College Football: Ridgewater season ends with loss to Central Lakes
WILLMAR -- Sophomore quarterback Mike Beehler passed for 331 yards and four touchdowns Saturday as the Central Lakes Raiders ended the Ridgewater Warriors' season with a 25-13 win at Hodapp Field.
Beehler, who is from Foley, and the Raiders won by a similar score last year (23-12) when he threw for three scores.
"I thought we played pretty well," said sophomore linebacker Matt Wold, who finished with 10 tackles. "But he's five yards back in the shotgun, and he takes a one step drop and gets rid of it quick. We blitzed, but it didn't help."
The Warriors trailed 18-13 after Justin Koenen hit Trent Traxler on the goal line from 15 yards out with 6:19 left in the third quarter.
Ridgewater couldn't get another drive mounted after that and the Raiders' finally broke down the Warriors' defense with 1:15 left in the game for another score.
Justin Novak caught three of Beehler's four TD passes, covering 8, 18 and 18 yards. Kevin Beehler caught the other from six yards out.
Micah Oates-Jenkins did pick off one of Beehler's throws.
"It was a tough game," said sophomore safety and captain Jeff Kalow. "It seemed like the defense was on the field a lot, kind of the story this year."
Ridgewater ended up 1-3 in the division. Central Lakes, Rochester and Minnesota West all tied for first place with 3-1 records.
Alex McLaughlin, slowed late in the year by an ankle sprain, still had his eighth 100-yard game of the season and scored a touchdown. The Warrior sophomore finished the season with 1,727 yards.
"We just had too many mistakes and didn't block well," said Ridgewater head coach Rob Baumgarn. "It's tough for our sophomores to go out losing their last two."
The Warriors have gone 5-4 each of the last two years.
"We've got to win in our division," said Baumgarn.
Central Lakes 25, Ridgewater 13
Central Lakes 0 12 6 7 -- 25
Ridgewater 0 7 6 0 -- 13
Ridge - Alex McLaughlin 5 run (Luke Euerle kick)
CL - Justin Novak 8 pass from Mike Beehler (kick fail)
CL - Kevin Beehler 6 pass from M. Beehler (pass fail)
CL - Justin Novak 18 pass from M. Beehler (kick fail)
Ridge - Trent Traxler 15 pass from Justin Koenen (pass fail)
CL - Novak 18 pass from M. Beehler (Adam Stonacek kick)
Central Lakes
Team statistics
First downs: 18 ... Rushing: 18-54 ... Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 15-26-331-1 ... Fumbles lost: 1 ... Penalties: 5-30
Individual statistics
Rushing: Mike Beehler 5-(-23), Dennis Taute 6-36, Justin Novak 1-11, Alex Leach 5-31, Brandon Julius 1-(-1) ... Passing: Mike Beehler 15-26-331-1... Receiving: not available... Interceptions: Dustin Parker, Nick Kiphuth ... Fumble recoveries: Kyle Crozon
Ridgewater
Team statistics
First downs: 14 ... Rushing: 32-173 ... Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 6-10-69-2 ... Fumbles lost: 1 ... Penalties: 6-45
Individual statistics
Rushing: Alex McLaughlin 24-116, Nik Neubarth 2-20, Jake Wahl 4-14, Walter Rochet 2-23 . ... Passing: Justin Koenen 3-5-56-1, Rochet 3-5-13-1 ... Receiving: McLaughlin 1-4, Trent Traxler 1-15, Ricky Warren 1-12, Zach Thissen 1-10, Luke Euerel 1-10, Tim Newberg 1-20 ... Punting: not available ... Interceptions: Micah Oates-Jenkins ... Fumble recoveries: Jeff Kalow, Mickell Brown ... Tackles (solo-assist): Kalow 5-1, Brandon Torrey 3-2, Brett Dumke 4-0,, Travis Colgrove 2-0, Leon Sargent 3-0, Oates-Jenkins 3-3, Sonny Zahn 1-0, Justin Melhado 9-3, Brown 3-2, Joe Doubler 1-0, Trent Molacek 6-2, Matt Wold 5-5, Jusin Krassner 1-0, Torean Tubman 4-4 ... QB sacks: none
