By Bruce Thein 

The Clayton Ridge Eagles (2-3/4-3) faced a tough test Friday night against Class A powerhouse Saint Ansgar (5-0/7-0) falling 55-8 on Friday, October 10 in Saint Ansgar. The Saints jumped out to an early 19-0 first quarter lead and never looked back as senior running back Corben Michels led Saint Ansgar with 204 rushing yards on 14 carries and four touchdowns. 

Senior quarterback Seth Kregel led the offense with a strong effort through the air, completing 23 of 37 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown. Kregel’s top targets included senior Colton Hoeger, who hauled in five catches for 74 yards and a 42 yard touchdown strike, while Kasten Oberbreckling added six receptions for 41 yards. 

Defensively, senior Gabe Cook led the team in tackles with eight including one from behind the line of scrimmage, while Kregel added seven stops. Oberbreckling was third in tackles with five and sophomore Wyatt Parker chipped in with four solo tackles. 

Despite the score, the Eagles showed effort on both sides of the ball as they faced one of the more balanced and dominate rushing attacks in the state. The Eagles will look to regroup next week as they push for a strong finish to the regular season. 

Next up will be the final regular season game as they face the Nashua-Plainfield Huskies (6-1) on Friday, October 17 in Guttenberg. The Huskies lone loss was 36-0 defeat against Saint Ansgar.