Sports from the week of September 28, 2005

MCC pulls out thriller

Late turnover, FG sink TMG in last seconds

By Dick Donaldson

The Panther football team lost a 15-12 thriller to Murray County Central at Tracy Friday

A 32-yard field goal on the game’s second-to-last-play propelled MCC to victory. A Rebel interception set up the winning score.

“We beat them in almost every part of the game,” said Panther end Paul Carlson. “We were more of a team this week.”

“It was the best game we have played so far this season, we played well enough to win,” said Panther Coach Randy McIntire. “Our guys liked the new offensive sets. Our offense is becoming more balanced.”

The loss dropped Tracy/Milroy/Balaton’s record to 1-3. MCC improved to 3-1.

First half

Filled with great resolve, the Panthers took the opening kick off on their 20 yard line and returned it to the Panther 37. Featuring some explosive running by Chris Swenson and Seth Swan, TMB marched the length of the field to score and take a 6-0 lead. The kick failed, with 7:26 left in the first period.

TMB went on to dominate the first period, running 21 plays to only five for the Rebels. However one of those five plays was an 80-yard scoring pass on MCC’s first play from scrimmage to tie the score 6-6.

After the Rebel score the Panthers drove to the Rebels’ 11 yard line before losing the ball on downs when a fourth and five pass fell incomplete. As the second period began the Panthers took a Rebel punt on their own 35 and drove, in 13 plays, to the MCC 16 yard line, where they were a yard short on a fourth down play. The Rebels moved to mid-field before punting as the time ran out in the first half.

Second half

The Rebels took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched to the TMB 28 before David Schmidt intercepted a pass and returned it to the Panthers’ 35 yard line. The Panthers reeled off three first downs to the Rebel 34. Swenson picked up three yards on first down but Swan was tackled for a two-yard loss on second down. A pass to Schmidt was incomplete and quarterback Kyle McIntire was sacked for a nine-yard loss on fourth down.

The Rebels were then forced to punt and TMB took over at their own 14 as the quarter ended. The Panthers moved to three first downs before punting to the MCC 19 yard line. Again the Rebels were forced to punt and the Panthers put the ball in play on the TMB 39 yard line.

On the next play a Panther pass was intercepted by MCC’s Mike Grimmius and returned 45 yards for the MCC go-ahead touchdown. The pass for a two-point conversion failed and, with 4:31 remaining the Rebels held a 12-6 lead.

TMB’s David Schmidt took the ensuing kick off and returned it to the Panther 35. On the first play McIntire ran a keeper for four yards. After two incomplete passes and an off-side penalty on the Rebels, Swan picked up four yards and a first down on the 48 yard line.

On first down freshman Isaac Dolan, who had just been inserted at quarterback, hit McIntire for 14 yards and a first down on MCC’s 37. On the next play Dolan completed a 35-yard pass to Schmidt on the Rebel three. With 2:52 showing on the clock Swan bolted into the end zone to tie the score. The kick failed and the Panthers kicked off to MCC and the Rebels returned it 32 yards to the MCC 44 yard line. The Rebels picked up two first downs before punting into the end zone. Dolan ran for four yards on first down and then hit Gary Knott for 21 yards and a first down on the Panther 45.

On the next play MCC’s Grimmius got his second interception and returned it to TMB’s 29 yard line. A Rebel pass then gave them a first down on the 15 yard line with 3.8 seconds remaining. After a time out MCC’s AFS Student Joachim LilJenberg from Sweden kicked a field goal to win the game 15-12.

TMB’s Paul Carlson led the Panther defense with eight tackles and two sacks, Sean Fox had four, Drew Hebig, Gary Knott and Dan Dieter three each, Dody Arnold and David Schmidt three each, Derrick Vandromme two, Kyle McIntire and Brett Jackson one each, Chris Swenson and Seth Swan one each and Derek Efans, Pheng Her and Erik Frisvold one each. Matt Bauer had two tackles, a sack and caused a fumble, Dieter had a pass deflection and Schmidt had a pass interception.

Swan carried 28 times for 92 yards. Schmidt had a pass reception for 35 yards, McIntire one for 17 yards and Gary Knott one for 20 yards. Dolan was three of five passing for 70 yards and one interception.

MCC 6 0 0 9 15

TMB 6 0 0 6 12

Scoring

First quarter

TMB-Swan 5 run (kick failed)

MCC-Counter pass from Spartz 80 (kick failed)

Fourth quarter

MCC-Grimmius 45 interception return (pass failed)

TMB-Swan 3 run (kick failed)

MCC- FG Joachim LilJenberg 32 yards

Defense struggles at Apple Valley, winning one out of four matches

The Tracy/Milroy/Balaton volleyball team went 1-3 at the Apple Valley Tournament Friday and Saturday. The Panthers lost to Apple Valley 20-25 and 21-25, lost to Moorhead 26-28 and 17-25 on Friday. The Panthers beat Alexandria 25-21, 14-25 and 15-12, lost to Sioux Falls Lincoln 27-29, 15-25 and 6-15 on Saturday.

“We have been focusing on our serve receive this past week and this area proved to be a strong point for us over the weekend,” said Panther Coach Katie Gervais. “The areas we struggled on were defense and just finishing plays. Our rallies were longer but we didn’t seem to finish the plays to earn the point. We still have yet to find the right combination for our line up. We need to figure out which one seems to work best for us and stick with it. This tournament is great to see your team’s strengths as well as expose our weaknesses. We need to work on these in order to compete in the upcoming weeks. We have some conference matches as well as some tough non-conference matches coming up in the next few weeks. We need to iron out these areas.”

Krysta Tholen logged 66 set assist in the tourney. Emily Miller recorded 36 kills, 49 digs, 5 blocks and was 24 of 24 serving with an ace. Rachel Gervais had 25 kills and was 26 of 28 serving with 1 ace.

Michelle Lanoue contributed 10 kills, 12 digs, 4 blocks and was 31 of 36 serving with 1 ace. Sarah Fritz had 40 digs,

Tholen had 52 digs and was 15 of 17 serving. Lindsey Daniels was 25 of 29 serving with 2 aces.

Girls run in big Twin Cities race

The Panther girls’ cross country team finished 31st in the Maroon Division at the Roy Griak Invitational in the Twin Cities Saturday. The team was competing without Jillian Tholen who was hampered by tendonitus.

The Panther individual results were: 145) Jen Vroman, 24:22; 155) Stacy LaVoy, 24:42; 169) Rachel Stobb, 25:25; 174) Jessica Mason, 25:49; 177) Celia Brockway, 25:55; 194) Jessica Coulter, 28:11.

“The RoyGriak Invite is just a great experience for our runners,” said Panther Coach Marie Clauson. “Running in a race with 250 athletes is very different from running in a race with thirty. Jen Vroman ran an excellent race. She started out at an even pace and picked it up throughout the entire 5000M. She is a tough competitor. Our top five runners had a very small spread, only a minute and a half. That is excellent, but we still have some definite room to improve. That minute and a half needs to shrink to around forty-five seconds. Rachel Stobb continues to improve, she is very dedicated and her hard work is beginning to really pay off-she really helped the team Saturday.”