Sports from the week of September 20, 2006

Ground game, defense dominate in RTR victory

Coaches like intensity shown by athletes

By Dick Donaldson

Panther running back Seth Swan rushed for 204 yards in 38 carries while the Tracy/Milroy/Balaton defense held RTR to 98 yards of total offense as T/M/B won 26-14 at Tracy Friday night. Although storms delayed the kickoff by an hour, Swan was the only lightning to strike the Knights, as he scored three times in the stormy evening.

“We are happy with the way our kids played against RTR,” said Panther Co-Head Coach Derek Flann. “The intensity and emotion that we have been looking for was there in this game.”

The Panthers dominated early and were leading 12-0 with 2:44 left in the first half when Knights defensive back Matt Gordon leaped high in the air to pick off a Panther pass and saw nothing but 60 yards of green grass to the goal line. The point after kick drew RTR to 12-7.

However, in the third period the Panthers’ David Schmidt picked up a Knight fumble, when RTR quarterback Drew Mikkelson was sacked deep in his own territory, and ran it in for the Panthers’ third score. Later in the third period, the Panthers iced the game with a 12-play, 71-yard touchdown drive.

“Our defense played really well,” said Panther Co-Head Coach Randy McIntire. “When you subtract the nine yards Mikkelson lost on the play before he fumbled RTR had only 89 yards of total offense and 78 of them came on that fourth-quarter drive, so our defense held them to only 11 yards the rest of the game.”

The Knights marched 78 yards in nine plays for the final score of the game with 3:20 remaining.

First half

Dan Deiter returned the opening kickoff for TMB to the Panther 30. With Swan carrying the ball on every play the Panthers marched 70 yards in ten plays to score. The kick failed, but with 6:34 remaining in the first period TMB led 6-0.

The Knights put the ball in play at the Panther 43 after a 37-yard return by Mikkelson. An 11-yard pass gained a RTR first down at the Panther 27, but the Panther defense stopped RTR on the next series and took the ball over on. downs.

The teams exchanged punts before TMB started their second touchdown drive on Knights 49-yard line. On the second play, sophomore quarterback Isaac Dolan hit Swan on a 28-yard pass play to the RTR 21-yard line. Swan scampered all the way to pay dirt on the next play and TMB held a 12-0 lead.

The teams exchanged punts with TMB putting the ball in play on the Knights’ 45. Gordon returned an interception 60 yards for an RTR touchdown. The kick was good, with 2:44 remaining in the first half, and the Knights were back in the game at 12-7.

The Panthers offense reponded with two first downs before punting as the half ended.

Second half.

The teams exchanged punts before TMB’s David Schmidt picked up a Knight fumble and scored from the RTR 11 yard line. The conversion run was good to give TMB a 20-7 with 8:03 left in the third period.

The Knights again failed to move the ball on their next possession and punted. Starting on their own 28, TMB reasserted its dominance by marching to a score in 12 plays. The conversion run failed but TMB led 26-7 with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Panther defense forced a punt on RTR’s next possession and took over at midfield. TMB moved to the Knight 25 before two penalties killed the drive. The Knights took over at their own 22-yard line.

RTR then drove to consolation touchdown in eight plays. The kick was good to pull RTR to 26-14 with 3:20 remaining.

RTR recovered a Panther fumble at TMB’s 48 yard line, but four straight passes fell incomplete and TMB took the ball back and ran out the clock.

TMB rushed 50 times for 244 yards and were 4 of 10 passing for 43 yards, giving them 287 yards of total offense. The Knights were 5 of 18 passing for 33 yards and rushed 23 times for 65 yards, giving them total offense of 98 yards.

Chris Hansen led the defense with 13 tackling points, Dan Deiter and Spencer Zwaschka followed with 11 each, Seth Swan had 9, Chris Swenson, John Gervais and David Schmidt had 8 each, Andrew Prairie, Kyle McIntire and Nick Soupir had 5 each, Nathan Jacob and Adam LeClaire had 3 each, Aaron Frisvold and Pheng Her had 2 each and Brady Jackson had 1.

“The kids tackled well, the linebackers were aggressive and the defensive ends played very well,” said Flann. “We gang tackled and we also ran the ball well on offense.”

RTR 0 7 0 7 14

TMB 6 6 14 0 26

First quarter

TMB-Swan 19 run (kick failed)

Second quarter

TMB- Swan 21 run (run failed)

RTR-Gordon 60 interception return (kick good)

Third quarter

TMB-Schmidt 11 fumble return (Swan run)

TMB- Swan 1 run (run failed)

Fourth quarter

RTR-Mikkelson 23 pass (kick good)

Individual leaders

Rushing- Swan 38 for 204 yards

Passing-Isaac Dolan 4 of 10 for 43 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int.

Receiving- Swan 1 for 28 yards

Little Sioux Conference

Team Conf All

Minneota 3-0 3-0

Adrian 3-0 3-0

MCC 3-0 3-0

TMB 2-1 2-1

MACCRAY 2-1 2-1

Dawson-Boyd 1-2 1-2

Ortonville 1-2 1-2

Canby 0-3 0-3

Fulda 0-3 0-3

RTR 0-3 0-3

This week

Minneota 27, Ortonville 14

Adrian 40, Fulda 0

MCC 18, Dawson-Boyd 14

TMB 26, RTR 14

MACCRAY 49, Canby 14

Next week

TMB at MCC

Dawson-Boyd at Minneota

MACCRAY at RTR

Fulda at Ortonville

Tholen, Jones finish 1-2 in Windom meet

The Panther boys’ cross-country team finished second and the girls were fourth at the Windom Invitational Monday. Ryan Tholen finished first and Alex Jones was second in the boys’ race.

The boys’ team results were: 1) Lake Crystal-Welcome Memorial, 25; 2)T/M/B, 33, 3) WWG/RRC, 7; 4) SW United, 90; 5) MLBO, 145.

The Panther boys’ individual results were: Ryan Tholen, 1, 17:53; Alex Jones, 2, 18:44; Derek Evans, 11, 20:16; Sam VanNevel, 13, 20:31; Joe Hook, 15, 20:35; Dalton Kirk, 27, 23:45; James Prairie, 31, 24:22.

“The T/M/B boys finished 2nd behind a tough LCWM team at the Windom Eagle Invitational. It is the best finish for the boys’ team ever!” said Panther Coach Marie Hanson. “Ryan Tholen and Alex Jones really went after it today, finishing first and second. Ryan actually defended his first place finish from last year. Josh Lubben finished third in the boys’ junior varsity division, which is his best finish so far in cross-country. Josh works very hard and it is paying off, he will really be a leader in years to come.”

The girls’ team scores were: 1) MLBO, 37; 2) Windom, 41; 3) LCWM, 83; 4) T/M/B, 97.

The Panther girls’ individual results were: Karli Tholen, 4th, 16:43; Jen Vroman, 18, 18:24; Ayla Snyder, 27, 18:27; Jessica Mason, 29, 19:25; Haley Hebig, 31, 19:43; Rachel Stobb, 31, 20:00; Celia Brockway, 20:18.

“On the girls’ side Karli Tholen came in fourth place, her best finish in a varsity race,” said Hanson. “Jen Vroman ran her best time this year. Jen looked very strong throughout the race, she is improving each time. Ayla Snyder had another great race as well. Rachel Stobb looks to be getting back into usual form. She had some issues with fatigue earlier in the season, but seems like she is coming around now. Tinke Albach and Carly Miller also placed in the girls’ JV division.”

Carly Miller was fourth in the JV race with a time of 21:51 while Tinke Albach was third at 21:09.

Mac Tiegs was 12th in the boys’ JV division with a time of 11:49.

Spikers return as winners from Tyler Tuesday night

The Panther volleyball team beat Russell-Tyler-Ruthon 3-2 Tuesday night in Tyler. The game scores were 25-20, 23-25, 20-25, 27-25 and 17-15. The win improved Tracy/Milroy/Balaton’s season record to 4-5 and they are 2-2 in the Camden Conference.

“What a great win for our team,” said Panther Coach Cyndi Raymond. “It was great to have our starting six all on the floor at the same time. The girls did a great job adjusting offensively and defensively. Our blocking and serving were both keys for us tonight. We had several great individual performances in different areas, but this was definitely a great team win.”

Jackie Haecherl was 5 for 6 hitting with 3 kills, was 28 of 29 serving with 4 aces, had 10 digs and 6 blocks. Molly Miller was 38 of 44 hitting with 5 kills, was 13 of 13 serving with 2 aces, had 14 digs and 6 blocks. Mallory Fultz was 25 of 32 hitting with 6 kills. Lindsey Daniels was 14 of 15 serving, had 11 digs and 18 set assists. Emily Scharfe was 37 of 40 hitting with 7 kills, 20 of 22 serving with 2 aces and had 11 blocks. Michele Lanoue was 50 of 53 hitting with 18 kills, was 20 of 22 serving with 2 aces and had 18 digs. Shelbie Jones was 14 of 16 serving with 1 ace and had 17 digs.

Last Thursday night the Panthers lost to the Central Minnesota Christian School at Prinsburg 3-0 with game scores of 25-23, 25-15 and 25-12.

“We lost the first game by such a close score,” said Raymond. “It seemed to take our momentum and we never recovered.”

Haecherl was 12 of 12 serving with 3 aces, had 8 digs and 16 set assists. Miller was 7 of 7 serving, had 4 kills, 7 digs and 3 blocks. Fultz was 7 of 9 serving and had 3 kills. Daniels was 6 of 7 serving with 9 digs. Scharfe was 6 of 7 serving and had 5 kills, 9 digs and 1 block. Jones was 7 of 7 serving and had 14 digs. Lisa Bauer had 3 aces.

The Panthers will host state-ranked Minneota, coached by former Panther Heidi Peterson, Thursday night at Tracy.