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Emotional sight

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla St. Edmond Elijah Litwiller (7) hands-off to Cade Naughton (44) on Friday inside Dodgers Stadium

St. Edmond head football coach Jon Borer was able to put Friday night’s loss to Sioux Central into perspective rather quickly.

The Rebels ended any hopes the Gaels had of slipping into the postseason, scoring a 50-6 victory inside Dodger Stadium.

Borer, in his first season with SEHS, watched as the emotional leader of his defense, senior Jack Rasmussen, had to be helped off the field with a serious leg injury. Rasmussen led the state in tackles last year and was ranked fourth coming into the game.

“Not only was it an injury to our best player, but it was a very ugly injury to see happen,” Borer said. “The kids really care about Jack as a person, and I think that happening the way it did really took the wind out of our sails.

“Jack is a great kid and he gave us everything he could this year.”

Rasmussen was one of eight seniors honored prior to the start of the contest. He entered the game with over 220 career tackles for the Gaels (3-5 overall, 3-3 in Class A, District 2).

Cade Naughton, also a member of the senior class, scored the lone touchdown on the night, hitting paydirt from three yards out. He finished with 62 yards on 17 carries to lead the SEHS offense, which was also playing without starting quarterback Andrew Gibb, starting running back Charlie Shelly and center Mason O’Brien.

“I’m so proud of these guys for rallying and playing hard,” Borer said. “It’s tough when you are missing so many pieces and you are trying to put it together out there and you lose someone like Jack on top of it.”

Sioux Central (6-2, 5-1), which has won five in a row since a loss to fourth-ranked Bishop Garrigan, ran for 245 yards, including 174 by Ben Hargens.

Hargens scored the first two touchdowns of the game, finishing with three. Jacob Gasperi returned two interceptions for touchdowns as the Rebels built a commanding 44-0 halftime lead.

Last year, the Gaels pulled out a 9-6 victory in Sioux Rapids for one of their two wins on the season.

Along with Rasmussen and Naughton, Isaac Lursen, Jacob Galles, Ty Smith, Gabe Rodenberg, Sean Flaherty and Daniel Dooley all were honored before kickoff.

Lursen recorded two catches for nine yards, giving him 38 receptions and 604 yards on the year. He is now tied with Dave Conell for the single-season reception record, which was set in 1979.

“We are going to have a fun final week,” Borer said. “Our goal will be to play loose, have some fun and just enjoy football. We want to make it memorable for the seniors.”

The Gaels hit the road to close out the year, taking on the Golden Bears in Algona. Bishop Garrigan earned its 14th consecutive postseason berth last night with a 35-14 victory over Hartley-HMS.

SE SC

First Downs 7 14

Rushes-Yards 34-78 42-245

Passing 9 0

Comp-Att-Int 2-6-3 0-1-0

Total Offense 87 245

Punts-Avg. 5-31.0 0-0

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 1-5 3-25

St. Edmond 0 0 0 6– 6

Sioux Central 24 20 0 6–50

Scoring Summary

Sioux Central — Ben Hargens (4-yard run), 8:42 left in first. Jake Hanson run.

Sioux Central — Hargens (6-yard run), 5:16 left in first. Jacob Gasperi run.

Sioux Central — Gasperi (35-yard interception return), 4:29 left in first. Gasperi run.

Sioux Central — Hargens (1-yard run), 11:57 left in second. Hargens run.

Sioux Central — Gasperi (30-yard interception return), 11:49 left in second. Kick failed.

Sioux Central — Blake Cavanaugh (28-yard run), 8:11 left in second. Kick failed.

St. Edmond — Cade Naughton (3-yard run), 6:58 left in fourth. Conversion failed.

Sioux Central — Jayden Harder (1-yard run), 4:28 left in fourth. Kick failed.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — St. Edmond: Cade Naughton 17-62, Peyton Spangler 11-28, Drew Schaeffer 3-7, Elijah Litwiller 3-(minus-19). Sioux Central: Ben Hargens 22-174, Jacob Gasperi 9-31, Jake Hanson 2-17, Jayden Harder 7-16, Jacob Saunders 1-9, Team 1-(minus-2).

Passing — St. Edmond: Elijah Litwiller 2-6-9-3. Sioux Central: Jake Hanson 0-1-0-0, Blake Cavanaugh 0-0-0-0.

Receiving — St. Edmond: Isaac Lursen 2-9.

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