—Photo by Tom Vogt St. Edmond’s Jake Rossow (28) and Jackson Bemrich (42) hold up the touchdown signal after Andrew Gibb plunged into the end zone.

For one night, all the negatives didn’t matter to Jon Borer.

The St. Edmond head football coach earned his first win with the Gaels, holding off MMCRU 27-20 Friday night inside Dodger Stadium.

Borer, in his initial season with St. Edmond (1-2 overall, 1-0 in Class A, District 2), knows it wasn’t a perfect game. But getting that all-important victory was the key.

“It means a lot to these kids,” Borer said. “When you have a new coach and everything is different, it can start to feel like things are not working. We needed this success so we could continue moving forward.

“The kids played hard and they overcame some things big time. They fought and I’m proud of them.”

Cade Naughton ran for two touchdowns, Andrew Gibb and Charlie Shelly added third quarter rushing scores, and the Gaels made just enough plays to upend the Royals (0-3, 0-1).

Shelly finished with 103 yards rushing on 19 carries, Naughton had 46 and Gibb was 11 of 26 for 139 yards. Senior Isaac Lursen had his second 100-plus yard receiving game of the season, catching seven passes for 114.

Following non-district losses to Mason City Newman and Manson Northwest Webster, Borer decided it was time to hit reset on both sides of the ball.

“We went back to basics and broke it all down from scratch,” he said. “I thought that showed early when the kids were firing out.

“Winning just makes everything better. It’s easier to wake up Saturday morning after a win, watch film, talk about the game; a win just makes it all easier.”

MMCRU, two years removed from winning a state title in 8-man, cut a 27-8 deficit to 27-20 with a pair of fourth quarter scores. But junior Jake Rossow recovered an onside kick attempt and the SEHS offense was able to put together a game-ending drive to seal the deal.

Gibb picked up 19 big yards on a keeper attempt for a first down, with Shelly converting third-and-5 with a run.

“Andrew really came out hot and gained confidence early,” Borer said. “I think that helped him. We just missed on a few big pass attempts, but I’m happy with the progress he has made and I know he’ll keep getting better.

“And Charlie isn’t very big, but he is one tough kid. He plays hard every single day and goes hard on every single play.”

As pleased with his skill positions as Borer was, he couldn’t help but smile while discussing the offensive line. An injury to Ty Smith forced senior Sean Flaherty to move to guard next to Nick Lawler. Another senior, Gabe Rodenberg, replaced Flaherty on the left side with Sean Newell and Mason O’Brien.

“Those guys up front don’t get enough love, ever,” Borer said. “Those guys are all horses who never come off the field. I’m proud of them and they deserve a lot of the credit.”

St. Edmond opened the game with a 12-play, 77-yard drive that saw them convert three third-down attempts. Gibb found Lursen on a 30-yard completion and Rossow for 10. They also had a five-play, 52-yard series in the first that resulted in Naughton’s second TD.

A third Gael scoring drive covered 70 yards in six plays, while the other took just three plays — two passes by Gibb to Naughton and Lursen and a run by the junior quarterback.

Borer, though, did make note of the scoreless second quarter and nine penalties for 90 yards that hindered St. Edmond on the night.

“We’ve got to correct those, but we’ll keep grinding,” he said. “We’ll be right back out there Monday working hard to get better.”

Flaherty and Naughton each had a sack on defense, with Elijah Litwiller picking off a pass. Naughton and Jack Rasmussen each recovered fumbles.

For MMCRU, Evan Cluck ran for 113 yards and Jordan Marks had two rushing touchdowns. Andrew Prescott threw for 101 yards, including a 5-yard TD strike to Hunter Tentlinger.

The Gaels are on the road the next two games, heading to South O’Brien next Friday and Ridge View the following week. The Royals host Sioux Central on Friday.

SE MMCRU

First Downs 16 14

Rushes-Yards 38-177 38-149

Passing 139 112

Comp-Att-Int 11-26-0 14-22-1

Total Offense 316 261

Punts-Avg. 7-32.6 3-41.0

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 4-2

Penalties-Yards 9-90 2-15

St. Edmond 14 0 13 0– 27

MMCRU 0 8 0 12–20

Scoring Summary

St. Edmond — Cade Naughton (5-yard run), 7:56 left in first. Isaac Lursen kick.

St. Edmond — Naughton (33-yard run), :17 left in first. Lursen kick.

MMCRU — Jordan Marks (5-yard run), 4:00 left in second. Micah Petersen run.

St. Edmond — Andrew Gibb (11-yard run), 6:37 left in third. Lursen kick.

St. Edmond — Charlie Shelly (46-yard run), 2:52 left in third. Conversion failed.

MMCRU — Marks (12-yard run), 7:30 left in fourth. Conversion failed.

MMCRU — Hunter Tentlinger (5-yard pass from Andrew Prescott), 2:01 left in fourth. Conversion failed.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — St. Edmond: Charlie Shelly 19-103, Cade Naughton 6-46, Andrew Gibb 11-32, Team 2-(minus-4). MMCRU: Evan Cluck 16-113, Jordan Marks 3-15, Andrew Prescott 16-14, Hunter Tentlinger 3-7.

Passing — St. Edmond: Andrew Gibb 11-26-0-139. MMCRU: Andrew Prescott 13-20-0-101, Cade Owens 1-2-1-11.

Receiving — St. Edmond: Isaac Lursen 7-114, Jake Rossow 2-14, Charlie Shelly 1-10, Cade Naughton 1-1. MMCRU: Chris Schmid 4-50, Hunter Tentlinger 5-38, Jordan Marks 3-18, Evan Cluck 2-6.