By Joel Herrig
Murray County News Sports
It isn’t very often you play back to back road games at the same place and when it does happen it usually involves a playoff game. The MCC Rebels have now played as many games at Johnson Park in New Ulm as they have at they’re homefield in Slayton. The Rebels took on New Ulm Cathedral on Friday night which was the Greyhounds fourth game at home this season in week five because they played MVL earlier this year which of course was the MVL home game but because they play at the same location it was like another home game. The Rebels played their best overall first half of the season Friday night as they dominated the Greyhounds.
The Greyhounds are a very well-coached team that has been dealing with some key injuries. They lost their returning quarterback before the year started and the starting quarterback during the year was out for this game which meant Carter Haala was in the starting lineup. Haala is a 140-pound freshman and though the Greyhounds don’t throw very often when you fall behind making a play in the passing game is important and that didn’t happen for New Ulm Cathedral. The Rebels dominated the first half with defense. The Greyhounds didn’t pick up a first down until late in the second quarter. The Rebels offense wasn’t all that flashy but it was effective. The Rebels have been looking to balance the running game this year. Dylan Johnson is the go-to back and he will lead the team in carries most if not all games but the Rebels need some players to step up running wide or for some big plays. Aaron Johnson and Blake Schmitz brought some balance to the running game in the first half. Johnson had two runs of over 10 yards in the first half and Schmitz ran 4 times for 34 yards in the first half. That forced the New Ulm Cathedral defense to respect the Rebels outside runs which opened up things in the middle.
The Rebels would score first as the team drove the field using that running game Blake Schmitz would score the Rebels first points on a one-yard run. The extra point by Schmitz was good. The Rebels led 7-0 and they wouldn’t stop. Schmitz would connect with Kyler Deacon on a 39-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline. Deacon made a great run after the catch to get his first touchdown of the year and he would add the two-point conversion to extend the Rebels lead to 15-0. MCC would score one more time this time it was Dylan Johnson on a 3 yard run with the extra point being good to make the score 22-0. The Rebels outgained the Greyhounds in the first half by 122 yards and they did it on just one more play. The Rebels went to the half leading 22-0.
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