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Rough road

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Cade Naughton of St. Edmond scores a touchdown against Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn on Friday

St. Edmond head football coach Jon Borer was left frustrated following a 20-6 Homecoming loss to Hartley-HMS at Dodger Stadium Friday night.

The defeat likely ended any hopes of a postseason berth for the Gaels in Borer’s first season at the helm.

But as far as Borer is concerned, there remains plenty to play for.

“We haven’t found that spark that every team has,” he said. “Every team is different. I’ve had teams that had a quiet confidence about them and just went out and played.

“Other teams, you have to push every right button to get them to do what you want. We just have to figure our team out.”

The Hawks (4-2 overall, 3-1 in Class A, District 2) are now in a three-way tie with Ridge View (4-2, 3-1) and Sioux Central (4-2, 3-1) for second behind No. 5 Bishop Garrigan (6-0, 4-0). The Rebels stunned the Raptors last night, 26-7.

“We’ve got three games left and we need to make the most out of them,” Borer said. “It’s tough because that playoff berth is looking less likely now, but we’ve still got to go out there and compete.”

Senior Cade Naughton gave the Gaels (2-4, 2-2) an early lead when he scored in the second quarter from two yards out. Hartley-HMS responded with a Brett Wohlert TD run, making it 6-6.

On the very first offensive play following the Wohlert score, St. Edmond quarterback Andrew Gibb hit tight end Jackson Bemrich for a 75-yard scoring strike. The play, though, was called back after Bemrich was flagged for offensive pass interference.

The Hawks would force a punt and take their first lead of the night on the next drive when Wohlert hit Seth Morphew from 12 yards out.

“We’ve shown instances of greatness,” Borer said. “But we’ve also fallen flat at too many times.

“We had a nice stand in the fourth to keep (HMS) out of the end zone, but we need to do things like that earlier in the game so we can build on them.”

Trailing 20-6, the Gael defense did make a stop at the 1-yard line, as Wohlert was kept out of the end zone. They also halted a late drive by the Hawks when Elijah Litwiller picked off a pass.

The game featured 13 fumbles by both teams, with two of them being turnovers. Hartley-HMS committed 12 penalties and St. Edmond had four.

Gibb rushed for a career-high 63 yards on 19 carries and completed 5 of 20 for 85. Isaac Lursen hauled in three passes for 57 yards, moving him into the Top-5 in both catches and yards on the school’s single-season lists. He also recovered a fumble on defense.

For the Hawks, Tom Heetland rushed for 63 yards and Wohlert had 59 on the ground. The junior was 6 of 12 passing for 107.

St. Edmond hits the road for the third time in four weeks next Friday, taking on North Union (1-5, 0-4). The Warriors lost to MMCRU, 8-0.

Hartley-HMS travels to Sioux Central for second place in the district.

SE HMS

First Downs 6 14

Rushes-Yards 29-78 49-241

Passing 85 107

Comp-Att-Int 5-20-2 6-12-1

Total Offense 163 348

Punts-Avg. 5-35.0 6-29.3

Fumbles-Lost 8-1 5-1

Penalties-Yards 4-50 12-80

St. Edmond 0 6 0 0– 6

Hartley-HMS 0 12 8 0–20

Scoring Summary

St. Edmond — Cade Naughton (2-yard run), 9:35 left in second. Kick failed.

Hartley-HMS — Brett Wohlert (4-yard run), 2:11 left in second. Conversion failed.

Hartley-HMS — Seth Morphew (12-yard pass from Wohlert), :18 left in second. Conversion failed.

Hartley-HMS — Trever Dodd (12-yard run), 6:22 left in third. Wohlert run.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — St. Edmond: Andrew Gibb 19-63, Cade Naughton 4-17, Charlie Shelly 5-0, Team 1-(minus-2). Hartley-HMS: Tom Heetland 16-63, Brett Wohlert 21-59, Bailey Wynja 6-36, Trever Dodd 4-33, Cade Schiphoff 2-1.

Passing — St. Edmond: Andrew Gibb 5-20-2-85. Hartley-HMS: Brett Wohlert 6-12-1-107.

Receiving — St. Edmond: Isaac Lursen 3-57, Elijah Litwiller 2-26, Cade Naughton 1-2. Hartley-HMS: Trever Dodd 3-54, Cade Schiphoff 1-32, Seth Morphew 2-21.

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