Glenwood City footballers blast past Amery Warriors, improve to 2-0

By Cara L. Dempski

AMERY — Glenwood City head football coach Shane Strong was certain about one thing heading into last Friday’s game against the Amery Warriors: do not let them get anywhere on the ground.

With two fast athletes at quarterback and running back, that was a tall order.

“We knew they would get some plays, but we wanted to make sure we contained them and prevented them from getting the big-play touchdown runs,” Strong explained.

Glenwood City’s first road trip of 2017 was a successful one, since the Hilltoppers came away with a 32-13 win in the August 25 non-conference contest against the Warriors to move to 2-0 on the season.

The Hilltoppers will face their first conference challenge at home this Friday, September 1.

The combination of defensive containment and an offensive play caller who made some stellar reads to move the ball efficiently made up for the fact that the Hilltoppers did not run as well as Strong would have liked. He admitted after the contest the run game will need to be shored up if the team hopes to continue competing at a high level.

“Offensively we planned on running a balanced attack both run and pass,” stated the GC coach. “Amery has a history of blitzing us, so we knew we needed to hurt them with the pass to take them out of their tendencies.”

“Pete was able to make some great reads and he threw the ball very efficiently while our offensive line protected well which gave us opportunities to get the ball in space,” added Coach Strong.

A fact born out by the Toppers’ senior quarterback’s stats, Hill finished with 207 yards and a touchdown on 15 of 20 passing, a phenomenal 75 percent completion rate.

Containing Amery quarterback Brett Forrest and protecting the ball kept Amery to just two touchdowns in the game and were keys to the victory.

And forcing a trio of turnovers while committing no offensive faux pas probably did not hurt either.

The Toppers were the first ones to score Friday night, which was on a Jacob Kopacz run with :55 on the first-quarter clock. Kopacz broke the goal line plane from two yards out to give Glenwood City the game’s first points. Quarterback Pete Hill’s pass to Gavin Janson was good for the two-point conversion, giving the Hilltoppers an 8-0 advantage as they headed into the second quarter.

The Warriors did not waste much time in responding. Running back Lance Waalen punched passt the goal line from three yards out to pick up six for Amery at 9:29 of the second quarter. The point after kick failed, leaving Glenwood City on top 8-6.

The Hilltoppers punctuated the first half scoring with a beautiful pass from QB Pete Hill to his receiver Carson Strong for a 27-yard touchdown strike. Kopacz’s run for the conversion was good, making the score 16-6 with only 43 seconds left in half.

Glenwood City kept the Warriors in check for the third quarter, and scored another eight points. Hill scampered to pay dirt on a three-yard quarterback keeper. On the conversion try, Hill handed the ball to Kopacz who took the ball into the end zone to make the score 24-6 at the 8:42 mark in the third quarter.

The Toppers’ final touchdown came just nine seconds into the final stanza. Kopacz’ nine-yard run, his second touchdown of the contest, came at 11:51 of the fourth. Hill tossed a pass to Strong for two points, which lifted Glenwood City to 32-6 lead over Amery.

The Warriors capped the scoring with a touchdown courtesy of a 10-yard Dalton Johnson run, his only of the game, with just 6:48 left to play. Camden Smith’s kick was good for the PAT, leaving the final score 32-13.

Coach Strong said Carson Strong was on a mission last Friday night.

“He had 141 yards receiving, and led the team with 10 tackles,” the head coach said of his son’s performance in Amery.

Strong also sang the praises of his quarterback saying, “Pete Hill continues to play outstanding at quarterback for us.”

“I also felt our defensive line played well up front,” added Coach Strong. “They controlled the line of scrimmage in the second half to seal up the win.”

The Hilltoppers are facing the rest of their season without senior Darian Multhauf after he suffered a season-ending injury on the third play of Glenwood City’s season and home opener against Frederic August 18. Carson Strong donned Darian Multhauf’s #21 jersey in the Amery game to honor his fellow senior classmate and teammate.

Strong’s 141 yards led the receiver corps, and Ethan Kahler was second with two receptions for a total of 26 yards. Jacob Nelson caught two passes for 23 yards, Kopacz was good for 14 yards on a single catch, and Owen Wagner nabbed one pass for three yards.

As previously noted, Hill was good for 15 completions out of 20 attempts for 207 passing yards and a passing touchdown.

Kopacz led the offensive effort on the ground with 81 yards, and two running TDs while Hill picked up 24 on a pair of keeps and a score. Dakota Dean-Immerman recorded 21 rushing yards, Nelson is credited with 20, Ethan Hanson was good for 19, Kahler logged five, Dan Loring had a pair of carries for 19 yards, and Caleb Peterson recorded one yard.

The Hilltoppers are now preparing for their first Dunn-St. Croix matchup this season at home against Elk Mound this Friday. Strong said his team will need to be consistent and play with discipline in the September 1 game against the Mounders to earn the win.

GLENWOOD CITY 32, AMERY 13
Glenwood City……8  8  8  8 — 32
Amery………………..0  6  0  7 — 13

First quarter
GC – J. Kopacz 2-yd. run (G. Janson pass from P. Hill), :55.

Second quarter
A – L. Waalen 3-yd. run (kick fail), 9:29; GC – C. Strong 27-yd. pass from P. Hill (J. Kopacz run), :43.

Third quarter
GC – P. Hill 3-yd. run (J. Kopacz run), 8:42.

Fourth quarter
GC – J. Kopacz 9-yd. run (C. Strong pass from P. Hill), 11:51; A – D. Johnson 10-yd. run (C. Smith Kick), 6:48.

Individual Statistics

Passing (att-comp-yds-int) – GC (20-15-207-0) – P. Hill 20-15-207-0; A (22-15-174-2) – B. Forrest 22-15-174-2.

Receiving (att-comp-yds) – GC (20-15-207) – C. Strong 14-9-141, O. Wagner 1-1-3, J. Nelson 2-2-23, J. Kopacz 1-1-14, E. Kahler 2-2-26; A (22-15-174) – C. Smith 5-4-38, G. Martin 10-6-91, R. McBrayer 1-0-0, L. Waalen 1-1-7, D. Johnson 5-4-38.

Rushing (att-yds) – GC (37-205) – J. Kopacz 14-81, J. Nelson 8-20, E. Kahler 3-5, P. Hill 2-11, D. Dean-Immerman 4-21, C. Peterson 1-16, E. Hanson 3-19, D. Loring 2-19; A (36-114) – B. Forrest 9-31, L. Waalen 18-53, T. Reichert 8-20, D. Johnson 1-10.