Bulldogs bulldoze Vikings for first conference win
BOYCEVILLE — The Boyceville football team scored early and often — make that very often — as they took a 41-6 lead at halftime and finished off a 48-22 win over the winless Colfax Vikings Oct. 9 in Boyceville. The Bulldogs, after winning their first three games against non-conference opponents, had dropped four straight games against conference foes, two by a touchdown or less. The win against Colfax gave them their first conference win and evened their record at 4-4 and gives them a chance to finish above .500 with a win at Mondovi this Friday night.
Boyceville scored on seven of their nine possessions and didn’t waste any time getting started after they forced Colfax to punt on their first possession. Starting at their own 41, Hunter Lipke ran for seven yards, Hunter Anderson completed a pass to Buddy Hanestad for a 14 yard gain, Jordan Morse ripped off a nine yard gain, Anderson hit Sam Hellmann for a 21 yard pass, Morse carried for three yards and Anderson bulled over for a two yard touchdown. Jake Lake’s kick made it 7-0 with 7:48 on the clock. The Vikings, playing without their leading rusher who was out with a concussion, came right back however, by going through the air as Jarrod Rudi completed a 20 yard pass to Adam Pretasky and followed up with a 61 yard shot to Mitch Kiekhafer for a score. Boyceville blocked Rudi’s point after attempt to keep a 7-6 lead at 6:12 of the first quarter.
Gavin Olson returned the kickoff to the Bulldog 33 and after runs by Anderson, Lipke, Morse and Lipke again, it was first and goal from the four. Morse pounded it in from there and after Lake’s kick it was 14-6 with still 3:16 left in the quarter. The Bulldog defense came up with a huge play when Jason Retzloff recovered a Colfax fumble on the next series at the Colfax 20, and two plays later a reverse to Olson resulted in another Bulldog touchdown. A two point run by Morse made it 22-6 and we were still in the first quarter.
Rudi probably had nightmares in the color of purple and black after the next series of downs was completed as he was sacked by Retzloff for a nine yard loss, then nailed by Retzloff and Brandon Windsor for a loss of eight, resulting in another punt. But Anderson had his only blip of the game as he tossed up an interception-to Rudi-on a first down play. The pick didn’t do any harm however, as heading into the second quarter, Boyceville forced a fourth down by the Vikings. Colfax went for a fake punt but Rudi’s pass fell incomplete in the middle of the field. Taking over at the Vikings’ 37, Morse ran for a 12 yard gain, Lipke ran for seven yards, an offsides penalty on Colfax moved the ball forward and Anderson connected with Hellmann for a 13 yard TD pass. Lake’s kick made it 29-6 with 8:57 left in the half. Boyceville forced another Colfax punt and took over at the 47 yard line and after three running plays by Hellmann with a 12 yard sprint by Olson in the mix, Anderson connected with Hanestad for a 21 gain and a first down at the Vikings’ one yard line. Anderson took it in and was stopped on the two point run but it was now 35-6. And the Bulldogs weren’t done yet as they started with the ball on their next possession deep in Vikings’ territory and after two running plays, Anderson found Hanestad again and this time he found the end zone on 21 yard scoring pass. The kick was missed but the blowout was well in hand at 41-6.
“We were all very disappointed with the losses we took the last few weeks,” coach Brian Roemhild said. “We told the kids since this is your last home game this year, you need to be ready from the start and go right after Colfax. They did just that and we put them in a hole early. Everyone was playing hard on both sides of the ball and on special teams. We never let them get any rhythm on offense and our defensive line really played as a unit this game,” he added.
Boyceville scored the only points for either team in the third quarter when they took the ball from their own 40 on their opening drive to the end zone on 13 running plays, culminating in Olson’s 15 yard run to paydirt. Lake booted another extra point kick, and after the drive, which took over nine minutes to complete, it was 48-6.
Colfax went to the air again in the fourth quarter and Rudi, who is leading the conference in passing yards, hit Kiekhafer for a 34 yard scoring pass and a two point pass, then found his leading receiver Kedar Davis for a 41 yard TD pass. Brett Schindler snared the two point conversion for Colfax’s final points and the Bulldogs ran out the clock with two minutes left.
“We needed a win like this to get our confidence back,” Roemhild said. “We will have to play hard again if we want to beat Mondovi in the final game.”
Anderson, who has played all season on an injured leg, was involved on four touchdowns by completing 7 of 11 passes for 113 yards and a pair of touchdowns and rushing for 52 yards on five carries for two more scores. Boyceville spread the wealth as Morse ran for 67 yards on 11 carries, Lipke rushed for 54 yards on seven attempts, Hellmann had 53 yards on nine carries and Olson collected 41 yards on just three runs. Hanestad snared four passes for 56 yards and Hellmann also grabbed four passes for 45 yards and both scored on one of their catches.