MONTEVIDEO — Despite a strong running performance by sophomore running back Francis O’Malley, the Montevideo Thunderhawks fell to Paynesville 28-12 on Wednesday.

O’Malley finished as the leading rusher with 302 yards and two touchdowns on 36 attempts. Both touchdowns were scored in the second half.

The Bulldogs’ leading rusher was senior Dalton Lahr with 200 yards in nine attempts but no touchdowns.

“O’Malley really ran the ball hard. The biggest thing that is so impressive is that he is such a leader and humble young man and is a top-notch student athlete,” Thunderhawks coach Kyle Goslee said. “He is built like a fine-tuned working machine.”

Paynesville head coach Max Meagher credited O’Malley in his 300-plus performance.

“O’Malley is a tough dude. He did get away a couple times. The big thing that we didn’t want was for him to get started,” Meagher said. “He’s strong and tough and it was wet already but we didn’t want him to break away and score. We held him in the first half, but he got us a couple times in the second.”

Paynesville scored twice in the opening quarter, the first with an 11-yard run, and successful two point conversion, by Max Athman.

Junior quarterback Greyson Fuchs scored the second on a 45-yard scramble. Fuchs attempted a two-point conversion pass, but it was incomplete.

Athman reached the end zone in the second quarter with a 16 yard run followed by Blake Hiltner completing the two-point conversion.

Montevideo nearly scored a touchdown to close the first half, but Paynesville recovered a fumble on its own 3-yard line to close out the first half.

“I think we were just trying to get gang tackling and that ball was extremely wet so that was a huge stop right before half for us,” Meagher said.

O’Malley went on to score twice in the second half, his first for eight yards, his second for four.

Goslee is confident in the Thunderhawks’ potential heading into playoffs.
“I told the boys that of nearly all the games that we’ve played we’ve stuck around with these teams and been in position to win and we could make some noise in the playoffs,” he said.

Meagher says the Bulldogs are humbled going into the seedings.

“Our section is a good section. We'll probably have a home game and we’ll see who we play,” he said. “We'll just get to work and not get too ahead of ourselves. Just take it one game at a time.”

Mid State
Paynesville 28, Montevideo 12

Paynesville (6-2) 14 8 6 0 — 28

Montevideo (1-7) 0 0 6 6 — 12

Scoring Plays

Pay – Max Athman 11 run (Athman run)

Pay– Grayson Fuchs 45 run (pass failed)

Pay – Athman 16 run (Blake Hiltner run)

Pay – Tafadzwa Juma from Fuchs 62 pass (pass failed)

Mont – Francis O’Malley 8 run (run failed)

Mont – O’Malley 4 run (run fail)

Paynesville

First downs: 19 … Penalties: 0-0 … Rushing (Individual and team): Dalton Lahr 9-200, Blake Hiltner 14-82, Grayson Fuchs 9-60, Max Athman 3-36, Austin Pauls 2-2. 37-380 … Passing (Individual and team): Fuchs 7-13-1 131 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Tafadzwa Juma 1-62, Athman 2-35, Eli Nelson 3-31, Lahr 1-6 … Interceptions: 0 … Fumble recoveries: 2 … Tackles (solo-assist): Miller Mumm 11, Lahr 8, Fuchs 7, Blake Hiltner 7, Peyton Hemmesch 6, Athman 4 … QB sacks: none

Montevideo

First downs: 20 … Penalties: 7-50 … Rushing (Individual and team): Francis O’Malley 36-302, Bradyn Schultz 12-126, Andrew Van Binsbergen 1-5. 49-433… Passing (Individual and team): Cooper Dack 4-15-0 22 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Van Binsbergen 3-16, O’Malley 1-6 … Interceptions: 0 … Fumble recoveries: 1 … Tackles (solo-assist): Van Binsbergen 7-1, Gavin Johnson 4-4, O’Malley 4-3, Hunter Strand 4-0, Cole Augeson 3-2, Mason Jerve 3-1, Grayson Malstrom 3-0, Grayson Eisenlohr 3-0 … QB sacks: Augeson 1

ACGC 42, Benson 6

Outgaining Benson on the ground 344-49, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City ended the regular season on a high note with the home win at Grove City.

Leading the Falcons’ ground game was Landon Blom and Mason Studemann. Blom had 27 carries for 186 yards and three touchdowns from 57, 8 and 7 yards. Studemann also scored three times, from 16, 29 and 71 yards, in a 9-carry, 139-yard effort.

Getting the Braves’ lone score was Ryan Tolifson on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.

Benson (3-5) 0 6 0 0 — 6

ACGC (3-5) 6 16 6 14 — 42

Scoring Plays

ACGC – Landon Blom 57 run (pass failed)

B – Ryan Tolifson 1 run (kick failed)

ACGC – Blom 8 run (Kyler Pickle run)

ACGC – Mason Studemann 16 run (Blom run)

ACGC – Blom 7 run (run failed)

ACGC – Studemann 29 run (Blom run)

ACGC – Studemann 71 run (run failed)

Benson

First downs: 6 … Penalties: 2-10 … Rushing (Individual and team): Ryan Tolifson 14-41, Nathan Bolduc 12-13, Grant Gunlogson 2-3, Sam Thompson 4-(-4), Chaden Carroll 1-(-4). 33-49 … Passing (Individual and team): Tolifson 2-7-2 10 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Bolduc 1-10, Thompson 1-0 … Interceptions: None … Fumble recoveries: N/A … Tackles (solo-assist): Bolduc 4-9, Thompson 4-4, Maxwell Young 2-7, Tolifson 3-3 … QB sacks: None

ACGC

First downs: 17 … Penalties: 5-50 … Rushing (Individual and team): Landon Blom 27-186, Mason Studemann 9-139, Terrell Renne 3-13, Kyler Pickle 8-8, Jacob Gratz 1-2, Jevon Williams 1-1, Braxton Kragenbring 1-(-2), Masson Hiltner 1-(-3). 51-344 … Passing (Individual and team): 1-4-0 22 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Hiltner 1-22 … Interceptions: Blom 1, Keegan Kessler-Gross 1 … Fumble recoveries: N/A … Tackles (solo-assist): T. Renne 5-3, Alex Kokenge 4-1, Hiltner 3-3, Isaiah Renne 3-1 … QB sacks: T. Renne 1, Kokenge 1

BOLD 50, BBE 6

BOLD rushed for 343 yards on 33 carries to blast Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa at Olivia.

Ninth-grader Hudson Vosika rushed 15 times for 214 yards and two touchdowns. The Warriors also threw three touchdown passes, including two from Jack Gross to Stevie McMath.

BBE rushed for 60 yards and passed for 37. Hayden Sobiech had an interception for the Jaguars.

BBE (5-3) 0 0 6 0 — 6

BOLD (7-1) 21 14 7 8 — 50

Scoring Plays

BOLD – Connor Plumley 10 run (Jack Gross kick)

BOLD – Hudson Vosika 5 run (Gross kick)

BOLD – Stevie McMath 33 pass from Gross (Gross kick)

BOLD – McMath 21 pass from Gross (Gross kick)

BOLD – Vosika 75 run (Gross kick)

BOLD – Hunter Borer 81 kick return (Gross kick)

BBE – Wyatt Lewis 3 run (run failed)

BOLD – Matthew Jacobs 13 pass from Rylan Gass (Kaden Fischer run)

BBE

First downs: 4 … Penalties: 3-15 … Rushing (Individual and team): Gavin Kampsen 9-20, Lewis 6-17, Luke Illies 5-27. 29-60 … Passing (Individual and team): Luke Dingmann 2-6-0 7, Illies 1-3-0 30. 3-9-0 37 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Blaine Fischer 2-7, Tanner Shelton 1-30 … Interceptions: Hayden Sobiech 1 … Fumble recoveries: N/A … Tackles (solo-assist): N/A … QB sacks: N/A

BOLD

First downs: 11 … Penalties: 1-10 … Rushing (Individual and team): Vosika 15-214, Fischer 8-54, Plumley 3-27, David Garcia 3-42. 33-343 … Passing (Individual and team): Gross 2-4-0 54, Gass 2-3-1 16. 4-7-1 70 ... Receiving (Individual and team): McMath 2-54, Jacobs 1-13, Ethan Nere 1-3 … Interceptions: none … Fumble recoveries: Mason Uhlenkamp 1, Owen Flann 1 … Tackles (solo-assist): Tate Sheehan 1-6, Jacobs 2-1, George Garcia 3-2, Max Benson 2-1, Emmett Flann 1-2 … QB sacks: Uhlenkamp 1

EVW 34, Minnewaska 6

Eden Valley-Watkins wrapped up the season with a 7-1 record by beating Minnewaska at Glenwood.

Minnewaska, 1-7, trailed 12-6 after the first quarter.

EVW (7-1) 12 14 8 0 — 34

Minnewaska (1-7) 6 0 0 0 — 6

LPGE 12, KMS 8

Long Prairie-Grey Eagle won its first game of the season by beating Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg at Long Prairie.

KMS finishes the regular season with a 2-6 record.

East Central South
Dassel-Cokato 41, NLS 7

Dassel-Cokato completed an 8-0 regular season with the rout of New London-Spicer at Cokato.

The Chargers are ranked third in the state in Class AAA by The Associated Press.

NLS completes the regular season with a 3-5 record.

Annandale 37, Litchfield 13

Annandale got the home win in the regular-season finale, knocking off Litchfield in East Central South district action.

The win moves the Cardinals to 6-2 while the Dragons fall to 5-2.

Southwest West
Minneota 29, D-B 6

Minneota rushed 52 times for 302 yards to beat Dawson-Boyd at K.P. Kompelien Field in Minneota.

A.J. Josephson rushed 22 times for 129 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Vikings.

Dawson-Boyd’s points came on a 19-yard interception return by Holt Larson in the second quarter.

Minneota led 22-6 at halftime.

Caleb Torke had 10 tackles to lead the Blackjacks.

D-B (6-2) 0 6 0 0 — 6

Minneota (8-0) 15 7 0 7 — 29

Scoring Plays

M – AJ Josephson 19 run (Peyton Gillund kick)

M – Anthony Rybinski 22 pass from Isaac Pohlen (Andrew Lipinski run)

M – Josephson 6 run (Gillund kick)

DB – Holt Larson 19 interception return (2pt failed)

M – Rybinski 26 run (Gillund kick)

D-B

First downs: 2 … Penalties: 5-24 … Rushing (Individual and team): Holt Larson 10-23, Braxton Hahn 1-10, Brayden Hahn 4-(-33). 21-(-12) … Passing (Individual and team): Bray. Hahn 4-17-1 18 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Brax. Hahn 2-10, Caleb Torke 1-8 … Interceptions: Larson 1 … Fumble recoveries: None … Tackles (solo-assist): Torke 8-2, Brax. Hahn 6-3, Larson 5-5, Keaton Haas 4-1, Aiden Swenson 4-1 … QB sacks: N/A

Minneota

First downs: 18 … Penalties: 5-51 … Rushing (Individual and team): AJ Josephson 22-129, Jonah Gruenes 8-72, Conner Sik 13-67, Anthony Rybinski 3-42, Andrew Lipinski 1-0, Isaac Pohlen 2-(-3). 52-302 … Passing (Individual and team): Pohlen 2-6-2 28 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Rybinski 1-22, Sawyer DeSmet 1-6 … Interceptions: Cale Sorensen 1 … Fumble recoveries: None … Tackles (solo-assist): Gruenes 6-2, Sik 3-0 … QB sacks: Sik 1, Hudson Scholten 1, DeSmet 1

RTR 25, LQPV 0

Lac qui Parle Valley could not reach the .500 mark for the regular season after getting shut out by Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in Southwest West district play in Tyler.

The Eagles wrap up the regular season with a 3-5 record.

MACCRAY 18, YME 6

Isaac Strommer threw three touchdown passes and the MACCRAY defense intercepted four passes to lead the Wolverines past Yellow Medicine East at Clara City.

Isaac Post, Willie Miller, Strommer and Gavin Husman all intercepted passes for MACCRAY. Strommer connected with Dylan Hardebeck, Post and Brooks Asche for passing TDs.

The victory broke a 15-game losing streak for the Wolverines.

YME took a 6-0 lead on an Isaac Jimenez 4-yard TD run in the first quarter.

YME (0-8) 6 0 0 0 — 6

MACCRAY (1-7) 0 18 0 0 — 18

Scoring Plays

YME – Isaac Jimenez 4 run (PAT failed)

M – Dylan Hardebeck 18 pass from Isaac Strommer (pass failed)

M – Isaac Post 10 pass from Strommer (run failed)

M – Brooks Asche 15 pass from Strommer (run failed)

YME

First downs: 9 … Penalties: 3-18 … Rushing (Individual and team): Nolan Hildahl 14-50, Cody Dahlager 14-59, Jimenez 8-9, Jake Odegard 2-3. 38-121 … Passing (Individual and team): Dahlager 1-11-3 1, Jimenez 3-4-1 50. 4-15-4 51 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Hildahl 4-51, Jimenez 1-0 … Interceptions: Dahlager 1 … Fumble recoveries: James Peterson 1 … Tackles (solo-assist): N/A … QB sacks: N/A

MACCRAY

First downs: 9 … Penalties: 0-0 … Rushing (Individual and team): Strommer 4-0, Gavin Husman 2-(-6), Sebastian Cisneros 23-87, team 1-(-21). 35-60 … Passing (Individual and team): Strommer 9-14-1 113 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Post 2-18, hardebeck 2-22, Asche 2-21, Husman 3-50 … Interceptions: Post 1, Willie Miller 1, Strommer 1, Husman 1 … Fumble recoveries: none … Tackles (solo-assist): Hardebeck 3-9, Evan Laumb 2-4, Brady Heiling 2-10, Cisneros 1-4 … QB sacks: Hardebeck 1, Heiling 1

Nine-Man South West
RCW 27,
SESM 16

Two defensive touchdowns helped Renville County West hand Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s its first loss of the season at Danube.

Jaise Miller had a fumble recovery in the end zone and Jasen Jansen had a 75-yard interception return for the Jaguars.

Jack Wertish scored on touchdown runs of 80 and 42 yards for RCW’s other points.

SESM completed 21 of 47 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns, but also with four interceptions.

Wertish had two interceptions and Isaac Haen and Jansen had one each for the Jaguars.

SESM (7-1) 0 0 0 16 — 16

RCW (5-3) 7 0 7 13 — 27

Scoring Plays

RCW – Jack Wertish 80 run (Eddie Morales kick)

RCW – Jaise Miller fumble recovery (Morales kick)

SESM – Talan Helget 9 pass from Mark Anderson (Trenton Steffensmeier pass from Anderson)

RCW – Wertish 42 run (kick fail)

RCW – Jasen Jansen 75 interception return (Morales kick)

SESM– Helget 24 pass from Anderson (Jon Petermann pass from Anderson)

SESM

First downs: 16 … Penalties: 2-20 … Rushing (Individual and team): Trenton Steffensmeier 22-102 … Passing (Individual and team): Carson Domeier 11-18-2 90, Mark Anderson 10-29-2 109. 21-47-4 199 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Kaleb Wait 9-75, Talan Helget 6-84, Trent Steffensmeier 3-17, Jake Heinrichs 1-14, Kaden Ryer 1-6, Owen Weiss 1-3 … Interceptions: Steffensmeier 1 … Fumble recoveries: 1 … Tackles (solo-assist): Brandon Tauer 10, Steffensmeier 8, Colten Roiger 6, Jacob Stevens 9, Helget 5 … QB sacks: none

RCW

First downs: 9 … Penalties: 7-70 … Rushing (Individual and team): Jack Wertish 8-134, Tyler Amsden 7-57, Jasen Jansen 14-44, Isaac Haen 6-5 … Passing (Individual and team): Amsden 1-6-0 54 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Haen 1-54, Jansen 1-(-3) … Interceptions: Wertish 2, Haen 1, Jansen 1, … Fumble recoveries: Jaise Miller 1 … Tackles (solo-assist): Wertish 10, Amsden 9, Noah Gullickson 7, Haen 6, Hunter Ridler 7, Jansen 6, Luki Hale 6, Miller 5 … QB sacks: Miller 1.