Photo by Samantha Davis. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton's David Schuh looks to stiffarm a defender during a rushing in the first quarter of a prep football game against Sleepy Eye United Friday night in Tracy.

TRACY — David Schuh’s four touchdowns led the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton football team to a dominant 42-26 Mid-South District Conference win over Sleepy Eye United Friday night. The victory snapped a two-game skid for the Panthers, who also celebrated Senior Night.

“By far, that was our best game that we’ve played,” TMB head coach Ryan Kruse said. “Offensively, especially, we [have] really struggled to move the ball. Today, we were able to get first downs consistently, but then also had some big plays.”

SEU and TMB fought off one another through a majority of the first two quarters, on both ends of the field. But, the Panthers’ offense began to heat up toward the end of the second, and continued through the night, flustering SEU’s defense in finding stops.

TMB also honored its group of five seniors, recognizing Schuh, Griffin Zick, Connor Lanoue, Lawton Verlinde and Sy Sanders.

“Five [seniors] is not a lot. I know most probably have more than five, but our five that we have are all really big players for us,” coach Kruse said. “They all start both ways, and barely come out of the game. They are guys that have been through battles, they’re good leaders for us, and just a good group. I know we got a ways to go before the end of the year, but it will be hard to replace those five.”

TMB was led by junior quarterback Aiden Sanow, while SEU junior Brayden Heiderscheidt was at the helm.

Sanow had nine complete passes on 10 attempts for 89 yards, along with a passing touchdown.

Overall, TMB had 380 rushing yards to SEU’s 132.

Both TMB and SEU entered the night 1-2 on the early start to the season, looking to break a two-game losing streak.

“[Tonight] was a big section opponent and game, and right now, we just needed to play well,” coach Kruse said. “That was the biggest thing. We just [needed to] play well and see where we end up, and that’s what we did tonight.”

Zick, Schuh and Sanow helped pace the Panthers’ offense throughout the night, continuing to find pockets and ways to disrupt SEU’s defense.

Schuh led the team with 236 rushing yards on 24 carries, with one fumble. Sanow had another 103 rushing yards on 12 attempts. Zick had a team-high 56 receiving yards on four catches.

Both TMB and SEU did not complete their first drives of the night, but the Panthers found the end zone on their second attempt along with a good 2-point play to earn an 8-0 lead with just under three minutes to go in the first quarter.

Sanow made a long pass to a running Zick to bring TMB to its 27-yard line. A pair of carries from Schuh brought the Panthers into the red zone at the 11-yard line, and Jackson Kruse made a leaping catch from Sanow over an SEU defender on the next play to complete the drive.

Schuh led the way with five tackles, while Emery Xiong, Ryker Freeburg and Talon Brinkley followed with four each. The Panthers had 39 total tackles on the night.

“I thought our defense was still pretty tough, but I think we gave up a few things that we didn’t want to,” coach Kruse said. “But, overall, I was just really happy with how we played.”

Following the Panthers’ touchdown, a pair of Jacob Fulmer carries brought SEU to its 25-yard line, and another carry from Merrick Mathiowetz broke Sleepy Eye into the red zone at the 13-yard line as the first quarter came to a close.

Merrick Mathiowetz rushed again, to set up Keeyan Netzke for a run into the end zone for a touchdown off a 5-yard carry on the next play to get SEU on the board, down 8-6. The 2-point attempt was unsuccessful.

TMB added in two more touchdowns throughout the second quarter, beginning to pull away.

The Panthers marched down the field between a Schuh and Sanow carry, and a catch by Zick to get onto the 9-yard line.

On the next play, Schuh ran into the end zone for a 14-6 lead, with an unsuccessful 2-point attempt.

Yet, SEU didn’t take much time to tie the game up with just over three minutes to go before halftime.

Heiderscheidt threw a strong 39-yard touchdown pass to find an open Tyler Mathiowetz in the end zone, along with a good 2-point play to tie the game up 14-14.

SEU’s Davin Suess recovered a TMB fumble on defense when the Panthers’ were 10 yards out from another potential touchdown, yet Zick returned the favor with an interception a minute later to give the Panthers the ball back.

Sanow eventually found Zick in the end zone with an 11-yard pass as the half came to a close, putting TMB up 20-14 at halftime.

“It’s funny. In practice, they [Sanow and Zick], don’t ever seem to hit those [pass-catch attempts],” coach Kruse said, laughing. “Today, Aiden threw some really good balls, and when Griff gets a chance to make a play, it seems like he always makes it. They did some really good things together.”

Continuing its momentum, TMB interrupted a pass on fourth down in SEU’s opening second-half drive to begin taking control of the game.

A 30-yard rush from Schuh put the Panthers on the 14-yard line, as Zick carried for five yards to close in on the end zone.

Schuh finished off the drive with a 9-yard carry, along with a 2-point conversion to give TMB its 28-14 advantage with three minutes in the third to go.

A fourth-quarter pick-off from Schuh eventually led to another Panthers’ touchdown, ran in by Schuh on the 1-yard line, putting the dagger on TMB’s win.

Schuh had another highlight of the night with a 61-yard rushing touchdown as the game was coming to a close, sprinting down the field past SEU’s entire defensive line and gave TMB the 42-20 lead.

“He [Schuh] ran the ball hard. He can squeeze through some smaller holes, and then when he gets a big hole, he’s fast enough to break it,” coach Kruse said. “He just played really tough … He was darn-near perfect. Really happy with his performance.”

The final touchdown of the night came from SEU’s Heiderscheidt finding Tyler Mathiowetz once again in the end zone, to cut into a 42-26 deficit with two minutes to go.

TMB has been operating under new first-year head coach Ryan Kruse, who took over for Jason Kainz who stepped down after last season, but Kruse has been on the football staff for years and serves as the boys basketball coach. Sanow has also been leading the Panthers as the new starting quarterback, after the program graduated three-year starter Trevor Smith.

TMB (2-2) will next hit the road to take on No. 6 RTR (3-1) next Friday at 7 p.m. The Panthers have just one more home game, slated for Oct. 3 when they host Murray County Central at 7 p.m. before ending the regular season on a two-game road trip.