Football: Nothing to celebrate for Wingers

The first quarter, a disastrous frame for Red Wing this season, was unkind to the Wingers again Friday in Red Wing.

New Prague methodically drove down the field for a touchdown on its first drive and Red Wing gave the ball back with a botched handoff on its first possession of the game, going into a 14-0 hole with 2 minutes, 12 seconds remaining in the quarter.

With Friday’s game, Red Wing has gotten outscored 76-7 in the first quarter this season as the Wingers never recovered against New Prague in a 35-2 loss.

“We just weren’t ready to play,” Red Wing head coach Matt Schultz said. “I have to do a better job getting them ready to play. … That’s the way we’ve been the last three or four weeks.”

The Trojans (4-3, 3-3 Missota) knocked Red Wing (1-6, 0-6 Missota) off the line consistently in the first half to build a 28-0 lead, with 14 points coming off turnovers. All four touchdowns came on the ground as New Prague piled up 18 first downs and 369 yards of total offense in the win. Nathan Preston finished with 23 carries for 126 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Trojans.

“We put our defense in a bad spot early in the game,” Schultz said.

New Prague’s offense didn’t have much success in the second half, but the Trojans got a 1-yard touchdown run by Preston to go up 35-0 with 13 seconds left in the third quarter.

Junior quarterback Isaac Toivonen sprained his ankle on the first series of the game for the Wingers and hobbled through the injury until midway through the third quarter. He was 3 for 8 passing and only carried the ball once.

“That makes it pretty rough,” Schultz said. “It just got worse and worse.”

Red Wing senior Ricky Turcotte came on in the third quarter and finished 6 of 13 for 52 yards through the air. The Wingers tallied just 106 yards of total offense with seven first downs.

“We have to be prepared for Friday nights and that’s what it comes down to,” Turcotte said.

Senior Andy Kalb was one of Red Wing’s lone bright spots on offense with five catches for 35 yards.

“The line was giving Ricky enough time for me to run my routes crisp and the balls were there,” Kalb said.

Senior Jordan Shull led the Wingers’ defense with two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and 10 tackles.

Senior Andrew Petterson had a team-leading 12 tackles, and senior Andrew Sandstrom finished with nine tackles, a fumble recovery and a safety with 8:23 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Trojans fumbled the ball at the 10-yard line and recovered in their own end zone.

While the Wingers were handed their sixth consecutive loss, the players tried to remain upbeat after the game.

“If we put a solid game together, we’ll be a tough team,” Kalb said. “We need to have some momentum builders.”

Red Wing plays Chanhassen Wednesday on the road to close out the regular season.

Tags: red wing, sports, prep, football