The New Ulm Eagles Football team started their first round of playoffs Tuesday night after a 5-3 season, playing Saint Peter on home turf. The game was scheduled to start at 7 p.m., hoping for no weather delays. With the score ending 16-15, the Eagles will move on to round 2 of the 23′ playoffs in Hutchinson, Saturday at 3 p.m.

The Eagles haven’t had a home playoff game in over 20 years. After a mostly successful season, the team was definitely excited going into this game, knowing they had been undefeated at home all season. Senior Colton Benson said, “This has been one of the best seasons I’ve had in my football career. I am so happy that I got to be a part of this team. We owe a lot of our wins and successes this season to our head coach, Derek Lieser and I am looking forward to our next game against the Hutchinson Tigers this Saturday.”

The Eagles cheer team powered through the rain with the boys on Tuesday. Senior Daneysa Flores said, “It was definitely tough to keep going through this game because of the cold and pouring rain. It did get a lot easier to keep our spirits up once we started scoring.”

Ethan Lieb scored the first points of the game with a 27-yard field goal and James Osborne had a 24-yard touchdown pass from Quarterback Ayden Jensen giving the Eagles a towering lead going into the second half.

The Saints ended up scoring 15 points in the second half leaving the score at 10-15 with only a few minutes left in the game. However, the Eagles did not give up and came into the 4th quarter with great defense and an amazing touchdown by James Osborne giving the Eagles the lead by 1 point.

The Eagles football and Cheer team celebrated their win as the Saint Peter Saints said goodbye to their 23-24′ season. The Eagles celebrated their first playoff win in over 20 years by going home to do their homework to return to school the next morning due to a Tuesday night game.