Eagles fall to state ranked Cardinals 44-8
Sports | Published on October 15, 2024 at 7:23pm GMT+0000 | Author: Tucker Henderson
0NYM to travel to Pillager on Wednesday
By Chad Koenen
Publisher
New York Mills had its two game winning streak snapped on Friday night as the Eagles fell to state ranked and undefeated Staples-Motley 44-8 on the road. The Cardinals scored 16 points in the first quarter and another 14 points in the second quarter to take a commanding 30-8 lead at halftime.
“We lost to a very good football team that has explosive players and plays. Our team needs to learn from this game and get better and better for upcoming playoffs,” said head coach Matt Radniecki.
The lone Eagles touchdown came in the second quarter when Braxton Ehnert scored on a four-yard touchdown run. He converted the two-point conversion to leave the score at 30-8 at halftime. The Cardinals were able to find the end zone on two more occasions in the third quarter to end the scoring at 44-8.
“Staples is ranked fourth in Class AA for a reason and they showed how polished of a team they are,” said Radniecki. “We need to learn to raise our level of play and compete with them on a given day. We are better than we played and we need to realize this and believe in ourselves.”
This week the Eagles will have anther tough test as they will face a Pillager team that is 6-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming in a 43-25 defeat to Staples-Motley. Also a Class AA school, Pillager defeated Parkers Prairie 46-8 last week and comes into the game averaging 37.6 points per game on offense, while giving up 13.1 points per game on defense.
The Eagles are averaging 12 points per game on offense, while giving up 20 points per game on defense.
Despite the tall task at hand, Radniecki said the Eagles will be ready to play on Wednesday night.
“We play a good Pillager team as we get ready for the playoffs. We will be ready to play and have a good game plan and get after it,” he said.
The Section 6A tournament kicks off on Tuesday night and the Eagles could end up with a home game in the first round, depending upon the outcome of Wednesday’s game between Walker-Hackensack-Akeley and Breckenridge. The Eagles defeated Breckenridge, but fell to WHA. All three teams are within percentage points of one another in the QRF standings for the third through fifth seed in the section.