NEW LONDON - You could say Adam Essler had a break-out game on Friday if the New London-Spicer senior back wasn’t doing similar things every week.
Essler ran for 250 yards and scored 5 touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 50-7 Wright County Conference win over Holy Family Catholic on Friday.
Essler scored on runs of 72, 38, 63, 46 and 3 yards as the Wildcats improved to 4-1 in the WCC and 6-1 overall.
The Wildcats finish the regular season against St. Peter at 7 p.m. Wednesday in New London.
NLS’ Ben Beuning carried just 5 times but 2 went for TDs on runs of 10 and 6 yards.
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Wildcats’ quarterback Ryan Vraa attempted just 8 passes and hit 4 for 78 yards. But one was a long strike to Jarrett Hatlestad to set up an Essler TD run late in the first half and he also connected with Shane Zylstra on two 2-point conversions.
Trey Austvold made 8 tackles and Beuning was in on 7 stops.
Colten Henjum intercepted 2 passes and James Magnuson and Austvold both recovered fumbles. Eric Schneider and Zach Swigerd both had quarterback sacks.
NLS 50, HF Catholic 7
HFC (1-4, 2-5) 0 0 0 7 - 7
NLS (4-1, 6-1) 16 20 14 0 - 50
N – Adam Essler 72 run (Ryan Vraa pass to Shane Zylstra)
N – Ben Beuning 6 run (Essler run)
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N – Essler 38 run (Vraa pass to Zylstra)
N – Essler 63 run (conversion failed)
N – Essler 3 run (conversion failed)
N – Beuning 10 run (Brett Olson kick)
N – Essler 46 run ( Olson kick)
H – Charlie Lacy 35 pass from Hank Hopkins (Allison Aubrey kick)
Holy Family Catholic
Team statistics
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First downs: 14 … Rushing: 45-350 … Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 4-8-78-0 … Fumbles lost: 0 … Penalties: 3-44
Individual statistics
Rushing: Chazz Johnson 8-6, Hank Hopkins 9-21, Nick Hanscom 1-2, Charlie Lacy 7-8, Landon Kimm 2-(-1), Noah Hollen 2-8 … Passing: Hopkins 4-12-84-2 ... Receiving: Johnson 1-4, Lacy 2-47, Kimm 1-33
New London-Spicer
Team statistics
First downs: 7 … Rushing: 31-38 … Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 4-12-84-2 … Fumbles lost: 1… Penalties: 3-21
Individual statistics
Rushing: Adam Essler 17-250, Ben Beuning 5-36, Trey Austvold 7-29, Ryan Vraa 2-(-22), Alex Groff 1-22, Jarrett Hatlestad 8-27, James Magnuson 2-8, Hunter Sjoberg 3-0 … Passing: Vraa 4-8-78-0 ... Receiving: Shane Zylstra 2-21, Hatlestad 2-57 … Punting: NA … Interceptions: Colton Henjum 2 … Fumble recoveries: Magnuson, Austvold … Tackles (solo-assist): Austvold 6-2, Beuning 4-3, Ethan Parsons 4-1, Luke Gould 3-0, Austin Adams 3-1, Eben Pederson 2-1, Joarod Vossen 2-1, Ben Tiffany 5-1, Jared Travis 2-1, Kellon Knutson 1-4, Eric Schneider 1-0, Zach Swigerd 2-0, Groff 3-0, Ricky Mendoza 0-1, Magnuson 0-1, Regan Rice 2-1 … QB sacks: Schneider 1, Swigerd 1
