Staff Blog

Wow

As I sit here and do my Sunday morning blogging, I wonder where to begin about Saturday's 47-41 double overtime win over Simpson. One things for sure, my voice will probably be a little raspy for the majority of the week as I perform my news and sports duties at KDEC radio (my real job). Hopefully I'll be ready for gameday next week.

First things first, what a great way to go out at Carlson Stadium for 27 seniors and for assistant coach Bob Naslund. 27 seniors is a pheoneominal total for a division three football program. It is the largest senior class in the Iowa conference, with only Buena Vista and Dubuque having more than 20 fourth-year players. That means, the coaching staff has done a very good job of making sure everyone feels like they're involved. That means everyone from Tyler Sherden down to the seniors playing junior varsity. Not only do you have to give the coaching staff credit for this, but the kids themselves. Many have been patient and waited for their opportunity to get quality time, for example quarterback Justy Feldt. When players decide to play college football, some will decide if they're not getting rewarded right away they won't stick around. You haven't seen that with the Luther program. That says a lot about the players as people and is a lesson they can take with them post-graduation.

Bob Naslund has now been involved in 433 football games at Luther. He told us after the game few have been more exciting than that. In typical Nas fashion, off the air he told me there was never a doubt and he just wanted the afternoon to last longer with all the nice things people were saying about him. In all seriousness, Bob Naslund is Luther football. I'll even take it to the next level. Bob Naslund is Luther College. I've been around sports in a professional manner for 13 years. There are few people I've ever met that are more dedicated to young people than Nas. And I not only say that about athletes, he cares about the whole individual. There are many that are good coaches in their respective sports. The great coaches make better players and better people. Bob Naslund is one of those. The fact that he's an enternal teenager makes his job a lot easier. To go along with coach Nas' dedication to Luther, you also have to credit his family. His wife Ann, son Mike and daughters Jenni and Laura, son-in-laws Ben and Perry and grandkids. The type of dedication Bob has given to Luther wouldn't be possible without a great family.

To the game. We've run out of superlatives to describe Tyler Sherden. 40 carries, 297 yards and five touchdowns. A new single game record. A new single season record with a game to play. To go along with that credit the offensive line, Big Tex Allen, Jon Stavast, John Stoltenberg, Kyle Grundmeyer, Sam Curtis, Ben Schott and Phil Sadler. They will likely get another meal from Sherden for another great performance. As one offensive linemen told me after the game, Tyler's gonna be awfully poor if these performances continue. More credit related to the running game. Andy Lauer will never get the stats but if there is a better blocking fullback in the Iowa Conference, I haven't seen him. Also, the blocking of the wide receivers has been excellent as well, something that has been emphasized from day one this year by receivers coach Tom Krambeer. Bottom line, Tyler Sherden's name will be in the record books and deservingly so. But it was an entire team effort to get the job done.

Also, the Norse did just enough else on offense to help with their success. Justy Feldt was 11-19 for 96 yards, but threw no picks. The numbers aren't headline makers, but provided enough to assist the offense with their success. Feldt also threw two touchdowns and got guys like Jesse Kent, Alex Torrissi and Tony Brantner involved. Sherden was the focus of the offense. But the Norse got enough other people involved so the Storm defense had to respect all aspects, leading to more success for the running game.

Defensively, if you look at the stats it was enough to give you a headache. 430 yards and 41 points is usually not good enough for a defense. But key plays at key times were made Saturday. Twice when the Storm was inside the red zone the defense held them to field goals. Without that there would have been no overtime. Also in the fourth quarter when the score was tied, Simpson had all the momentum before Darrick Olson recovered an Adam Reutzel fumble. At that time, it didn't lead to a score, but it was at a time in the game where it allowed the field position to change. It led to two possession later the Norse scoring and only having to go 50 yards to do it. Also in the second overtime, Simpson threw three incompletions before missing the field goal. Two plays that the Storm had success with, the slant and the screen, were knocked down by Justin Reitsma and Alex Mearrow. Also, on the making key plays at key times front, credit must be given to punter Andrew Burkle. He struggled through out parts of the afternoon, but in the fourth quarter when the Norse needed boomers he got the job done, not giving the Storm a short field to work with.

It was a full team victory to get win number five Saturday. Now it's the season finale at Dubuque, a team that showed some kinks in the armor Saturday with a 35-14 loss at Buena Vista. A win will give the Norse a tie for third in the league. A loss and it's most likely a fifth place finish. The Norse will try to win six of its last seven games to close out the season. Says a lot after an 0-3 start to give themselves an opportunity like this.

Published Sunday, November 4, 2007 at 10:41 AM by Darin Svenson

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