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MORE FIREWORKS

Gaels pull away from North Union, improve to 3-0

Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Parker Oswald of St. Edmond breaks free against North Union on Thursday inside Dodger Stadium. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Through three games, the St. Edmond football team sits exactly where Matt Dillon had hoped they would be.

Drew Schaeffer followed up his record-setting performance last Friday with over 250 yards of total offense and four touchdowns, Tyler Rossmanith had his second career 100-yard rushing game and Kase Baker continued to find ways to score as the Gaels claimed a 53-27 victory over North Union here Friday night.

With the win, St. Edmond improved to 3-0 on the year ahead of a key showdown with defending state champion and 10th-ranked (Class A) West Hancock in Britt next week.

For now, though, Dillon and the Gaels will enjoy what they have accomplished.

Schaeffer, who threw for a school-record 342 yards a week ago, completed 14 of 22 passes for 217 yards including a 49-yard touchdown strike to Parker Oswald to help seal the victory. The senior also ran for 50 yards and two more scores.

“It’s just so much fun watching what Drew can do out there on the field,” Dillon said. “I honestly don’t know if I have ever coached a quarterback who has had a three-game stretch to start a season like this one.”

Schaeffer has thrown for over 750 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. He connected with Oswald on a pair of key third-down completions in the fourth while also being inserted in on defense to help contain the rushing attack of Ryan Lang.

Lang, North Union’s senior workhorse, ran for 250 yards and scored all four TDs. He also had a long touchdown run called back that would have put him over 300 yards on the night.

“I’m going to have nightmares of Ryan Lang, that’s for sure,” Dillon said. “I pulled him over after the game and told him how impressed I am with him as a football player. He is a tremendous talent and that is a very good football team at North Union.”

The Warriors struck first as Lang found the end zone four minutes into the contest. Rossmanith caught his first career touchdown pass from Schaeffer later in the quarter to tie it up.

It was Lang again to make it 14-7 with a 5-yard run in the second, but the Gaels answered right back with Schaeffer taking it in himself. This was the first time St. Edmond trailed on the year.

“We had to battle some adversity there early on,” Dillon said. “We needed to make a change on defense and we put Drew out there and moved Sean (Flattery) in at linebacker. It helped at least slow them down some.”

Much of the second half was dominated by the Gaels, as they scored six touchdowns — including an interception return by Baker. The senior ran for 100 yards as they amassed over 300 on the ground.

Oswald caught six passes for 142 yards, and junior Quinten McCarville had six receptions for 61 yards.

“We’re doing a lot of really good things out there on the field,” Dillon said. “But it’s all about to get taken up a level with West Hancock.”

Along with Baker’s interception, Sean Flattery also picked off a pass as St. Edmond was plus-four in the turnover department.

West Hancock (1-1) takes on Bishop Garrigan in Britt Friday night before welcoming the Gaels next week. The Eagles went 13-0 last season, winning the state title over Grundy Center.

Prior to kickoff, St. Edmond honored its 11 senior football players, doing the same for cross country and cheerleading during halftime.

SE NU

First Downs 26 14

Rushes-Yards 51-312 39-293

Passing 217 20

Comp-Att-Int 14-22-0 5-10-2

Total Offense 529 313

Punts-Avg. 2-35.0 3-30.0

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-2

Penalties-Yards 7-80 4-35

St. Edmond 7 7 13 26– 53

North Union 7 7 7 6 — 27

Scoring Summary

North Union — Ryan Lang (2-yard run), 8:25 left in first. Carter Morphew kick.

St. Edmond — Tyler Rossmanith (5-yard pass from Drew Schaeffer), 4:01 left in first. Thornton Aljets kick.

North Union — Lang (5-yard run), 9:50 left in second. Morphew kick.

St. Edmond — Schaeffer (6-yard run), 2:39 left in second. Aljets kick.

St. Edmond — Rossmanith (1-yard run), 9:46 left in third. Aljets kick.

St. Edmond — Schaeffer (10-yard run), 5:05 left in third. Kick failed.

North Union — Lang (49-yard run), 3:15 left in third. Morphew kick.

St. Edmond — Kase Baker (11-yard run), 9:04 left in fourth. Kick failed.

St. Edmond — Sean Flattery (14-yard run), 6:14 left in fourth. Aljets kick.

North Union — Lang (36-yard run), 5:24 left in fourth. Kick failed.

St. Edmond — Parker Oswald (49-yard pass from Schaeffer), 2:42 left in fourth. Alex Tiernan kick.

St. Edmond — Baker (71-yard interception return), 1:04 left in fourth. Kick failed.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — St. Edmond: Tyler Rossmanith 20-120, Kase Baker 15-100, Drew Schaeffer 5-50, Sean Flattery 11-42. North Union: Ryan Lang 27-250, Carter Morphew 8-43, Bryer Prochniak 4-0.

Passing — St. Edmond: Drew Schaeffer 14-22-0-217. North Union: Carter Morphew 5-10-2-20.

Receiving — St. Edmond: Parker Oswald 6-142, Quinten McCarville 6-61, Tyler Rossmanith 2-14. North Union: Logan Odegaard 1-10, Aidan Fries 1-6, Izaak Martens 2-4, Bryer Prochniak 1-0.

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