HUMPHREY – Technically, Archangels Catholic is a new school participating for its first year of existence in Class D2 sports.
In reality, the Defenders look and act like a school that combined with Lindsay Holy Family, St. Francis Catholic School, and Randolph found out about the reality of the new venture, falling to Archangels Catholic, 54-0 in a game played in Humphrey on Sept. 6.
“We ran into a very good team in Humphrey, ” Cardinal coach Mark Lech said. “We had a difficult time stopping them and had multiple turnovers on offense.”
Randolph turned the ball over four times, once on the ground and three interceptions, and the Defenders didn’t need the help.
“The score got lopsided in a hurry,” L ech said. In fact, Archangels went up 30-0 by the end of the first 12 minutes and 54-0 by the halftime break.
The halftime score set the continuous clock into motion in the second half and neither team scored from there.
The statistics were as lopsided as the game with the Defenders rushing for 277 yards on the night compared to the Cardinals’ 35.
Dayton Winkelbauer was a respectable 9-for-18 through the air but had three interceptions.
John Leija had a good defensive game getting in on 12 tackles, Gage Jensen recorded 10, Ryan Engel was in on eight, Cole Jensen seven and Gavin Wortman and Joe Gonzalez six each.
Gonzalez also was able to jump on a Defender fumble, as a bright spot in the contest.
Randolph remains on the road this week when the Cardinals travel to Creighton to take on the 1-1 Bulldogs.
Creighton owns a 58-16 win over Niobrara/Verdigre in its season opener then dropped a 34-28 decision to Wynot on the road.
“We’re ready to turn the page and get ready for Creighton, ” Lech said. RAN (0-2) 0 0 0 0 - 0 AC (2-0) 30 24 0 0 - 54 FIRST QUARTER AC: Gavin Geilenkirchen 48 run, Devin Baumert run. 8-0. AC: Geilenkirchen 34 run, Baumgart run, 16-0. AC: Tucker Czarnick 26 pass from Ethan Wiesler, conversion no good. 22-0. AC: Wiesler 5 run, Geilenkirchen run. 30-0. SECOND QUARTER AC: Geilenkirchen 8 run, Baumgart run. 38-0. AC: Baumgart 30 run, Wiesler run. 46-0. AC: Wyatt Brandl 4 run, Matthew Zach run. 54-0. Randolph Archangels Catholic First Downs 5 16 Rushes-Yards 26-35 39-277 Receptions-Yards 9-58 5-67 Total Yards 93 344 Individual Rushing: RAN-Gage Jensen 12-25, Shaw Backer 8-7, Dayton Winkelbauer 6-3; AC-Gavin Geilenkirchen 12-114 3TD, Devin Baumgart 7-70 1TD, Wyatt Brandl 8-37 1TD, Mason Geilenkirchen 3-20, Noah Wiesler 1-8, Ethan Wiesler 2-18 1TD, Matthew Z ach 5-6, Jett Reichmuth 3-4.
Individual Passing: RAN-Dayton Winkelbauer 9-18 58; AC-Ethan Wiesler 3-4 51 1TD, Gavin Geilenkirchen 2-2 16.
Individual Receiving: RAN-Shaw Backer 5-41, Lucas Bartels 2-13, Ryan Engel 1-3, Gage Jensen 1-1; AC-Tucker Czarnick 1-26 1TD, Mason Geilenkirchen 2-25, Matthew Brockhaus 2-16.
Individual Tackle Randolph: Lucas Bartels 1; Shaw Backer 5; Ryan Engel 8; Gage Jensen 10; Gavin Wortman 6; Joe Gonzalez 6 1FR; Kody Junck 2; John Leija 12; Cole Jensen 7.