New Ulm High School’s Preston Holberg is solidifying himself as the Eagles’ starting quarterback.

Holberg led New Ulm to a 27-7 road win over Albert Lea this past Friday.

In Week 1 at home, Holberg threw for 162 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-14 win over Belle Plaine.

Friday night he threw for 109 yards, added three more touchdown passes and rushed for 68 yards and a score in the road win over the Tigers.

“Every game he is reaffirming the decision that we made to move him from a receiver/running back to that quarterback spot,” New Ulm head coach Derek Lieser said. “He made some throws that you are not expecting a quarterback in his second career varsity start to make.

“He is doing a nice job leading our offense — he is putting guys in position to be successful — he gave our receives the opportunity to make the plays. He has made some really impressive throws.”

Lieser said that Holberg and wide receiver Zach Hubbard work well together. Two of Holberg’s touchdown passes went to Hubbard.

“We try and scheme up different ways to get Zach the ball and the opportunity to make plays,” Lieser said. “Zach shows his natural athletic ability on the field — you can see that natural center fielder in him in baseball. Zach also made some nice plays on the defensive side of the ball too — he had some pass breakups. Both him and Preston have a good connection.”

Lieser added that Holberg and Jamison Portner again hooked up for a 40-yard gain.

“I have been pleasantly surprised how efficient we have been in our passing game,” Lieser said.

And the Eagles’ defense did not give up a score until it was 20-0.

“Our defensive line all did a really nice job and our linebacking core really made a lot of tackles,” Lieser said, “Ian Brudelie led our team in tackles and Sam Ibberson and Bodee Schmiesing and Dirk Haynes all played well. Our defensive line creates havoc up front and that allows our linebackers to make tackles. I think that that made it hard for Albert Lea’s offensive line to gain any footing.”

The Eagles’ defense, that forced six turnovers against Belle Plaine, forced two more turnovers against Belle Plaine.

“And our defense made a number of key stops on fourth down.”

Lieser said that the biggest improvement from last week to this week was their start.

“We fell behind 7-0 last week but Friday we were up 13-0 after the first quarter. And we did not allow the big play — we made them earn everything. And offensively we are finding our identity. Defensively we knew that we had key players back. We are 2-0 now, but we have to get better each day.”

CHARGERS DEFENSE KEYS WIN

Minnesota Valley Lutheran head football coach Jim Buboltz said he was very happy with the performance of his defense in their 18-6 win over Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Friday night.

“They hung there all night,” he said. “They bent a little bit at times but never really broke. And when we needed them to come up they did. They had a couple of late fourth-down stops in the fourth quarter which helped get us back the ball and get rid of their momentum. They stood up in the toughest times.”

Buboltz felt that the Chargers defense wore out the Knights offense in the game.

“That is the whole idea of pounding the football,” he said. “If you can control the line of scrimmage on the offensive side, you start to se similarities on the defensive side. That worked to our advantage [Friday].”

Buboltz said that having Caleb Hunter back defensively at linebacker.

“He is coming off of knee injuries the last two years,” Buboltz said. “He has worked his way back when he easily could have gave up — he has had two knee injures already by the way you are 16 years old — and yet his stick-to-itiveness is there. He had 18 tackles and a fumble recovery against Lake Crystal. And Luke Merseth at the defensive end has shown us a lot in the first two weeks.”

Offensively Buboltz said that Connor Bode has had two nice games at running back.

“He has 200 yards combined in the first two games. Those are nice surprises and they are all juniors — we only have six seniors on the team.”

GREYHOUNDS GET

STRONG VICTORY

New Ulm Cathedral head football coach Denny Lux said that Friday’s 18-8 win over Cedar Mountain was a confidence-builder after an opening week 28-14 loss to a strong Edgerton team the week before.

“When you can go out there and cover the receivers and the pass routes that Cedar Mountain runs, you feel good about that going into the next game and into the season,” he said. “Because I have a lot of respect for the Cedar Mountain coaching staff and what they do with their guys. It was an awesome win for the team and a really good game for our defense — they all played really well.”

Lux said that started with pressure on Cougars quarterback Carson Schiller.

“He is a three-year starter, so he knows what he is doing back there,” Lux said. “He is going to deliver the ball on the mark if you do not get some pressure on him. And we had a game plan where we wanted to keep Blake Steffl from hurting us too much.”

One of the key parts of that Greyhounds’ defense was linebacker Joe Gillis.

“He has been a solid player for us,” Lux said about Gillis. “He started playing about on the varsity about halfway through his freshman year. He just loves football — he has the energy for football — he loves the game. He is a player who does not see the blockers at all, he just runs to the ball and everything else is invisible.”

Lux said that Gillis grew up playing football with his older brothers.

“He understands the feel of the game and can feel where the ball is going to go,” Lux said. “He has that football DNA — with him in the middle of things it ignites a lot of guys around him.”