Staff Blog

Actions speak louder than words.

Marcus Hendrickson was playing with one shoulder Saturday afternoon. In the Luther defensive scheme, which requires your linebackers to make a lot of tackles, that's usually not a good thing. Hendrickson had the opportunity to make some plays but since he was favoring his right shoulder, he couldn't tackle the way we're used to see him tackle. We've even questioned on the broadcast whether or not he was hurting the team, while giving him credit for being out there. Fortunately, we were wrong.

Towards the end of the third quarter, while the Beavers were driving Hendrickson read a slant pass to the right side like a book, picked it off and had nothing but green grass in front of him and scored the second defensive touchdown in as many weeks for the Norse. Then late in the ballgame, while Buena Vista was driving again, in deep middle pass coverage, Hendrickson was able to pick off a Chris Hawkins pass and seal the victory. Cliche alert-Big time players make big time plays. For the final homecoming that a member of the Hendrickson family participates in at Luther, it was definately a memorable day. Props to Hendrickson on a fine ballgame while playing far less than 100 percent.

While the plays Marcus made were huge, it thought there were two key turning points in the game. Late in the first half, Rahn Franklin Jr. intercepted a Justy Feldt pass at the Beaver 48. Before that, our sideline reporter Mike Owens stated Mike Tangen was on the sidelines talking to his teammates about needing to make a play. Well, Tangen, your senior co-captain, proved he wasn't just talk, he went out and picked off the next pass, leading to a drive for a field goal to make 14-11 Beavers at the half. If that doesn't happen you're talking a drastically different ballgame.

Turning point number two: The fourth down stand on the Beavers' first possession of the second half. They had a second and three from the Luther 33. The next three plays no gain, one yard, no gain. Coach Benny Boyd talked to us at halftime about the need to be more physical. That fourth down stand brought the physicality out in the defense. It seemed to crescendo after that point on both sides of the ball. Buena Vista scores there, totally different ballgame. Defense rose to the occassion, leading to a Norse score, a lead they would never relinguish.

Obvious point of the day, the running game. Tyler Sherden broke the 40 year school record for most yards in a game with 269. The offensive line was challenged after last week's subpar performance in the running game against Loras. Again, they rose to the occassion. You give Sherden and short of whole, positive things happen. Tyler had his choice of many through out the day.

Three wins in a row, positivity about the program. Underrated point of the day. The second straight game Luther won by winning the fourth quarter. The Norse players both offensively and defensively had the stamina to last and pull out the victory. Props to strength and conditioning coach Cody Teslow for assisting in that process.

Last point, with the win this group of seniors became the first group of seniors in the last 25 years to beat every team in the Iowa conference. That's an accomplishment that can't be understated. That's proof that the talk of being about victories and not about playing close to teams is more than just talk. Action speak louder than words. The action of Saturday is still echoing through out the Oneota Valley.

Published Sunday, October 14, 2007 at 11:35 AM by Darin Svenson

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Actions speak louder than words.

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