Eagles fall in playoffs

Staff photo by Ari Selvey
New Ulm’s Dirk Haynes wraps up Willmar’s Conlan Carlson for a tackle as New Ulm’s Brody Hacker (55) and Ian Brudelie (far right) close in during a Section 2AAAA football playoff game Tuesday at New Ulm High School.

NEW ULM — Willmar’s Conlan Carlson scored four touchdowns and the Cardinals’ defense held New Ulm scoreless for the first three quarter as Willmar ended New Ulm’s season with a 28-6 win in a Section 2AAAA playoff game Tuesday night at New Ulm High School.

Carlson scored on a 2-yard run in the first half before adding second-half scoring runs of 12, 8 and 13 yards.

New Ulm’s lone score came in early in the fourth quarter on a Zach Hubbard 2-yard run.

Willmar, now 1-8, will play at Marshall on Saturday.

The Eagles end their season at 4-5.

“It was a disappointing outcome but I am never disappointed in our kids effort,” New Ulm coach Derek Lieser said. “It was a 6-0 game at halftime — we felt like we had a good plan of attack for that second half. But we were not able to execute enough or make enough plays.”

Willmar took a 6-0 lead on their first drive of the game when they took the opening kickoff and went 79 yards in 14 plays and ate up just over seven minutes to score on Carlson’s first touchdown on a 2-yard run.

“That was one of those drives that we have seen earlier in the year where their offense is on the field for most of the quarter,” Lieser said. “We had them on a fourth-and-6 and a third-and-long and we gave up a big run or a long pass — they controlled the clock.”

That score held up until halftime as both team’s defenses tightened.

The Cardinals had a late second-quarter potential scoring drive stopped when Jeff Kral stepped in front of a Jordan Ellingson pass in the end zone.

That ended a Cardinals’ 12-play, 74-yard drive.

It was also a half that saw Willmar’s offense run 31 plays compared to 17 for New Ulm.

“The weather conditions certainly made it a challenge to try and effectively throw the ball,” Lieser said. “You saw that on from both teams that trying move the ball through the air was going to be a challenge — there were some times where we had some nice things going but we self-inflicted with some penalties or missed assignments up front.”

Willmar’s special teams set the stage for the Cardinals’ second touchdown of the night when Cameron Champagne blocked a Tanner Backer punt at the New Ulm 38-yard line.

Four plays later, Carlson raced in from 12 yards out for a 12-0 lead.

“That blocked punt really hurt,” Lieser said. “Special teams are a huge part of the game. When your defense is put in tough spots like that it is a lot to ask of your defense.”

The Cardinals defense held the Eagles’ defense on a fourth-and-6 from the New Ulm 35-yard line and used eight plays for Carlson’s third score of the game on an 8-yard run as time expired in the third quarter.

New Ulm got into the Willmar end zone in the final quarter when the Eagles went 61 yards in 10 plays and capping it with a Hubbard 2-yard run with 6:34 left in the game.

Carlson ended his night on Willmar’s next possession with a 13-yard run with 3:26 left in the game.

“We knew that they were a good team coming in and my hope is they go to Marshall and they give Marshall everything that they have,” Lieser said.