luverne took over on their own 40-yard line on their next possession.  Sehr and Ahrendt connected on 16-yard and 29-yard receptions to lead the Cardinals down the field.  
Sandbulte continued his strong night running the ball, and senior Braydon Ripka chipped in some solid runs to get the ball deep into Windom’s side of the field. The Cardinals finished the 60-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run from Sehr.
Luverne could not complete the two-point conversion but held a 20-0 lead with 52 seconds to go in the third quarter.
Windom bounced back after the Luverne scoring drive with a score of its own. 
The Eagles returned the kickoff 28-yards to the Luverne 46-yard line to start their drive. After a few short runs and a Luverne penalty, the Eagles used a 28-yard run from Wyatt Haugen to get their first score of the game. 
After a failed 2-point conversion the Luverne lead was now 20-6 with 10:10 to go in the fourth quarter.  
The Cardinals took over at their own 40-yard line, but a holding penalty on the first play of the drive pushed them back to the 30-yard line.  
Sandbulte, who finished with a game-high 111 rushing yards, helped erase the penalty and get the Luverne momentum back with a 21-yard run to give the Cardinals a first down.  
Luverne continued its drive when Sehr found sophomore Gavin DeBeer for a 26-yard reception that brought the Cardinals to the Windom 16-yard line.  
After a run by Sehr and a 10-yard run by Ripka, the Cardinals were on the Eagles’ 2-yard line. Ripka punched in the touchdown for the Cardinals, and after failing to complete the 2-point conversion the Cardinals held a 26-6 lead with 7:11 to go in the game.
Following a defensive stop the Cardinals were able to run out the clock and finish the game with their first victory. 
“It felt good to get the first one out of the way,” Sehr said after the game. 
“Hopefully we can use the energy we got from this game to carry on for the next couple of weeks and continue winning.”
The Cardinals will host New Ulm Friday night at 7 p.m. in their Homecoming game. 
“New Ulm is in our section and also in our division,” said Coach Oye. “It will be nice to have a big crowd in Luverne for Homecoming since we didn’t get to have full capacity last year.”
 
Team statistics:
Luverne: 157 rushing yards, 130 passing yards, 287 total yards, 14 first downs, 7 penalties for 72 yards, 2 turnovers.
Windom: 186 rushing yards, 20 passing yards, 206 total yards, 14 first downs, 6 penalties for 40 yards, 2 turnovers.
 
Individual statistics:
Rushing: Ashton Sandbulte 14-111, Braydon Ripka 7-37
Passing: Casey Sehr 8-12 for 130 yards
Receiving: Gannon Ahrendt 3-49, Ashton Sandbulte, 2-30
Defense: Braydon Ripka 7.5 tackles, Ashton Sandbulte 7 tackles, Eli Radtke 5 tackles.

Subscribe to

You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.