ELGIN — No excuses.
That was the sentiment delivered by Rochester Lourdes football coach Mike Kesler following his team's 48-21 loss to Plainview-Elgin-Millville on Friday night.
"They beat us in every phase, took it to us for four quarters," Kesler said. "They won the battle at the line on both sides of the ball. They were clearly looking forward to this game, and we didn't respond to it. They came to play and did a great job."
The Bulldogs snapped Lourdes' 19-game winning streak and improved to 5-2. The P-E-M victory suddenly makes the Section One, Class AAA playoff picture very cloudy. Both Lourdes (6-1) and Tri-City United (6-1) suffered their first loss of the season Friday.
Chase Rahman turned in another incredible performance. The P-E-M back carried the rock 27 times for 235 yards and three touchdowns. Rahman also threw for a touchdown on a halfback pass.
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"Our guys really came to play," P-E-M coach Kevin Lamb said. "It was our homecoming and they played with a lot of intensity. ... Our offensive line played well. They really stepped up. We've got some younger guys who have been playing minutes and they played with confidence."
Turnovers proved costly for the Eagles. They lost a pair of fumbles and threw two interceptions.
"The early turnovers really hurt," Kesler said. "It started from the first play. We missed a wide-open guy and then turned the ball over on the next play. There is no other way to say it, zero excuses, they took it to us."
P-E-M's offense was nearly unstoppable. The Bulldogs chewed up clock and finished with 516 yards total.
Lourdes had 307 yards.
Eagles running back Mason Carstens was held to a season-low 143 yards rushing on 17 carries. He scored one rushing touchdown. Carter Greguson added 36 yards rushing, and he led Lourdes pass-catchers with three receptions for 75 yards.
In addition to Rahman, Ike Breuer also had a big game for P-E-M. Breuer rushed for 69 yards and had 24 yards receiving. He scored a rushing touchdown and caught a 10-yards pass from Brady Ziebell for another score.
Rahman put the Bulldogs up early with his 32-yard rushing touchdown, but Carstens answered back with a 6-yard score of his own.
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Rahman scored on the final play of the first quarter on a 22-yard run. But again Lourdes came back, this time with Jake Muehlenbein returning a fumble 45 yards for a score.
But P-E-M scored two more times before the halftime. Rahman broke off a 25-yard touchdown run then tossed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Bailey Herber with 43 seconds remaining in the first half to give the Bulldogs a 28-13 halftime edge.
Jacob Johnson's 23-yard score to close the third quarter gave the Bulldogs a comfortable 35-13 lead heading into the final frame. Greguson scored early in the third, but the Breuer's two touchdowns late helped the Bulldogs pull away.
"It's a big rivalry; we have a lot of respect for those Lourdes coaches and players," Lamb said. "It's pretty easy to get fired up for them."
Lourdes QB Noah Hillman completed 6 of 19 pass attempts for 104 yards and two interceptions. ZIebell tossed for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Lourdes wraps up the regular season at home against Stewartville on Friday, while P-E-M is at Byron.
