MANKATO — Mankato East figured out how to bend Rochester Mayo Friday night. Breaking the Spartans was quite another matter.
Despite putting up 379 yards of total offense, the Cougars found the Wolverton Field end zone only once and lost their homecoming game 28-7.
“We could not put together the drives we needed,” coach Dave Frisell said. “Our big plays were not big enough.”
Running back Kenthen King carried the ball 22 times for 168 yards (a 7.6-yard average) and East’s lone score, and quarterback Jordan Benesh had 159 yards passing. However, the Cougars missed a field goal and turned the ball over on downs three times in five trips inside the Spartans 20-yard line.
“We’re so close, but I think the kids don’t realize how close we are,” Frisell said.
East outplayed Mayo throughout the first half, possessing the ball for 71⁄2 more minutes than the Spartans and getting a pair of acrobatic interceptions from linebacker Steve Willaert and safety Nate Roberts. Roberts’ pick led to the Cougars’ touchdown with 1:45 remaining in the second quarter.
King set up his score with a 47-yard run to the 6-yard line.
However, that made the score 14-7, as the Spartans scored touchdowns on two big plays.
On the fourth play of the game, linebacker Drew Block jumped a Benesh swing pass along the line of scrimmage and took it 66 yards for the game’s opening score.
On the first play of the second quarter — only the fifth offensive play of the game for Mayo — running back Aaron Burt sprinted 51 yards for a touchdown.
Burt carried the ball 21 times for 168 yards and added a 4-yard touchdown run to finish off a nine-play 54-yard drive to start the third quarter.
Mayo gained 313 yards in total offense.
“Defensively, our kids played hard and smart,” Frisell said. “We put in a new defense on Monday, and they played outstanding.”
But the coach was disappointed with his offense, which drove the ball to the Mayo 16-, 28-, 7- and 1-yard lines before turning it over on downs.
Those drives featured big plays, including a 45-yard kickoff return by Derrik Kraft in the second quarter, a 48-yard pass from Benesh to Roberts in the third quarter and a 29-yard run by King in the fourth, but the speedier and stronger Spartans were able to make some touchdown-saving tackles.
“Those are plays we didn’t finish off,” Frisell said. “We don’t get anything easy, and we’re not going to if we don’t get bigger, stronger and faster.”
Roberts finished with four catches for 102 yards.
Kraft led the Cougars defense with 13 tackles. Linebacker Nick Ackerman had 11.
East (2-3, 1-3 in Big Nine) will play again Friday at Austin.
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