Mounders overcome sluggish start to beat Boyceville, earn play-off spot

By Cara L. Dempski

BOYCEVILLE — You would not have guessed it after the spectacular opening-play pass and touchdown, but the Mounders were a little sluggish at the start of their September 30 victory over Boyceville.

With barely five seconds off the clock in the first quarter, Dane Lew dropped back to throw and nailed Noah Zurbuchen with a pass completion that went 56 yards for a touchdown. Lew made good on his kick for the point after, and Elk Mound was on the board 7-0 with 11:55 left to play in the quarter.

“We decided we were going to pass the ball,” coach Dave Lew said. “We can’t be one-dimensional all season.”

Dane Lew was 2-6 for passing in Elk Mound’s 33-12 win against the Bulldogs. He threw only one pass in the previous game against Mondovi. Lew passed for 73 yards, and Zurbuchen increased his rushing yards to 769 for the season after taking credit for another 91 yards during last Friday’s contest.

The Mounders rushed for 284 total yards and passed for 93. In contrast, the Bulldogs passed for 92 yards, but only rushed 61.

The Bulldogs were not able to capitalize on their first possession and were forced to punt the ball when they had a stroke of luck.

Mounder senior Hunter Adleman caught the ball, but then started moving before it was secure and dropped it at the 10-yard line. Boyceville’s Bryce Boda was right there to pick it up, and was halfway to the end zone by the time the Mounders realized he had the ball.

Boda crossed the goal line to nab six with clock at 8:44 after the 10-yard fumble return that was virtually unchallenged. His pass to take the two-point conversion was incomplete, and the score stood at 7-6.

Not to be outdone, Elk Mound took advantage of a few gaps in Boyceville’s coverage. After an unsuccessful pass play on the first down of their next possession, Lew handed the ball to Adleman for a 24-yard gain on the next play to set up a fresh set of downs.

Lew then flipped the ball to Zurbuchen, who pushed out to the sideline and punched through a few Bulldog defenders and slipped across the goal line for another six points on the 30-yard run. Lew’s kick this time was not successful, and the Mounders went up to 13-6 with 7:59 left in the first quarter.

Boda and the Bulldog running backs and receivers put together a series of carries and receptions over the next four minutes that culminated in a 16-yard completion between Boda and Gavin Olson to strike gold for Boyceville. Micadin Kahl’s run for the conversion failed, and the Bulldogs remained in the hunt at 13-12 with 4:14 left in the first.

“There was not a lot of energy on the sidelines,” Lew said of the first quarter. “It started picking up in the second quarter.”

The Mounders finished the first quarter on Boyceville’s 11-yard line after a six-yard loss on a fourth-and-goal play, only to regain possession after Hunter Lipke fumbled at the 15.

Two plays later, Lew dropped back to pass, nailing Chandler Schreiber on a 17-yard completion for the TD. Lew’s extra point was good, and the Mounders went up to 20-12 1with 11:11 left in the half.

It wasn’t until the closing minutes of the half that Elk Mound would score again. This time, Hunter Adleman punched through Boyceville to hit paydirt from eight yards out. Lew had another good PAT, and the score moved to 27-12.

Boda and the Bulldogs were on the move again in the final thirty seconds of the half when he was intercepted by Elk Mound’s Conner Mavis to give the Mounders one last try at the end zone. The Mounders went into the half after not being able to take advantage of the turnover, but still up 27-12.

Both teams traded possessions to open the first half, before Zurbuchen snuck across the line on a two-yard run to raise the tally for the Mounders one more time. Lew missed the point-after kick, which left the score 33-12 in favor of Elk Mound at 8:01 in the third.

Each team would go on to threaten scores multiple times for the remainder of the game, but both sides became tougher on defense in the second half.

“We just kind of went through the motions in the first half,” coach Lew said. “The second half, our defense came out right away, and we really started bringing it again.”

Lew was asked what the team would work on over the next week to prepare for the homecoming game against Durand, and he stated the team would look at the film from the game. He made particular note of watching what happened during Boyceville’s fourth-quarter defensive stand that kept running back Chris Lee from scoring.

The Mounders will meet conference leader Durand for their homecoming matchup October 7 in Elk Mound. The team will close out the regular season in Spring Valley on October 14.

ELK MOUND 33, BOYCEVILLE 12
Elk Mound……………13  14  6   0 — 33
Boyceville…………….12   0   0   0 — 12

First Quarter: EM — N. Zurbuchen 56 pass from D. Lew (D. Lew kick), 11:59; B — B. Boda 10 fumble recovery (conversion fail), 8:44; EM — N. Zurbuchen 30 run (kick fail), 7:59; B — G. Olson 16 pass from B. Boda (conversion fail), 4:14.

Second Quarter: EM — C. Schreiber 17 pass from D. Lew (D. Lew kick), 11:11; EM — H. Adleman 15 run (D. Lew kick), 1:07.

Third Quarter: EM — N. Zurbuchen 2 run (kick fail), 8:01.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Passing (att-comp-int-yds) — EM (9-4-0-93) — D. Lew 6-2-0-73, D. Black 3-2-0-20. B (23-9-1-92) — B. Boda 22-8-1-87, M. Kahl 1-1-0-5, unknown 1.

Rushing (att-yds) — EM (40-284) — N. Zurbuchen 10-97, H. Adleman 10-86, C. Lee 4-38, B. Lambele 2-36, T. Sahm 8-26, B. Redwine 2-11, C. Schreiber 1-6, D. Black 1-(-1), D. Lew 1-(-1); B (28-61) — G. Olson 8-24, H. Lipke 9-23, B. Boda 7-11, M. Kahl 3-3.

Receiving (att-rec-yds) — EM (9-4-93) — N. Zurbuchen 2-1-56, C. Schreiber 4-3-37, B. Lambele 1-0-0, C. Lee 1-0-0; B (22-9-92) — M. Kahl 10-3-36, G. Olson 4-2-33, H. Lipke 2-2-14, B. Boda 1-1-5, C. Boesl 3-1-4, L. Knudtson 2-0-0.