Eagles to host Panthers on Friday

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

New York Mills improved to 1-1 on the season with a 19-6 win over Pine River-Backus on Friday night. The win comes on the heels of a tough 14-0 loss to Ada-Borup West in the regular season opener just two weeks ago.

This week the Eagles will return home as they will host Parkers Prairie to take on the Panthers. Parkers Prairie is 2-0 on the season after defeating Lake Park-Audubon in the opening game of the season by a score of 29-0 and Walker-Hackensack-Akeley by a score of 36-6 last week.

August 25

NY Mills had a chance to come away with a win over one of the top teams in the region, but were unable to come away with points despite driving the ball three times inside Ada-Borup’s 25-yard line on their way to a 14-0 loss on August 25. 

Head coach Matt Radniecki said the Eagles had a good game, but just need to have more success in the red zone. For example, NY Mills’ first drive went for seven minutes and stalled on downs on the 18-yard-line.

Ada-Borup took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Austin McCraven connected with an open receiver for a 14-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was good, but it was the only score of the game for either team until late in the fourth quarter. 

“The kids played hard and didn’t allow another score until 2:00 minutes were left in the game,” said Radniecki. “On offense we just need to have better execution when we get in the red zone. Opportunities were there.”  

While the offense was unable to come away with any points, Radniecki said the defense did a good job of keeping the Cougars off the scoreboard for a bulk of the game. The final score of the game came with just two minutes left and was on a one-yard touchdown run. 

“On defense we played well just giving up a few big plays,” said Radniecki. “Austin McCraven their quarterback is the real deal.  He is a complete football player who can run and pass. They use him well and he is tough to stop but our defense held us in this game.  The offense and special teams just need to step up some.”  

Friday

NY Mills scored 19 unanswered points to come away with a 19-6 win over Pine River-Backus on Friday night. The Tigers opened the scoring with a touchdown on a 56-yard pass, before the Eagles answered with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Braxton Ehnert to Gage Brasel to tie the score up at 6-6. Ehnert kicked the extra point to give the Eagles a 7-6 lead at halftime.

In the second half it was more of the same for the Eagles as Ehnert found Brasel on a 43-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, as well as Hunter Bosman on a 36-yard touchdown pass to make the score 19-6 in favor of the Eagles. After a scoreless fourth quarter, NY Mills came away with the 19-0 win on the road on Friday night. 

“Good win for our team we came back this week and played well. Proud of how our kids responded we fell behind early and didn’t hang our heads but kept playing and made some big plays in the passing game. This is something that we have been working on and very happy to see us have success,” said head coach Matt Radniecki.

Radniecki said he was pleased with how the Eagles did throughout the game, especially on the defensive end of the field where they gave up just one really big play in the game. Otherwise he said the defense picked up right where it left off from the opening game of the season against Ada-Borup. 

“Braxton Ehnert and whole team did a nice job pass blocking and making some nice catches,” said Radniecki. “On defense we gave up one big play but otherwise played very solid and continued where we left from week one and overall we tackled very well. PRB was a physical running team and we responded and met the challenge this week.”