South O’Brien ran up against a team that seems to be finding it’s stride. MMCRU got its second straight victory to even its record at 2-2 by beating South O’Brien 44-7 September 20 at Paullina. The Wolverines fell to 0-4 on the season and 0-2 in District play. Sibley-Ocheyedan leads Class A District 1 at 3-0 with Gehlen Catholic at 2-0, MMCRU and HMS each at 2-1, Akron-Westfield at 0-2 and Alta-Aurelia at 0-3.
“Friday, we struggled all evening against MMCRU,” commented South O’Brien head coach Mark Fuhrman. “We seemed a little flat during warmups and that proved to be obvious during the game.  At times we seemed to be unsure of ourselves and it showed during the game.”
The Royals led 22-0 at halftime. The Wolverines got their score in the third quarter as Brody Van Beek returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Derek Paulsen was true with his extra point kick. South O’Brien trailed 36-7 entering the fourth quarter.
South O’Brien was held to just 39 yards of offense, rushing for a net 27 yards and passing for 12. Jaden Kreber competed two of eight passes and Brady Riedemann one of three. Kreber also was intercepted twice. Reese Lundquist had a 13 yard reception. Jordan Jenness rushed for 27 yards on nine carries, Billy Lange 17 yards on nine attempts and Roman Harms 11 yards on nine totes. The team had 32 negative yards on the ground and lost two fumbles.
On the defensive side, Paulsen and Jenness each recorded five tackles. Carter Halverson made four stops and Caden Wittrock and Teagen Bahrenfuss notched three tackles apiece. Paulsen intercepted a pass.
MMCRU rushed for 270 yards and passed for another128.
The Wolverines travel to Alta Friday night to take on Alta-Aurelia. The Warriors are also 0-4 on the season after being shut out by Sibley-Ocheyedan 20-0. “This week we need to do a better job of getting ready to play,” said Fuhrman. “We have a great opportunity to get one in the win column but we need to focus on the basics. We need to improve as blockers and tacklers and we need to have a team effort.”
MMCRU
15 7 14 8 – 44
S. O’Brien
0 0 7 0 – 7