Football: Cards fall to Otters

• Telles

Echo Press photo by Arlan Anderson Mitch Telles was caught between a pair of Fergus Falls defenders during Wednesday’s home loss to the Otters. Alexandria fell in a close defensive battle 7-3.

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It was a defensive battle at its best, culminating in a total of 10 points between two teams as the Cardinal football team hosted undefeated Fergus Falls Wednesday.

And it looked as if the Otters would suffer their first loss as Alexandria held a 3-0 lead until 1:47 remaining in the game.

It was then that Fergus Falls put together a 13-play, 86-yard drive that ended in a one-yard touchdown run by Matt Mithaugen.

Alexandria got the ball back with 1:40 left on the clock, but were unable to go the length of the field for the go-ahead score, ending their bid for an upset.

“It was the best defensive outing for the Cardinals so far this season, holding the high-powered Otter offense to seven points” said Alexandria coach Mike Empting of his squad’s efforts, which also included two key interceptions, a fumble recovery and two quarterback sacks.

Alexandria grabbed the lead in the second quarter as Charlie Warnes kicked a 38-yard field goal.

The Cardinal defense, which got interceptions from Dillon Kelly and Zac Beireis, one of those in the end zone, allowed Otter quarterback Derek Hansen to hit 10-of-18 passes for 125, but Alexandria got key stops when they needed them.

Hansen was also sacked twice by Walker Giroux, with Steve Conley picking up a fumble recovery.

The Otter rushing game had 184 yards on 32 carries in the game.

GAME SCORECARD

FERGUS FALLS 0 0 0 7 7

ALEXANDRIA 0 3 0 0 3

FIRST QUARTER

No scoring.

SECOND QUARTER

ALEX – Charlie Warnes field goal.

THIRD QUARTER

No scoring.

FOURTH QUARTER

FF – Matt Mithaugen 1-yard run. Trevor Gervais kick.

ALEXANDRIA STATISTICS

8 first downs, 34-118 rushing, 3-39 passing, 0 fumbles lost, 2-10 penalties

RUSHING – Mitch Telles 16-71, Michael Joerger 9-32, Nathan Nelson 6-17, Colin Erickson 3-(-2). PASSING – Colin Erickson 3-8-39. RECEIVING – Mitch Telles 1-20, Michael Joerger 1-10, Connor Illies 1-9.

KICKING/PUNTING – Charlie Warnes 4 punts 32.3 yard average; 2 kickoffs for 53.5 yard average; 1-1 field goals (38 yards).

KICK/PUNT RETURNS – Charlie Olson 1 punt return/8 yards, 1 kick return/11 yards; Dillon Kelly 1 kick return/2yards.

DEFENSIVE - Dillon Kelly 11 tackles, 1 interception; Walker Giroux 7 tackles, 2 sacks; Steve Conley 9 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 pass break-up; Isaac Meyer 10 tackles; Charlie Olson 9 tackles, 1 pass break-up; Ross Thompson 6 tackles; Zac Beireis 3 tackles, 1 interception; Steve Carlsen 5 tackles, 1 quarterback hurry; Trevor Zolin 4 tackles; Karl Brezina 4 tackles; Craig Hedstrom 3 tackles.

FERGUS FALLS STATISTICS

13 first downs, 32-184 rushing, 10-18-125-1 passing, 1 fumble lost.

Tags: sports, football, alexandria, cardinal, fergus, falls