The New Prague Trojan football team lost its regular season finale to Owatonna Wednesday, Oct. 17, 55-13. The Trojans (1-7)  will open the Section 2AAAAA playoffs Tuesday, Oct. 23, as the No. 6 seed and travel to No. 3 seed Mankato West (7-1). 

The defending state champion Huskies, ranked No. 1 in Class AAAAA, took a quick lead, scoring on a 70-yard run on its first possession, then after an interception, scoring again to lead 13-0 before the game was two minutes old. They led 41-0 after one quarter and 55-0 at halftime. 

The New Prague Trojan volleyball team received the No. 3 seed for the Section 2AAA volleyball tournament, which begins Wednesday, Oct. 24. 
There are 11 teams in the section, and the top five seeds get first-round byes. After three play-in games on Wednesday, the top four teams will host quarterfinal games on Friday, Oct. 26. Semifinals are Tuesday, Oct. 30 and the championship game is Saturday, Nov. 3. All games will be played at the high seed except the championship game, which will be played at a neutral site. 

A two-vehicle accident sent a New Prague man to a local hospital on Monday, Oct. 15.
 
Kyle Pecholt, 24, was taken by Montgomery Ambulance to Mayo Clinic Health System Hospital after his 2015 Ford Fusion collided with a 2000 Kenworth Tractor Semi around 11:18 a.m. The crash occurred at the intersection of Highway 13/21 and County Road 28, north of Montgomery. 
 
The driver of the semi was Bruce Edward Lepage, 64, of Tomah, WI. He  was listed as wearing his seatbelt and not injured. Pecholt was also wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash.
 

Marlene “Gussie” Emmers, 80, passed away on October 14, 2018, at Methodist Hospital after an eight-year battle with kidney failure and being on dialysis. Visitation will be on Wednesday, October 17, 2018, from 9 to 10 a.m. with Mass of Christian burial at 10 a.m. all at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Le Center. Interment will be held in Calvary Cemetery in Le Center.
 

The first few minutes of each half spelled doom for the New Prague Trojans as they lost to Rochester Mayo 67-27 Friday evening, Oct. 12.  at Trojan Stadium. 

The Spartans scored three plays into the game on a 70-yard run, then after a New Prague fake punt was intercepted, the Spartans scored on a 5-yard run and then on a 75-yard run to take a 20-0 lead before the game was six minutes old. 

The Trojans battled back and scored twice, but Mayo continued to put up points and led 40-13 at the half. 

The New Prague Trojan girls tennis team made the long trip to Marshall for their first round match in the Section 2AA team tournament Tuesday, Oct. 4. The host Tigers, seeded No. 4, handed No. 5 seed New Prague a 6-1 defeat. New Prague’s only point came at No. 1 singles, where Jenna Larson won her match 6-4, 6-3.
The other three singles matches went to Marshall, with Libby Hummel forcing a third-set tiebreaker. Kianna Howard at No. 2 singles and Tess Girard at No. 4 singles both lost in straight sets.

The New Prague Trojan girls swim and dive team dropped a pair of Wright County Conference meets recently, and also competed in the St. Peter Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 29. The Trojans will host Delano Thursday, Oct. 11, for their final dual meet of the season.
Chargers 99, Trojans 86 New Prague’s Payten Scheffer and Ella Lund went 1-2 in the 500-yard freestyle in their meet at Dassel-Cokato Thursday, Sept. 27. Bailey Newman claimed first place in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:09.1 and Sarah Helvick placed first in the 100 breaststroke in 1:19.46.

With a five-set win over Waconia Tuesday, Oct. 9, the New Prague Trojan volleyball team has clinched at least a share of the Wright County Conference East championship.
The Trojans (15-7, 4-0 WCC East) will win the title outright with a win over Holy Family Catholic on Tuesday, Oct. 16. That is the final regular season home match for the Trojans, and will be played at New Prague Middle School due to floor maintenance scheduled to be done at the high school next week. Before that match, the Trojans compete in the Eastview Tournament Friday and Saturday, Oct. 12 and 13.

The Elko New Market Chamber of Commerce’s Candidate Forum drew 100 area residents interested in finding out about candidates for Elko New Market City Council and mayor, Minnesota House of Representatives District 20A and Scott County Sheriff. Held Thursday, Oct. 4, in the Elko New Market Library’s Community Room, the candidates provided information about themselves and answered several questions.

“Journalism Matters - Now more than ever.”
That is the theme for National Newspaper Week, which is being celebrated October 7-13. The New Prague Times joins newspapers across the nation in celebrating the free press and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which keeps the news media from government interference.

Boys Soccer - Rochester Mayo 5, New Prague 0
Girls Soccer - Owatonna 2, New Prague 1
Volleyball - New Prague 3, Waconia 2
Girls Swim/Dive - St. Peter 97, New Prague 84
Cross Country - Jordan Invitational
New Prague boys - 2nd of 12 teams
New Prague girls - 1st of 11 teams

New Prague firefighter Andrew Charnstrom, center, provides a hands on demonstration during the New Prague Fire Department’s Open House on Sunday, Oct. 7. While it was a cool fall day, a good sized crowd showed up for the event. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

For the first time since making the jump to Class AA, the New Prague Trojan boys and girls soccer teams both avoided the No. 8 seed for the Section 1AA playoffs. 
 
The girls team was seeded No. 6 in the eight-team section tournament. New Prague (6-8-2) will play at No. 3 seed Owatonna (9-6-1) at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9. 
 
The boys team (6-9-1) received the No. 7 seed and will face No. 2 seed Rochester Mayo (12-3-1) at 7 p.m. at Mayo. The Trojans have lost to the Spartans three consecutive times by 1-0 scores in the past two years. 
 

MnDOT released the following on its Twitter Page today (Saturday, Oct. 6) at about noon

OPEN EARLY! Hwy 19 in New Prague- Railroad crossing repairs completed early. The driving lanes are complete and the final layer of asphalt will be placed on the shoulders next week weather permitting.

MnDOT District 7 added,

Demonstrations on Dutch oven cooking were popular at the Scott County Autumn Fare on Saturday, Oct. 6. Held at the Scott County Fairgrounds the annual event had crowds gathering for warm food and drinks, plus there were many activities for families. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Betty Jane Neisen, age 93 of Belle Plaine, died Thursday, October 4, 2018 at the Belle Plaine Lutheran Home.  Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00 a.m. on Monday, October 8 at Our Lady of the Prairie Catholic Church in Belle Plaine.  Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, October 7 at the Kolden Funeral Home in Belle Plaine, and will continue one hour prior to Mass  at the church.  Interment will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Belle Plaine.