Hilltoppers overcome turnovers, Bulldogs for 28-19 victory
BOYCEVILLE – Despite turning the ball over three times, two of which the Bulldogs turned into touchdowns, and surrendering another six-point score on the second-half kick off, Glenwood City was able to prevail 28-19 over rival Boyceville in last Friday evening’s annual football clash played on the Bulldogs’ Evenson Field.
Although the final score may indicate otherwise, Glenwood City dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage in the September 25 showdown.
The Hilltoppers racked up 422 yards of total offense, including a season-high 181 yards of passing, while holding the host Bulldogs to just 126 yards in the contest.
“I thought we ran the ball well,” said Glenwood City head coach Shane Strong. “Boyceville is such a physical team when they play in the box, but we were able to throw the ball tonight and that was huge for us.”
“When they (Bulldogs) were playing soft coverage on us,” added Strong. “We were able to complete some passes and move the chains and that kind of opened up our running game a little bit.”
Five times during the game, Glenwood City was able to convert a third- or fourth-down play throwing the ball. In fact, all four of the Hilltoppers’ scores came about because of late-down pass completions and a fifth helped them salt away the contest.
That kind of success passing the ball easily explains Glenwood City’s ability to convert 7 of its 12 third down attempts (58.3 percent) and a whopping 3 out of 4 (75 percent) fourth-down tries. Boyceville, on the other hand, converted just 25 percent of its third-down attempts (4-16) and went 1 for 3 on fourth down (33.3 percent).
“They did an excellent job and pretty much took it right down our throat,” said Boyceville head coach Brian Roemhild of Glenwood City, who finished with 241 yards rushing compared to Boyceville’s 86.
“But offensively we weren’t very sound either. It took our guys a little while to get fired up and get going. But in the end, you look at the books and they had over 400 yards and we had 130 I think.”
Glenwood City senior quarterback Nick Schone outdueled his Boyceville counterpart, senior Hunter Anderson.
Schone completed a season-best 11 of 13 attempts for 181 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a game-clinching 55-yard score late in the fourth quarter. Intercepted in the Toppers’ first series of the game, Schone was nearly perfect after that.
Anderson gave the Bulldogs their only lead of the game on a one-yard plunge following a Glenwood City fumble in the first quarter but finished the game with just four completions and 40 yards on 13 throwing attempts.
“We wanted to make sure that Hunter (Anderson) did not beat us with his arm,” said Strong, adding, “I think he has the best arm in the Dunn-St. Croix. We knew we had to stop the run but we felt if we ran the ball well and scored we would put them in a position to throw and I think we were able to shut down the passing game and they weren’t able to throw the ball very much.”
But turnovers kept the Bulldogs in the contest and allowed them to pull to within just three points of the Hilltoppers in the final quarter, but it was not enough.
“We were able to create turnovers to give us opportunities and ended up capitalizing in the second half when we figured out what we wanted to do offensively but it just took too long to do it,” said Roemhild.
“We can’t turn the ball over when we are moving the ball down the field,” said Strong. “That is the one thing that we have to shore up.”
Adding that teams usually don’t win when they have three turnovers.
Glenwood City committed two of those faux paus during its first two offensive series of last Friday’s game.
Boyceville’s Hunter Lipke picked off an ill-advised and underthrown ball from Schone and ended Glenwood City’s promising first drive. After taking the opening kick off, Schone threw a 19-yard completion to Carson Strong and ran for nine yards. Jake Nelson rambled for ten yards and a first down just prior to the interception.
The Bulldogs took over on their own 38 and made a pair of first downs but were forced to punt after Hunter Anderson was sacked by the Toppers’ Nate Mrdutt and Allen Croes.
Anderson got off a nice 40-yard punt that was downed by Boyceville at the one yard line of Glenwood City.
In the shadow of its own goal, Glenwood City could ill afford a turnover but that is just what happened.
On the very first play, the Toppers lost the football on the exchange and Boyceville’s Sam Hellmann came up with the turnover at the four.
Morse ran the ball to the one on first down. After Hellmann was stopped for no gain on second down, Hunter Anderson called his own number and took the ball off tackle for the one-yard touchdown plunge. Jake Lake tacked on the point after kick to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead at 3:53.
Glenwood City’s third offensive possession proved to be the charm as did its fourth and fifth. The Hilltoppers rebounded from their two early turnovers and scored 22 unanswered points on three consecutive series to take a lead they would not relinquish.
Jake Nelson got things going with a nice 20-yard run on first down only to have much of the gain nullified by a block in the back penalty.
Undaunted, Glenwood City turned to its new found passing game to jumpstart the offense. Schone hit Nelson for a seven-yard gain and came right back with a pass to Carson Strong that covered 22 yards and took the Toppers inside Bulldog territory at the 47. Aided by a Boyceville offsides penalty, Jake Kopacz had back-to-back carries that netted seven yards and a first down.
Schone went back to Strong for another completion, this one for eight yards. Nelson then ran twice for three yards as the first quarter of play ended.
Kopacz ran for seven yards to open the second but was stopped for no gain on the very next play to leave the Toppers with a fourth down and two yards to go at the 17.
Following a timeout by the Toppers at 10:43, they handed the ball to Jake O’Meara who weaved his way for eight yards to set up a first and goal at the Bulldogs’ nine. O’Meara’s number was called again and the junior halfback ran for seven yards to the two. Schone scored from two yards out on the next play as Glenwood City cut the deficit to a point at 9:49. After a false start on the conversion backed the Toppers up five yards, Schone’s two-point pass completion to Marcus Ullom was ruled out of bounds as the Bulldogs clung to a 7-6 lead.
Boyceville got a break on the ensuing kickoff as Glenwood City’s boot went out of bounds giving the Bulldogs the ball at the 35.
Boyceville was forced to give back the ball after O’Meara broke through the Boyceville line and sacked Anderson for a 17-yard loss.
Glenwood City took possession at its own 43 following Hunter Anderson’s 33-yard punt.
Nelson gashed the Bulldogs with a 24-yard run down to the Boyceville 34. Two plays and one yard later, Schone went to the air and connected with a wide open Marcus Ullom, who was streaking down the middle of the field, for a 33-yard scoring strike that gave the Toppers their first lead with 5:59 left in the second quarter. Nelson ran in the conversion for a seven-point GC advantage at 14-7.
Boyceville advanced just three yards on its next series as it traded 5-yard penalties and had a pair of passes fall incomplete.
Glenwood City took over at its 18 following another Boyceville punt and quickly gained traction for a third straight scoring drive.
O’Meara opened the possession with a run of 12 yards. Two plays later, Strong hauled in a Schone pass and took it 26 yards to the Boyceville 44. An eight-yard O’Meara run followed by a 13-yard pass and catch from Schone to Nelson had the Toppers at the Bulldogs’ 23. O’Meara had back-to-back carries for three and six yards which set the stage for Jake Kopacz’ 14-yard run to paydirt on third and one. O’Meara added the two-point run to boost the Toppers’ lead to 22-7 with 2:06 remaining in the half.
Three straight incompletions led to yet another Boyceville punt.
Glenwood City, despite having a minute and a half left in the quarter to work for more points, run two plays and took a knee to run out the first-half clock.
“The one thing that I really liked is how we responded when they punched it in from the one and we came right back and scored three consecutive touchdowns,” said Glenwood City coach Shane Strong.
“But then we kind of let down and we can’t do that, we have to play four quarters.”
Boyceville responded with a lightning-quick counter punch to open the second half.
Gavin Olson received the kick off, found an opening and flashed down the sideline for an 84-yard touchdown return.
Although the ensuing two-point conversion pass missed its mark, Boyceville had put itself back into the football game just 14 seconds into the third quarter as it now trailed 22-13.
“The thing that I give our kids credit for is that they never give up and they never back down. They give everything that they have and that was a great spark, it got everybody fired up,” said Roemhild of Olson’s kick-off return. “We came out and played much better but we need that to happen in the first half.”
The score energized the Boyceville squad which then forced Glenwood City to punt for the first time.
The Bulldogs started at their 43 following the change of possession.
Morse opened with a run for six yards. Hunter Lipke was tackled for a seven-yard loss but Hunter Anderson scrambled for 10 yards on third down to leave Boyceville a yard short on fourth down at the GC 48. Anderson’s keeper netted four yards and a fresh set of downs.
After Morse was stopped for no gain on first down, Micah Johnson corralled an Anderson pass for six yards. Lipke picked up four yards and a first down on the next play. Morse’s first-down run gained four yards. Lipke had back-to-back hauls for four and one yard, leaving Boyceville in another fourth and one situation.
The Bulldogs once again turned to their senior signal caller. This time, however, the Hilltoppers came up with the stop as Anderson was stuffed for no gain at the 25 which is where Glenwood City took over with 4:25 left in the third.
O’Meara opened the Toppers drive with runs of six and three yards. Then Kopacz ran for five yards on third and one to secure a first down.
Nick Schone found Marcus Ullom for the pair’s second completion of the game. The 14-yard play moved Glenwood City to the Boyceville 47.
But on the very next play, O’Meara was hit and fumbled. The ‘Dogs Sam Hellmann came up with the loose pigskin and Boyceville was back in business at its own 42.
Boyceville would again parlay Glenwood City’s mistake into points.
Anderson and Micah Johnson combined for 20 yards on a first-down pass play. Morse and Lipke ran for four and three yards respectively. Coach Roemhild took a time-out to discuss the third and one play with 1:14 remaining in the third only to have his offensive unit whistled for an illegal motion penalty when play resumed.
But Anderson bailed the Bulldogs out with a 26-yard scramble to the Toppers’ 11.
Morse ran for nine yards on first down. Hunter Lipke finished off the drive on the next play as he ran it in from two yards out to draw the Bulldogs to within three points, 22-19, with 15 seconds left in the third. Glenwood City stopped Anderson short of the goal line on the conversion run attempt and the margin remained at three points.
An unsportsmanlike call against the Bulldogs on the kick off gave Glenwood City the ball near midfield to open the fourth.
A fourth-down pass from Schone to Nelson kept the drive alive. But three plays later, the Toppers again found themselves in yet another fourth-down situation. This time the Bulldogs held and took the ball back its own 25.
Morse and Lipke gained a first down for Boyceville with runs of four and six respectively but a pair of incomplete passes and a Micah Johnson run for no gain made the Bulldogs punt the ball.
With 6:20 remaining in the final stanza, Glenwood City started at its 27 following the kick. After a short gain on first down, an illegal motion penalty pushed the Toppers back five yards. But Jake Nelson ran for 10 yards and then hauled in a seven-yard pass to gain a first down of GC. Staying with the script, Glenwood City continued to feed Nelson the ball. The sophomore running back netted four on the first-down run but was held for no gain on his next attempt.
Toppers’ quarterback Nick Schone then faked the ensuing hand-off, tucked it and dashed 55 yards untouched for the game clinching score with 2:57 left. Schone missed the point after kick but the Toppers had extended their lead to nine points, 28-19.
Boyceville final drive of the game came up short as Anderson’s fourth-down scrambled came up two yards short and the Toppers took over on downs at the Bulldogs’ 47.
Another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Boyceville moved the ball to the 31. Three plays later, on a fourth down and five, Schone found a final connection with Ullom for a 22-yard gain to the Boyceville three. Schone knelt on the ball two times and ran out the clock to wrap up the 28-19 win for the Toppers.
Glenwood City’s Jake O’Meara led all rushers with 70 yards on 17 carries. Jake Nelson finished with 68 yards on 16 hauls, Nick Schone tallied 64 yards and two touchdowns including that 55-yarder on four attempts and Jake Kopacz tallied 36 yards on nine carries.
Jordan Morse led the Boyceville ground game with 13 carries for 43 yards with Hunter Anderson adding 24 yards on eight carries and a score. Hunter Lipke also had a touchdown and finished with 12 yards on eight attempts
“We had a chance to win the game in the end, and that is what you want, yet we didn’t deserve to win the game,” stated Roemhild.
“Coach Strong does a great job with his kids, they are fired up and play hard,” added the Boyceville coach. “A lot of these kids are good friends and its a good battle. And it was a battle all the way through and that’s what you want to see.”
“At times we look like a play-off team but we haven’t played a consistent four-quarter game yet this year even though we have won four games,” said Strong. “We have always had one quarter at least where we haven’t played very well.”
If the Hilltoppers, who improved to 2-2 in the conference standings and 4-2 overall, want to grab a playoff spot, they will need to win at least one of its two remaining Dunn-St. Croix games against Durand or Spring Valley. They will have that opportunity to secure a post season bid this Friday when they host the Panthers of Durand.
Boyceville, meanwhile, is still searching for its first conference win. After opening the season with three straight victories, the Bulldogs have now dropped three consecutive conference games and are 3-3 overall. Boyceville travels to unbeaten Elk Mound this Friday.