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Luther High School football coach Jon Benrud did his best to quote Murphy’s Law when discussing Friday’s season-opening 35-20 loss at Rushford-Peterson.

“If something bad could happen, it did happen,” Benrud said.

Luther finally built some positive momentum trailing 14-0 late in the first quarter. Brad Severson converted a fourth-and-one at his own 37-yard line for a 28-yard gain, setting the stage for a Joey Leibl 23-yard touchdown pass to Dave Bartels about two minutes in the second quarter. Kurt Stratman sent the ensuing kickoff into the end zone, with a five-yard penalty moving the Trojans even farther back.

But on the next play from scrimmage, Trojans running back Cody Frick went 85 yards for an answering score. Benrud said the well-executed play included a crackback on the closest linebacker and cornerback, with the Knights safety on that side of the field getting caught in traffic. Luther was not within one score again.

“The field position was crazy,” Benrud said. “Every time we turned around we were in a bad situation. We simply just weren’t ready in a few spots.”

That didn’t include Leibl, a sophomore who was making his first varsity start at quarterback. Leibl entered the game with much more varsity athletic experience than the typical sophomore, however, as the starting varsity point guard in basketball last winter and as the 11th man on this summer’s Bi-State Legion baseball team. Luther opted not run any option in the first half to help keep Leibl in the game.

“He had the one interception, but he made good decisions,” Benrud said. “He did well with the option reads in the second half.

“Our zone blocking is starting to come along, but it’s a slow process. Once we figure it out, we’ll do pretty well on a consistent basis on offense. It’s going to take a couple of games.”

The target date for that and any changes to be at 100 percent efficiency would appear to be two weeks from Friday, when the Knights open Three Rivers North Conference play against Dover-Eyota. Unlike a year ago, when Luther had to win six games overall to reach the playoffs, they only have to go 3-2 in their five league games this fall, Benrud said. The D-E game begins a five-week stretch of conference games for the Knights.

In addition to Leibl, the other Luther back who got a bump from the increased use of the option in the second half was senior Charlie Harter, who rushed for 40 yards on nine 2nd-half carries. Benrud thinks Harter would be able to withstand the two-way workload as an option back and linebacker.

“He was one of our bright spots Friday,” Benrud said. “He’s gotten stronger and leaner since last year, so I think he could handle that. He lifted all summer long.”

No. 3 running back Cody Krueger scored his first career varsity touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. Ryan Horstman and Ben Hansen had tackles for loss for the Knights.

Things won’t get any easier for Luther Friday, hosting Southland at 7 p.m. Southland beat the Knights 48-6 a year ago, and run frequently out of both double-wing and wishbone sets.

“We’re going to have to do a better job of tackling than we did Friday,” Benrud said. “Big backs always seem to cause us trouble.”

RUSHFORD-PETERSON 35, LUTHER 20

First quarter

R-P — Mark Agrimson 2 run (Logan Brand kick), 7:18

R-P — Matt Agrimson 11 run (Brand kick), 9:58

Second quarter

Lut — Dave Bartels 23 pass from Joey Leibl (Kurt Stratman kick failed), 2:13

R-P — Cody Frick 85 run (Brand kick), 2:28

R-P —.Frick 34 pass from Zach Miner (Brand kick), 11:33

Third quarter

R-P — Mar. Agrimson 18 run (Brand kick), 5:56

Fourth quarter

Lut — Cody Krueger 3 run (Stratman kick), 3:58

Lut — Chase Straseske 3 run (Stratman kick), 11:43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Lut — Charlie Harter 16-69, Brad Severson 16-54, Leibl 13-52, Krueger 6-20-1, Staseske 2-6-1, Joe Rushlow 1-0; R-P — Frick 3-93-1, Mat. Agrimson 6-62-1, Mar. Agrimson 8-49-2, Kasey Olloff 1-2, Steven Koenen 3-(-6), Miner 2-(-7), Blake Erickson 4-(-7)

Passing: Lut — Leibl 4-7-1-1-40; R-P — Koenen 3-7-0-0-37, Miner 1-2-1-0-34

Receiving: Lut — Bartels 1-23-1, Harter 1-8, Mitch Cook 1-6, Brandon Balfanz 1-3; R-P — Frick 1-34-1, Brand 1-22, Brian Eggert 1-12, Mat. Agrimson 1-3

Kickoffs: Lut — Stratman 3-152, Caleb Schultz 1-43; R-P — Brand 6-270