ALEXANDRIA - The Willmar Cardinals put together one of their best first-half performances in recent memory, but their 10-point lead at halftime wasn’t enough as Alexandria pulled out a 39-28 win on Friday in a North Central-Red District game.
Willmar senior quarterback Zach Radermacher was nearly perfect in the first half, completing 10 of 13 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. But under heavy pressure from Alexandria’s blitz packages, Radermacher completed only 42 percent (10-for-24) of his passes in the second half.
The fast start resulted in a 28-18 lead at intermission, but Alexandria’s offense was 3-for-3 on drives to open the second half, resulting in 21 unanswered points for the northern Cardinals.
Junior quarterback Jaran Roste scored on a 10-yard run early in the third quarter and put Alexandria up 32-28 six minutes later when he threw a 59-yard scoring strike to Brayden Amundson. Roste capped the scoring with a 25-yard TD pass to Micah Christenson 1:35 into the fourth quarter.
Roste finished 21 of 32 for 305 yards, while Radermacher was 20-for-37 to gain 253 yards. Roste threw for 171 yards in the second half after completing 10 of 11 passes.
Colten Carlson hauled in eight Radermacher completions for 128 yards and Max Doering nearly hit the century mark in yardage after catching seven passes for 96 yards. Carlson and Radermacher hooked up for a 50-yard score that gave Willmar a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter and Doering caught a 27-yard scoring strike early in the second quarter on a fourth-and-20 play.
Sam Kerfeld had two touchdowns on the ground for Willmar. The senior had a one-yard score to open the scoring and later scored from four yards out with 44 seconds left in the first half to give Willmar its 10-point advantage.
Nate Ackerman picked off Roste to set up Kerfeld’s first score.
Willmar (1-3) is at St. Cloud Apollo (1-3) for its Week Five contest. Alexandria (2-2) beat Apollo 70-33 last week.
Alexandria 39, Willmar 28
Willmar (1-3)..........................14 14 0 0 - 28
Alexandria (2-2)....................3 15 14 7 - 39
W – Sam Kerfeld 1 run (Ryan Liimatta kick)
W – Colten Carlson 50 pass from Zach Radermacher (Liimatta kick)
A – Zach Harstad 21 field goal
W – Max Doering 27 pass from Radermacher (Liimatta kick)
A – Jaran Roste 1 run (Harstad kick)
A – Micah Christensen 3 run (Roste run)
W – Kerfeld 4 run (Liimatta kick)
A – Roste 10 run (Harstad kick)
A – Brayden Amundson 59 pass from Roste (Harstad kick)
A – Christenson 25 pass from Roste (Harstad kick)
Willmar
First downs: 19 … Rushing: 37-68 … Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 20-37-253-2 … Fumbles lost: 0 … Penalties: 4-19
Rushing: Nate Ackerman 2-(-8), Colten Carlson 4-24, Sam Kerfeld 14-56, Zach Radermacher 17-(-4) … Passing: Radermacher 20-37-253-2 ... Receiving: Noah Slagter 1-7, Jarod Swoboda 4-22, Carlson 8-128, Max Doering 7-96 … Punting: Radermacher 4-(35.5) … Interceptions: Ackerman 1 … Fumble recoveries: Slagter 1 … Tackles (solo-assist): Collin Christianson 2-1, Slagter 1-0, Tate Hovland 3-4, Carlson 7-2, Tyler Johnson 2-8, Kerfeld 0-2, Breck Erickson 4-3, Ackerman 3-1, Trae Murphy 0-3, Austin Boller 2-7, Levi Akerson 1-2, Gunner Raths 0-2, Nate Lawrence 1-1, Justin Skaro 0-4, Louis Russell 1-2, Brady Reigstad 1-3, Swoboda 1-1, Brady Orsten 0-1 … QB sacks: Johnson 1
Alexandria
First downs: 20 … Rushing: 39-101 … Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 21-32-305-1 … Fumbles lost: 1 … Penalties: 3-25
Rushing: Jaran Roste 14-31, Micah Christensen 24-69 … Passing: Roste 21-32-305-1 ... Receiving: Brayden Amundson 6-108, Thomas Whiting 5-65, Spencer Hockert 5-52 … Punting: NA … Interceptions: NA
