NICOLLET -- Grand Meadow fell hard from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 26-7 loss to Nicollet on Friday night.
Not only did the Grand Meadow Superlarks drop out of first-place in the Southern Confederacy, but they also two of their top players. Zac Benson went down with a separated shoulder and Justin Olson was hurt on the first series of the game.
Adam Schlee returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown and that was it offensively for Grand Meadow. The Superlarks only mustered 100 yards in total offense on the night.
The Nicollet Raiders took control of the game with 20 points in the second quarter. Jamie Mettler caught three touchdown passes from Raiders quarterback Jeff Zimmerman to break the game open.
"It was a really windy night and they had the wind in the first quarter, but we didn't give up any points," Grand Meadow coach Gary Sloan said. "They scored early in the second quarter, then we lost a fumble on the next series and they quickly scored to take the lead."
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Things went from bad to worse on the next series as Benson separated his shoulder on a running play. After an 8-yard gain, Benson got tackled late out-of-bounds and was injured. He didn't return and went to the hospital.
"We couldn't do much offensively with our top guys out," Sloan said. "Benson had been sick before the game and then he went down. They dominated the game and beat us up pretty good."
Brady Lorenzen came in for Benson and he'll be the quarterback for the remainder of the regular season. Benson will likely be out for a month with his shoulder injury.
Grand Meadow (4-1, 3-1) host Granada-Huntley-East Chain-Martin Luther next Friday for homecoming.
NICOLLET 26, GRAND MEADOW 7
scoring by quarters
Grand Meadow 7 0 0 0 -- 7
; Nicollet 0 20 0 6 -- 26
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; FIRST quarter
GM -- Adam Schlee 87 kickoff return (Bryan Peck kick), 11:46.
SECOND quarter
N -- Jamie Mettler 2 pass from Jeff Zimmerman (kick missed), 11:18.
N -- Mettler 11 pass from Zimmerman (run failed), 10:02.
N -- Mettler 3 pass from Zimmerman (Mettler pass from Zimmerman), 4:00.
FOURTH quarter
N -- Cody Wilking 7 run (pass failed), 4:08.
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GM GH
; First downs 5 19
; Total scrimmage yards 100 401
; Total yards rushing 97 210
; Total yards passing 3 191
; Passes attempted 14 27
; Passes completed 2 17
; Passes had intercepted 1 1
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; 100 yard rushers -- NIC, Cody Wilking 30-146.
