By Paul Christian
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

BYRON -- There have been a number of very good running backs in the long history of Rochester Lourdes football. Names like Alex Roman, Darryl Connelly, Sam Schmitz, Mike Osborn and Tim Marx ring a bell.

A gallery of photos from the game

But for one night at least, they're all playing second fiddle to Adam Lentz, a junior who set the school rushing record of 291 yards Tuesday night in the Eagles' 46-14 win over Byron in a Section One, Class AAA quarterfinal.

Not only did Lentz beat the record Tuesday night, he smashed it. Osborn held the previous mark of 255 yards on 21 carries against Cannon Falls in 1993. Osborn also had 249 yards in 1992 against Wabasha-Kellogg; Marz rushed for 247 in 1974 against Elgin; and Roman ran for 244 in 2007 against La Crescent.

"Alex Roman was a senior my freshman year, and I know how good of a back he was," said Lentz. "So this (record) is pretty cool. Actually, I haven't had any time to think about it, but I must say it's nice to be in the record book."

Lentz also scored five touchdowns, and now has 16 on the year. He scored on runs of 8, 55, 41 and 5 yards, and also set the tone for the night by catching a 46-yard touchdown on the second play of the Eagles' first possession.

Ten of his 18 carries were runs of 10-plus yards. One was a 50-yarder.

And all on a sloppy, muddy field.

"My cleats had worn down so I was able to switch shoes and cleats the day before with a teammate," Lentz said. "The field wasn't horrible, but you still have to take some short, choppy steps."

Lentz also made sure to credit his offensive line, and they were outstanding.

"Boy, they were great; even down the field, guys were all over blocking," he said. "That was nice to see. I can't say enough good things about them. They sure make my job of running the ball much easier."

The line consists of Jacob Lacey at left tackle, Jeff Bowers at left guard, Zach Muehlenbein at center, Brian Wasz at right guard, John Dube at right tackle, and Alex Kapraun at tight end; the blocking fullback is David Kenney.

Kapraun also intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble.

"Any time a kid sets a school record, it all starts up front," said Lourdes coach Mike Kesler. "Those guys had a heck of a game. They've come a long way."

For the season, Lentz has rushed for 1,278 yards on 150 carries, a lofty 8.5 yards-per-carry average. That also comes out to an average of 142 yards per game.

His 1,278 yards pushes him into third all-time at Lourdes, passing Osborn, who rushed for 1,245 in 1993.

Lentz has led the Eagles in rushing every game this season, and has gone over the century mark the last five times. Only twice has he been held under 100, and now has rushed for back-to-back games of over 200. Last week against Lake City he had 215 yards.

Byron and Lourdes played less than a month ago, with the Bears winning that one, 10-7.

At the time, it was the third straight loss for the Eagles, who were held to 146 total yards.

"It was the low point of the season for us," said Kesler. "The next game we came together in the second half against Zumbrota-Mazeppa and have been a different team ever since."

No one expected Tuesday's blowout, especially with the teams so evenly matched. Byron was the fourth seed and Lourdes No. 5.

Lourdes scored on all six of its first-half possessions and built a 40-0 halftime lead. It was 46-0 in the third quarter before the reserves finished up.

"We talked about a fast start, and came out ready to play," said Kesler. "I have to credit our seniors for that.

"We started to feed off the momentum. I've never seen a Lourdes team play a better half of football."

On Lourdes' first TD, senior quarterback Tyler Greguson broke two tackles and scrambled to his right, where he found Lentz in the end zone for a 36-yard TD. With Lourdes leading 14-0, Byron had a pass play to the Eagles 1 called back by penalty.

"I'm not saying those two plays would have changed the outcome, but they were sure big," said Byron coach John Austinson. "Who knows. Fourteen to seven, it might have changed things a little.

"Lourdes was able to capitalize on our mistakes all night, and we couldn't tackle Lentz when he made his cutbacks."

Byron finished 6-3, and had its five-game winning streak snapped.

"We're young," Austinson said. "We were 2-7 last year and are on the right track to get us back in contention."

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