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PREP FOOTBALL: Game of the week: Canby at Lakeview

COTTONWOOD – Points will be at a premium in Cottonwood tonight when the Canby Lancers take the gridiron to take on the Lakeview Lakers. Both teams have struggled to find their footing offensively through the first three weeks of the season.

The Lancers are 1-2 and have been shutout in their two losses. The lone win of the season came against Ortonville, when the Lancers came from behind to defeat the Trojans, 20-14.

“Canby is a team that just kind of hangs around,” Lakeview coach John Sterner said. “They’re a little like us, they’re trying to find out who they are. They’ve got some players that can play really good football. They just seem to keep in the game and if you keep them in the game they find a way to win in the end.”

The Lakers, like the Lancers are a young team. They are off to an 0-3 start and have struggled to put points on the board. They’ve lost 16-0, 14-12 and 47-7.

“They lost a lot of athletes too,” Canby coach Nick Kockelman said. “They are pretty physical. They blitz their linebackers. On offense they spread you out. We just have to know where we are lining up on defense. We just need to be more physical and be the bully.”

Youth will be served

The Lakers have eight seniors on the roster. Sterner said his team has yet to play a complete game this year.

“We are really young this year,” Sterner said. “We haven’t had a chance to put a complete game together yet.”

Sterner said the confidence within the team will grow once they notch their first win of the season.

“The ball will start rolling once we get a win,” Sterner said. “Look at Lac qui Parle Valley. They didn’t have a win and they came out and just got the win against us. Then they went out and beat New Ulm Cathedral at the end of the game. It’s just one of those things. Some teams just need to be nudged. It could be one play, or it could be somebody stepping up and having a great game.”

The Lancers have seven seniors on the roster. When the season started the Lancers had a plenty of fresh faces making their first start at the varsity level.

“We are just trying to find an identity,” Kockelman said. “When things start going a little bit south you can always come back to that identity. We are just trying to establish who we are as a team. That’s one of the things we’ve been focused on this week.”

Establishing the run

Kockelman said his team is trying to establish an identity. That calling card for the Lancers could be the running game.

“The run game,” Kockelman said. “We’ve been shutout two of the three games. We just couldn’t move the ball on the ground those two games. We have a young quarterback, so we’ve been a little limited on the play calls there. We are pretty big up front. We have two senior running backs and a pretty big fullback. We feel like we should be more physical than the other team when we are running the ball.”

For the Lakers one of the main focuses in practice this week has been their run defense.

“We need to stop the run,” Sterner said. “That’s the biggest factor. If we can get them to go three and out we will have a good chance of getting the win.”

The Lancers have three threats in the backfield. Senior running backs Blake Mercer and Brandon Moeller and starting quarterback, Zach Durfee. Durfee has rushed for 149 yards and one touchdown.

Mercer is the thunder in Canby’s backfield. He’s rushed for 200 yards and two touchdowns.

“He’s a battering ram,” Kockelman said. “He’s not overly fast. He doesn’t have a lot of shake to him, but he can run through a lot of tackles. He reads the holes well.”

The lightning is Moeller. He’s rushed for 127 yards and is averaging 5.1 yards per carry.

“We’ve been really happy with Brandon Moeller,” Kockelman said. “He’s had our biggest plays. He’s been really running the ball well.”

A player on the opposing side that will meet face to face with Moeller and Mercer is Elijah Sterner. Sterner leads the Lakers with 46 tackles and is currently tied for fourth in the state in that department.

“He works as hard as he plays,” Sterner said. “That’s the best thing a coach could ask for. We see a lot of hustle from him. He’s all over the place. He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. He’s not faster than a lot of people. He’s not bigger than a lot of people. He’s just out there doing his job, and he’s doing it really hard.”

Keys to victory

The Lakers are coming off a 47-7 loss to Dawson-Boyd. Tonight the Lakers are hoping to play to their potential and pick up their first win of the season.

“We’ve been going with the thought process that each player has to perform at his optimum and do his best at his position,” Sterner said. “They have to go out and trust that their teammates are going to do the same thing. Yesterday’s theme at practice was stop waiting for things to happen, and go out and make them happen. It’s little things that we are trying to promote with them, and to raise their awareness. When they put it all together they are going to be really happy with the results.”

In order to get the ball rolling in the right direction the Lakers have to find a way to consistently move the chains.

“Offensively we have to be able to move the ball on them,” Sterner said. “We need to do the things that we need to do. We need to get confidence in our offensive game plan.”

The Lancers, like the Lakers are coming off a week in which they got run off the field. Last week the Lancers lost to the fourth ranked Minneota Vikings, 53-0.

“We’ve been preaching mental toughness,” Kockelman said. “Minneota will always find a way to make you do dumb things, because they hit you in the mouth and you forget everything you are supposed to do.”

Another area of focus for the Lancers this week in practice has been the play of their special teams.

“We’ve been working on special teams,” Kockelman said. “We gave up a kick return for a touchdown. A punt return inside the five within the first three minutes on Friday. We’ve been working a lot on special teams coverage.”

Thank you

The Lakers would like to send a big thank you to Action Track Chairs in Marshall.

“They are borrowing us a chair so one of our coaches who is having back surgery can still come to practice,” Sterner said. “We just want to put out a big thank you to them.”

New Ulm at

Marshall

The second ranked Marshall Tigers have steamrolled their way to a 3-0 start to the season. Through the first three games of the year the Tigers have outscored their opponents, 184-0.

The Tigers will look to continue their dominance against New Ulm. New Ulm enters tonight’s contest with a 2-1 record. The Eagles lost their season opener to Waseca, but have bounced back to win the past two games.

Jefferson Lee V ran around and through Worthington’s defense last week. The senior tailback rushed for 215 yards and three touchdowns during Marshall’s 56-0 thrashing of the Trojans.

Trey Lance passed for 234 yards and two touchdowns last week.

Lance’s lead man was Nick Klaith. The senior wide receiver caught six passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Klaith is currently tied for seventh in the state in receiving yards with 363. Klaith is also tied for fifth in the state with five receiving touchdowns.

Wabasso at

Springfield

The second ranked Rabbits will hit the road tonight to take on the Springfield Tigers. The Rabbits are 3-0 and coming off a 35-0 victory against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton. The Tigers are 1-2 and coming off a 31-21 victory against the Adrian Dragons.

Nick Altermatt made it look easy last week, passing for 321 yards and two touchdowns. Altermatt added 216 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

Cooper Taylor rushed for 261 yards and two touchdowns. Kyle Jacobson and Colton Taylor both scored one rushing touchdown.

YME at Minneota

The fourth ranked Minneota Vikings extended their regular season winning streak to 35 games last week with a 53-0 victory over the Canby Lancers. The Vikings will look to make it 36 straight tonight when they welcome Yellow Medicine East to town. The Sting are 0-3 and coming off a disappointing 17-16 loss to Ortonville.

Isaac Hennen rushed for 148 yards and one touchdown last week for the Vikings. Hennen added four receptions for 51 yards and one touchdown.

Thomas Hennen hauled in five passes for 79 yards. Logan Sussner was on the receiving end of an Alex Pohlen touchdown pass.

Dawson-Boyd at LQPV

The Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks picked up their second win of the season last week by defeating the Lakeview Lakers, 47-7. They’ll look to improve to 3-1 tonight when they hit the road to take on LQPV.

LQPV owns an identical 2-1 record. They are coming off a thrilling, 37-35 victory against New Ulm Cathedral.

Colton Husby rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns for the Blackjacks last week. Bentley Boike added a pair of rushing touchdowns.

Alex Swenson passed for 143 yards and one touchdown.

Ortonville at TMB

The Wabasso Rabbits handed Tracy-Milroy-Balaton their first loss of the season last week. The Panthers found it to be tough sledding against the Rabbits, as they were shutout, 35-0.

The Panthers will look to bounce back at home tonight against the Ortonville Trojans. The Trojans are 2-1 and fresh off a 17-16 victory against Yellow Medicine East.

WWG at HBC

The Westbrook-Walnut Grove Chargers are off to a 3-0 start after an impressive 26-14 victory against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton last week. The Chargers will look to remain unbeaten tonight when they hit the road to take on Hills-Beaver Creek. HBC owns a 2-1 record and is coming off a 28-20 loss to Red Rock Central.

Kyle Kuehl led the way for the Chargers last week with four touchdowns and two interceptions.

RTR at MLA

The Knights suffered their first loss of the season last week against Westbrook-Walnut Grove. The Knights will look to get back into the win column tonight when they hit the road to take on Mountain Lake Area.

MLA owns a 1-2 record. They lost last week to Edgerton/Ellsworth, 28-26.

MCC at NUC

The seventh ranked Murray County Central Rebels will put their perfect 3-0 record on the line when they travel to New Ulm on Saturday for a tussle with New Ulm Cathedral.

Zach Aanenson rushed for 96 yards last week during MCC’s, 27-22 victory against Sleepy Eye. Blake Schmitz passed for 91 yards and one touchdown. Ethan Swanson was on the receiving end of Schmitz’s passing touchdown. Swanson also returned a kickoff for a touchdown.

Teegan Peschges and Noah Boerboom both recorded 18 tackles for the Rebels last week. Aanenson finished with 13 tackles. Kolton Wendorff recorded 10 tackles.

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