NYM improves to 3-3 on the season

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

As the old saying goes, it’s not who leads first but who leads last that is important. 

On Friday night the NY Mills Eagles trailed the Breckenridge Cowboys for most of the game, before tying the important section contest up in the fourth quarter on a Braxton Ehnert 21-yard touchdown pass to Finn Roder. The Eagles also converted a two-point conversion to tie the game at 14-14 and send it to overtime. 

In overtime the Eagles were able to score a touchdown on offensive their possession as Ehnert found Hunter Bosman on a 10-yard touchdown pass and Ehnert ran the two-point conversion in for the score to come away with a 22-14 overtime win over the Cowboys. 

“What a great game for both teams. Both teams played well and it was an exciting contest for all to watch on Friday night,” said head coach Matt Radniecki. 

The Eagles trailed 8-0 at halftime after Breckenridge scored on a four-yard touchdown run and converted the two-point conversion. Despite knocking on Breckenridge’s door deep in the red zone on several occasions in the first half, the Eagles were unable to get into the end zone as the drives stalled with no points. 

NY Mills got on the scoreboard in the third quarter when Ehnert scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak to make the score 8-6 in favor of Breckenridge when the Eagles’ two-point conversion failed.  

“I was extremely happy with how our team responded especially at the end of the game. We hurt ourselves with some mistakes but we kept battling and battling and got the W,” said Radniecki. 

The Cowboys answered with a long 83-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to make the score 14-6 in favor of the Cowboys, before the Eagles answered with a late touchdown pass from Ehnert to Roder and a two-point conversion from Ehnert to Menze to tie the game up at 14-14 late. 

NY Mills then converted their overtime possession into a touchdown when Ehnert found Bosman on a 10-yard strike and Ehnert took the two-point conversion himself to make the score 22-14 in favor of the Eagles. The defense held the Cowboys out of the end zone to come away with the 22-14 win. 

Radniecki said it was a great win for the Eagles as a whole, in what will be the final regular season home game in NY Mills this year. He said the crowd was really into the game, which proved to be a big help for the team. 

“It was great to see our crowd make a difference in that game,” said Radniecki. “They were loud and proud and we really appreciated the support we had for the contest,” said Radniecki. “It was a great Homecoming for the student body. They did a great job of supporting one another and be there for every team. Great team win and great section win for our program.”

With the win the Eagles improved to 3-3 on the season, but will have a pair of tough road games on tap to close out the regular season. On Friday night the Eagles will take on district leading Staples-Motley on the road. The Cardinals come into the game with a perfect 6-0 record as they average 39.8 points per game on offense, while giving up just 8.7 points per game on defense. 

Next week the Eagles will travel to Pillager to take on the 5-1 Huskies in the annual Education Minnesota Wednesday night game. 

NY Mills is currently 3-3 on the season and averages 12.7 points per game on offense, while giving up 16 points per game on defense. 

In addition to the varsity win on Friday night, the NY Mills JV team picked up a 21-0 win over Wadena-Deer Creek. The Eagles threw the ball well in the game and went 13-15 through the air. Radniecki said the team also played well defensively throughout the contest.