No. 1 seed secured

Make it two straight shutouts for the Waseca High School football team.

The latest came against a supposedly strong opponent.

The Bluejay offense, strong all season, established itself early and the defense did the job as Waseca won 35-0 at Luverne in the final game of the regular season Wednesday, Oct. 19. It followed a 47-0 blanking of Worthington and was the second shutout in a row of Luverne for the Bluejays, who improved to 7-1 and secured the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the Section 3AAA tournament.

"This was an important win for us," said Waseca coach Brad Wendland. "Luverne it is well coached and has a couple really elite players on their team. I like the way our kids responded to the challenge of a long trip on a short week."

After a three-and-out by the Cardinals to start the game, the Bluejays covered 34 yards in six plays, the final 2 on a run by Christian Rodriguez.

The pattern continued. Luverne punted and the Jays scored three plays later on a 6-yard run by Oliver O'Brien.

Luverne finally registered a first down but still punted, and Waseca went 75 yards in five plays, with O'Brien tossing a touchdown pass to Jacob Thompson.

Waseca was up 21-0 at the end of the first quarter, and wasted no time making it 27-0 as O'Brien scrambled 53 yards for a touchdown. That was the halftime score.

The teams traded punts or turnovers on downs until Max Neaves caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from O'Brien early in the fourth quarter.

The game clock went to running time with nine minutes remaining and many reserves found the field for both teams.

With the win, the Bluejays drew a bye in the section tournament that started Tuesday. They'll host a semifinal game Saturday, Oct. 29 at 2 p.m.

"The players have earned some time off over MEA break," said Coach Wendland. "Then hopefully we come back fresh and ready to make a run in the playoffs."

 

Waseca 35, Luverne 0

 

WAS                      21    6     0     8 — 35

LUV                       0     0     0     0 —  0

 

First Quarter

WAS - Rodriguez 2 run (Neaves kick)

WAS - O’Brien 6 run (Neaves kick)

WAS - Thompson 1 pass from O’Brien (Neaves kick)

Second Quarter

WAS – O’Brien 53 run (kick failed)

Third Quarter

No scoring

Fourth Quarter

Was - Neaves 21 pass from O’Brien (O’Brien run)

 

                                     WAS       LUV

First downs                             15          10

Rushing                             34-319     3-60

Passing                               8-14        6-23

Passing Yds.                           80         85

Total offense                         369        145

Penalties                               8-80      4-20

 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – WAS: O’Brien 12-147; Rodriguez 15-89; Da.Russell 3-56; Ludwig 2-31; Mixteco 1-0; Baldaras 1 —4; LUV: Hein 11-38; Domagala 13-32; DeBeer 1-2; Sehr 2 —3; Cowell 3 —9

Passing – WAS: O’Brien 18-14, 80; LUV: Sehr 4-18, 49; Connell 2-5, 36

Receiving – WAS: Neaves 3-24; Ahlschlager 1-23; Da.Russell 2-15; Rodriguez 1-9; Ohnstad 1-8 1-8; Thompson 1-1; LUV: Connell 4-49; Ahrendt 1-35; Domagala 1-1

Defense – WAS: Da.Russell 1 solo tackle; Neaves 3 solo, 1 sack; Ahlschlager 5 solo, 1 assist; O’Brien 3 solo, 1 assist; Ohnstad 3 tackles, 1 interception; De.Russell 1 tackle, 1 assist; Mixteco 1 tackle; J.Thompson 1 tackle; Rupe 1 tackle; N.Engel-Mueller 1 tackle; Johnston 4 tackles; N.Thompson 3 tackles, 2 assists; Robran 1 tackle; Stenzel 5 tackles, 2 assists; Brown 5 tackles, 1 assist; S.Engel-Mueller 1 tackle