Nicollet knocks Grand Meadow from title chase

Published 12:00 am Saturday, September 28, 2002

Grand Meadow's chances of a share of the conference title came down to the fourth quarter of Friday's rated 9-man football clash with Nicollet, and the visiting Raiders held off the homecoming comeback in a 21-18 Superlark loss.

Nicollet scored two touchdowns on their first five plays from scrimmage and held on to a 21-6 lead for the Southern Confederacy Conference victory in Grand Meadow. The seventh-ranked Raiders displayed their big-play capabilities while knocking the ninth-rated Superlarks to 2-2 in the SCC and 3-2 overall.

Nicollet and LeRoy-Ostrander share the conference lead at 4-0, and the two teams meet in LeRoy in the final week of the season.

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"The conference is over for us," said GM coach Gary Sloan. "We're pretty frustrated right now. There were two games we felt we had to win, and we lost both of them."

The Raiders rumbled 60 yards on their first play from scrimmage, and quarterback Tony Hulke punched it in from two yards out two plays later for a 7-0 Nicollet lead.

Grand Meadow answered with fullback Ryan Ament, whose first carry since missing last week with an ankle injury resulted in a 4-yard touchdown.

Hulke responded for Nicollet two plays into their next drive, going in from 20 yards out. The Raiders used some trickery to take a 21-6 lead, completing a pass from running back Jamie Wagner to Hulke for a 35-yard scoring strike.

Wagner finished with 172 yards rushing on 21 carries.

The Superlarks struck back with less than a minute left in the first half. Kyle Breitbarth connected with Zac Benson for 24 yards through the air after Benson rumbled 27 yards on the ground the play previous. Benson finished off what he started with a 1-yard run to paydirt, and Grand Meadow got back to within nine, 21-12, before the break.

Breitbarth and the 'Larks stayed in the air and were within striking distance twice in the third quarter. Two red-zone drives stalled out on downs as penalties and mental miscues proved costly.

"Against good teams you can't make those mistakes," Sloan said. "We've just got to be better mentally, cut down on the mistakes.

"We could potentially be a very good team, but until we correct those mistakes we're not going to be the team we can be."

Breitbarth hit Doocy for an 85-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, but the Nicollet defense kept Grand Meadow at bay for the final 11 minutes for the crucial conference victory.

Doocy finished with three catches for 156 yards, and Breitbarth racked up 219 throwing with only five completions. Breitbarth also led with 83 yards rushing on 10 carries.

Grand Meadow (3-2, 2-2) goes on the road to GHECML (2-3, 2-2) next Friday night.

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at :sports@austindailyherald.com.