“A great game between two rivals,” said New York Mills Head Coach Matt Radniecki. “We had a big crowd for both sides and a beautiful evening to play a high school football game.  It was an exciting game from start to finish as both teams did what they did well.  I was extremely proud of our team for not hanging their heads and making play after play, especially the fourth quarter.  We made some big plays in the fourth quarter to seal the win.  We suffered some injuries before the game and during the game but others came in and stepped up and helped lead to the victory.  Our line and rushing attack was outstanding all night long and pass defense came up in the fourth quarter with a big interception by Eathan Ruther in the end zone to stop a WDC drive.”

The Eagles struck for the first touchdown of the game in the second quarter when Bren Salo carried the ball into the end zone from 2 yards out.  The 6-0 lead stood up into halftime.

Wadena-Deer Creek scored next on a 10 yard pass from Payton Rondestvedt to Isaac Hamann to tie the game at 6-6 in the third quarter.  Salo’s 77 yard run and two-point conversion run gave the Eagles a 14-6 advantage.  The Wolverines cut the lead to 14-12 on a Payton Rondestvedt TD pass of 52 yards to Teshe Loer.  Salo’s third TD run, coming from one yard out in the fourth quarter, put the final score at 20-12.

In addition to Salo’s 176 rushing yards, Ruther ran for 103 and Dane Niemi had 67.  Wadena-Deer Creek was led by Rondestvedt with 258 yards passing.  Loer had 139 receiving yards and 15 yards rushing.

“Great job by all and the line did a very good job,” added Coach Radniecki.  “On defense we made enough plays to win and got after the quarterback really well.  This week we go to Pine River to face a team that is 3-0 and playing good football.  We look forward to the challenge.”

The New York Mills JV team got off to a good start with a 12-6 win over OTC on Monday night.  The team scored the winning touchdown by Jonah Ruther with 45 seconds left to go in the game.