Alden-Conger remains winless

Published 11:56 pm Friday, October 5, 2012

Alden-Conger kick returner Dom Ofsdahl fields a kick Friday night. He earlier returned one for an 84-yard touchdown. -- Tim Engstrom/Albert Lea Tribune

ALDEN — The Knights of Alden-Conger High School lost for the sixth-straight time this season, but the margin of defeat was less than the other five games.

Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman (2-4) scored 46 points Friday night while Alden-Conger (0-6) placed 6 points on a broken scoreboard that wouldn’t show the clock. Time was kept on the field.

A member of the Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman football team sacks a member of the Alden-Conger football team Friday. -- Tim Engstrom/Albert Lea Tribune

Alden-Conger coach Bruce Smith said the Knights are a young team. Most of the them are sophomores and freshmen taking on players who simply are bigger than they are.

“They keep working at it. It gets to be a long season,” Smith said.

There are two games left on the schedule for the Knights. They take on Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (2-4) on Oct. 12, and Nicollet (6-0) on Oct. 17.

Alden-Conger celebrated Homecoming Week. Allison Songstad was crowned queen, and Chaz Mithun king. The air temperature at the 7 p.m. kickoff was 39 degrees, with a crisp northwest wind of 12 mph with 20 mph gusts.

Alden-Conger running back Lucas VanEngelenburg throws a pass in the fourth quarter Friday. -- Tim Engstrom/Albert Lea Tribune

That didn’t stop A-C senior Dom Ofsdahl from returning a kickoff for 84 yards for a touchdown near the end of the first quarter. That warmed the crowd and made the score GHEC/Truman 14, A-C 6.

The Knights’ first drive stalled. So did the first drive by the Jaguars. On the second drive, A-C quarterback Jordon Johnson threw an interception. The Jaguars then in a five-play drive put the first points on the board with the first of three touchdowns by senior running back DaMarko Thomas, who ended up suffering an apparent knee injury in the final quarter. His second touchdown was a 43-yard scamper down the home team’s sideline.

In the second quarter, Jaguar wide receiver Josh Johanson scored on a 25-yard rushing play. In the fourth, running back Jared Green broke several tacklers and traveled 32 yards to reach the end zone.

Score by quarters

Alden-Conger sophomore Morgan Grunzke sports black marks on her cheeks Friday as her school celebrates Homecoming. The other clarinet player in the photo is freshman Madison Erickson. -- Tim Engstrom/Albert Lea Tribune

GHEC/Truman 22 12 6 6 46

Alden-Conger 6 0 0 0 6

A-C individual statistics

RUSHING — Hunter O’Rourke 9-26, Dom Ofsdahl 5-26, Jordon Johnson 10-21, Wyatt Ladwig 1-3, Deion Skinner 1-1, Lucas VanEngleneburg 3-minus 5, Brady Neel 5-minus 10

PASSING (yards unavailable) — Brady Neel 8-2-6, Jordon Johnson 7-1-6

TACKLES — Spencer Wallin 12, Hunter O’Rourke 10, Eli Rinehart 9, Parker Hemmingsen 7, Deion Skinner 6, Jordon Johnson 5, Dom Ofsdahl 3, Brady Neel 3, Jordan Bute 3, Wyatt Ladwig 3, Tommy Geezman 2, Jacob Wallin 2, Skylar Tovar 1, Brady Neel 1, Jordan Hallman 1