Eagles take on Hutchinson to open 2AAAA tournament | News, sports, jobs

File photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm’s Noah Mertz escapes pressure during a South District, Central-Red Subdistrict football game against Marshall on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at New Ulm High School.

NEW ULM – The New Ulm High School Eagles football team will open the postseason with a first-round playoff game at home this Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The fourth-seeded Eagles (4-4) will face fifth-seeded Willmar (1-7) in the opening round of the Section 2AAAA tournament at New Ulm High School.

Anyone who looks at Willmar’s 1-7 season record and thinks the Cardinals aren’t a good football team should think again.

“They’re probably the best 1-7 team in the state.” said New Ulm High School head coach Derek Lieser. “They ran the gauntlet. Five of their eight games were against top ten teams.”

Three of their losses came to teams that are still undefeated at 8-0, including Princeton, Becker and Totino Grace. They also have a 33-7 loss to Marshall.

“They lost to Hutchinson (28-21), who is the defenseman [Class AAAA champion],, Lieser said. “They’re certainly not a typical 1-7 team, so we know we have our hands full.”

Willmar will bring a spread offense to its matchup with the Eagles.

“Their quarterback has a really nice arm — he’s pretty skilled — and they have some receivers with great size.” Lieser said. “And her speed is deceptive – on film it doesn’t look like she’s overpowered – but also the quality of her opponents, they have super-fast players.”

As for the stats in Section 2AAAA, both teams’ offenses are mirror images.

Willmar is averaging 12.9 points per game while the Eagles are averaging 15.8 points per game.

The Cardinals defense allows 29.4 points per game while New Ulm allows 24.8 points per game.

Lieser said the Eagles will have to overcome Willmar’s size and speed.

“We have to be a little creative in the running game.” he said. “We’re trying to come up with a game plan and get our best players some of the ball. We may also change the way we attack – looking for ways we can exploit their size and speed and, if possible, use it against them in some way.”