Sports from the week of September 6, 2006

Late TD, two-point play are edge in one-point thriller

By Dick Donaldson

The Panther football team came back from a 14-0 first half deficit to gain an exciting, last minute 15-14 opening game win over Canby, at Canby, last Thursday.

Except for the opening Canby scoring drive and the closing moments of the second period Tracy/Milroy/Balaton played the Lancers quite evenly in the first half. However the Panthers did not feel they had played very well.

“I believe the kids were thinking too much about everything we had told them and were not having fun and playing like they could,” said Panther Co-Coach Derek Flann.

T/M/B came out and played with intensity in the second half, scoring early in the third period on a 65-yard burst by Running Back Seth Swan to close the score to 14-7. The Panthers were still playing well when, midway through the fourth quarter, Steve Paradis used his long frame to block a Lancer punt. The play gave the Panthers the ball on the Lancer’s 44-yard line.

“We had showed that we could block a kick when we were called for running into the kicker earlier in the game,” said Flann.

The Panthers then moved to a first down at the Canby 32 when their hopes were dashed by a fumble lost to Canby. However they tightened the defense and forced a Canby punt from midfield with less than 3 minutes to play.

“The kids did their own motivating,” said Flann. “They were flat in the first half and some of the seniors stepped up and showed some leadership.”

Starting from their own 24-yard line and time a big factor, the Panthers used their two minute offense and completed four straight passes to get to the Canby 13. A five yard offside penalty against Canby helped the cause and Swan carried for the score to close to a 13-14 score.

The question was-Should they go for a kick and a tie or go for the two point conversion?

“We think that when you are on the road it is best to go for the win,” said Flann. “We decided to run because on a conversion there is not a lot of room to get open for a pass. We used a power set that we had not used yet in the game and the kids executed it well.”

The Panther football team opened its 2006 season by kicking off to the Canby Lancers at Canby Thursday night. The kick was returned to the 41-yard line. Canby then marched 59 yards in six plays to the first score of the game with Oellien carrying 9 yards for the score. The pass for the extra point was incomplete and, with 9:14 remaining in first period, Canby led T/M/B 6-0

The Panthers put the ball in play at their own 35 yard line following the out-of-bounds kick. Panther running back Seth Swan picked up 3 yards on the first play but an incomplete pass and a sack forced a Panther punt. A good punt moved Canby back to their own 20 yard line where two running plays netted 5 yards and a third down pass was intercepted and returned 3 yards to the Canby 32.

A Panther run for no gain and losses of 16 yards on two pass plays forced a punt from the Canby 48. An offside penalty and three straight holding penalties forced a Canby punt from their 22-yard line. The Panthers returned the punt to the T/M/B 49. Dan Deiter, Panther fullback, picked up 22 yards and a first down in two plays as the first quarter ended with T/M/B in possession at the Canby 29-yard line.

With a fourth down and 8 on the Canby 29, the Panthers turned the ball over to the Lancers on a fumble. The Lancers started on their own 23 and marched, in 14 plays to the Panther 16 where T/M/B held and took the ball over on downs. The Panthers had an incomplete pass on first down but Quarterback Isaac Dolan hooked up with Kyle McIntire for a 33-yard completion on the second play. Swan then picked up 9 yards in two plays before a Canby offside penalty gave T/M/B a first down on the Canby 36.

Following an incomplete pass the Panthers turned the ball back to the Lancers on an interception at the Canby 33-yard line. After picking up 5 yards in two running plays the Panther’s David Schmidt intercepted a Lancer pass on the T/M/B 49. The Panthers couldn’t move the ball and, on fourth down, their punt was blocked with the Lancers taking possession on the T/M/B 23 yard line. The Lancers were penalized 5 yards for delay of game but on the next play Oellien completed a 28-yard pass to Citrowski for a touchdown. Oellien’s run for the two-point conversion was good and with 5 seconds showing on the clock Canby led 14-0.

The Panthers received the second half kickoff and put the ball in play at their own 36. After an incomplete pass Swan picked up 3 yards before a false start penalty of 5 yards. With 3^rd and 12 Swan then broke off tackle and ran 65 yards for a touchdown. With 10:24 remaining in the third quarter McIntire kicked the extra point and the score was 14-7.

Canby returned the ensuing kickoff to their own 35 but failed to move and punted to the Panthers at the T/M/B 18 yard line. Swan picked up a first down on a 23 yard burst and then gained 7 yards in two plays before two holding calls sandwiched around a 15 yard pass from Dolan to Schmidt gave T/M/B a first down on the Canby 15. Swan lost a yard and then gained 3 yards when a delay of game penalty forced a 4^th down pass which was intercepted and gave Canby possession on their own 11 yard line

As the fourth period began Canby moved, in 10 plays, to its 33 but had to punt. T/M/B could not move the ball either and was forced to punt from its own 25. Canby returned to the Lancer 48 and could pick up only 3 yards in 3 plays. This time Steve Paradis broke through and blocked the punt giving T/M/B the ball on the Canby 44. A pass for 7 yards to Schmidt and a Swan run of 5 yards gave the Panthers a first down on the 32 but then lost the ball to Canby on a fumble at the Canby 31.

With 5:20 remaining the Lancers had a first down on their own 44 but then the Panthers stiffened and forced a punt. T/M/B took over on their own 24 and unleashed a passing attack for 63 yards in 4 plays. The first was to McIntire for 3 yards-then to Schmidt for 28 yards-then to McIntire for 23 yards-then to Schmidt for 9 yards giving T/M/B a second and 1 at the Canby 13-yard line with 1:24 remaining. An offside call against Canby gave T/M/B a first and goal at the 7 yard line.

On the next play Swan got the call and ran to a touchdown. He also ran for the two-point conversion and, with 47 seconds remaining, T/M/B held a 15-14 lead.

T/M/B 0 0 7 8 15

Canby 6 8 0 0 14

First Qtr

C-Oellien 9 run, pass failed

Second Qtr

C-Citrowski 28 pass from Oellien, Oellien run

Third Qtr

T/M/B-Swan 65 run, McIntire kick

Fourth Qtr

T/M/B-Swan 7 run, Swan run

Rushing- Swan 16 for 160, Dieter 4 for 16.

Passing-Dolan 8-21 for 126 yards, 2 interceptions

Receiving- McIntire 4-67, Schmidt 4-60 yards.

Total yards- T/M/B 293, Canby 253.

Rushing yards- T/M/B 167, Canby 225

Passing yards- T/M/B 126, Canby 28

Turnovers-T/M/B 4, Canby 3

Defensive stats

Tackles: Kyle McIntire; Chris Swenson, 18; Andrew Prairie, 17; Dan Dieter, 14; #77, 14; David Schmidt, 13; John Gervais, 12; Tyler Bauer, 8; Taylor Rignell, 7; Nathan Jacob, 6; Aaron Frisvold, 5; Jordan Rolling, 4; Steve Paradis, 4; Ryan Thooft, 2; Brady Jackson, 2; Taylor Hafberg, 2; John Swenhaugen, 2; Adam LeClaire, 1; Chris Hansen, 1. Chris Hansen also had a fumble recovery, Steve Paradis had a blocked kick, Chris Swenson had an interception and David Schmidt had two intercepted passes.

Ryan Tholen has strong opening race

The Panther boys’ cross country team placed ninth and the girls were tenth at the Mountain Lake Invitational last Wednesday.

The boys’ team scores were: 1) Adrian, 64; 2) Waseca, 91; 3) Fairmont, 93; 4) USC/AC, 102; 5) BEA, 107; 6) LCWM-N, 215; 7) MCW, 230; 8) MCC, 256; 9) T/M/B, 264; 10) Maple River, Worthington, 288; 12) WWG-RRC, 361; Windom Area, inc; SWC, inc.; MLBO, inc.; JCC, inc.

The girls’ team scores were: 1) Adrian, 28; 2) Waseca, 40; 3) Fairmont, 85; 4) BEA, 142; 5) Windom Area, 201; 6) MLBO, 221; 7) USC/AC, 239; 8) LCWM-N,246; 9)MCC, 307; 10) T/M/B, 358; 11) JCC, 363; 12) MCW, 277; Maple River, inc.; SWC, inc.; WWG-RRC, inc.; Worthington, inc.

“Both the boys’ and girls’ teams had good races today,” said Panther Coach Marie Hanson. “Ryan Tholen proved that he will again be one of the top runners in the area with a fifth place finish against a tough bunch today! Joe Hook also had an awesome first cross country race-he is a strong runner and will help the team out tremendously this year. I’m really looking forward to watching Joe develop as a runner this year-it is very exciting!”

Scoring for the Panther boys were: 5) Ryan Tholen, 17:01; 58) Alex Jones, 20:47; 62) Joe Hook, 21:04; 69) Derek Evans, 21:33; 70) Sam VanNevel, 21:38; 106) James Prairie, 26:49.

“On the girls side, Karli Tholen ran her first varsity race today and it was skillfully done,” said Hanson “She started out at a good pace and continued to pick up the pace and passed countless competitors. Haley Hebig is another newcomer to cross country, though she did not look like one today. I could tell in practice that Haley would be a tough competitor, and now that she has one race under her belt it will be fun to watch her improve.”

Scoring for the Panther girls were: 16) Karli Tholen, 17:01; 73) Jen Vroman, 20:11; 84) Haley Hebig, 21:02; 92) Carly Miller, 21:58; 93) Celia Brockway, 22:00; 106) Tinke Albach, 25:06; 108) Ayla Snyder, 25:29; 110) Rachel Stobb. 25:40.

Dalton Kirk finished 32nd in the boys’ Jr. High race with a time of 13:16 and Josh Lubben was 61st at 14:49.

For the first time in the history of Panther cross country, Tracy/Milroy/Balaton fielded enough runners for a complete boys’ team at a varsity meet. The milestone occurred Wednesday, at the Mt. Lake Invitational. Varsity runners for the boys’ team were Derek Evans, James Prairie, Sam Van Nevel, Alex Jones, Ryan Tholen, and Joe Hook. This is the fourth year that TMB has offered boys’ cross country, but until this year the Panthers never had five runners to qualify for team scoring. Girls cross country was begun in Tracy as a non-school sport in 1993 and 1994. Girls’ cross country became a school sponsored sport in 1995.

Penguins play shorthanded

The Plum Creek Area Penguin soccer team lost to Southwest Christian at Edgerton Tuesday night by a score of 8-0. The loss dropped the Penguins season record to 0-5.

Southwest Christian out shot the Penguins 26-12 in a game which found the Penguins playing shorthanded during the entire first half.

“I only started 10 players today and played short for the first half for the simple reason that several players missed a practice,” said Penguin Coach Phil Goetstouwers. “Hopefully the team now knows that we all need to be at practice, ready to give it our all. It is completely noticeable to every teammate involved that the Penguins have not played like they could or even should. Trusting their teammates, listening to them and being able to rely on each one will be a key component to the future success of this program. I feel confident that I will not need to discipline this team like this again.”

The Penguins’ first home game will be against Worthington on Tuesday, Sept. 12. In the meantime they will play Waseca, at Waseca this coming Saturday.