Mounders grind out victory over Toppers in D-SC opener

By Cara L. Dempski

GLENWOOD CITY — It takes a determined group of high school students to start doing homework before the school year starts.

Elk Mound’s 2017-2018 academic year did not start until September 1, but head football coach Dave Lew already had his 66-man roster studying. Their work: learning game keys, studying the game, and getting to know Glenwood City.

“Our boys, all week, they studied,” Lew said. “They were students of the game. We gave them their keys, and their whole time, they were students of the game. In the end, it was all the kids.”

The homework paid off last Friday, September 1 when the Mounders went to Glenwood City and headed back home later that night with a 35-20 victory to kick their Dunn-St. Croix season off on a positive note and break a two-game skid.

Elk Mound, now 1-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play, preferred to keep its game on the ground, racking up 359 rushing yards to the Toppers’ 134, but Glenwood City more than tripled Elk Mound’s yards in the air as the Hilltoppers’ senior quarterback Peter Hill threw for 204 yards on 19 completions. Elk Mound’s Dylan Black was good for seven completions and 60 yards.

Elk Mound struck first, putting six points on the board with a five-yard run by Brady Redwine in the first quarter. Gaelen Young’s point-after kick was shallow, but skimmed over the crossbar and through the uprights to give the visiting team a 7-0 lead.

The Hilltoppers responded in kind several minutes later with a 27-yard scoring run from Jacob Kopacz. Glenwood City missed out on a two-point conversion run, which left them trailing 7-6 as the time ticked away in the first stanza.

The Mounders struck again in the second when Ben Lambele punched through the GC defense for a 13-yard touchdown run. Young’s kick arced through the goalposts to increase Elk Mound’s lead to 14-6 heading into halftime.

To Glenwood City’s credit, they brought Black down twice in the final seconds before halftime, signaling a slight shift in momentum toward the Hilltoppers. 

When Lew was asked about what the coaches told Black at halftime to build him back up, he responded “we were really calm with him. Believe it or not, even I was calm. We were fine, and we’re really positive with those young guys.”

The Mounders scored twice in the third quarter to take a commanding 22-point advantage over the host Hilltoppers.

The first score came when Brady Redwine picked off Hilltopper quarterback Pete Hill and returned it all the way to the house for another Mounders’ six. Young’s PAT made the score 21-6.

Redwine would cross the goal line a second time just minutes later, this time from a yard out, and then junior Marcus Kinblom, took his turn at kicking, sending the ball through the uprights for the extra point to make the score 28-6.

But the Hilltoppers did not go easily.

Hill, who lit up the skies in the fourth and final frame, hit target Jacob Nelson for a 15-yard pass completion and touchdown early in the fourth quarter for the Hilltoppers second score. Glenwood City’s two-point attempt failed, leaving them trailing 28-12.

The Mounders responded with a 60-yard kick-off return from Redwine to put another six up. Young’s kick was good, and the Elk Mound squad led 35-12.

Glenwood City punctuated the game, getting one final touchdown late in the fourth after Hill connected with Nelson on an eight-yard scoring strike. The duo combined a second time for the PAT, making the score 35-20 as time drained off the clock.

Black had seven completions out of 10 attempts for 60 yards. Redwine led the ground game with 191 yards, while Lambele picked up 143. The two also led the Mounder receivers, with Redwine credited with 30 yards and Lambele with 21.

Black and Tyler Brantner nabbed one interception apiece on the defensive side of the ball. Andrew Benson and Aric Jensen logged one sack apiece, and Will Muzynski is credited with 1.5 sacks.

The Mounders will return to their home field September 8 to take on Osseo-Fairchild in a non-conference contest before heading to Colfax September 15 for the perennial rivalry matchup against the Vikings of Colfax.

ELK MOUND 35, GLENWOOD CITY 20
Elk Mound……………7  7  14  7 – 35
Glenwood City……….6  0  0  14 – 20

First quarter
EM – B. Redwine 5-yd. run (G. Young kick); GC – J. Kopacz 27-yd. run (conversion fail).

Second quarter
EM – B. Lambele 13-yd. run (G. Young kick).

Third quarter
EM – B. Redwine Interception return (G. Young kick); EM – B. Redwine 1-yd. run (M. Kinblom kick).

Fourth quarter
GC – J. Nelson 15-yd. pass from P. Hill (conversion fail); EM – B. Redwine 60-yd. run (G. Young kick); GC – J. Nelson 8-yd. pass from P. Hill (J. Nelson pass from P. Hill).

Individual Statistics

Passing (att-comp-yds-int) – EM (7-10-60-0) – D. Black 7-10-60-0; GC (20-32-284-2) – P. Hill 20-32-284-2.

Rushing (att-yds) – EM (45-359) – D. Black 4-16, C. Ward 1-0, B. Lambele 13-143, B. Todd 1-6, B. Redwine 25-191, W. Muzynski 1-3; GC (26-134) – E. Kahler 1-3, P. Hill 4-9, D. Dean-Immerman 1-5, J. Nelson 9-53, J. Kopacz 22-64.

Receiving (rec-yds) – EM (7-60) – B. Lambele 4-21, A. Benson 1-8, B. Redwine 1-30, W. Muzynski 1-1; GC (20-284) – C. Strong 5-65, H. DeSmith 1-11, O. Wagner 5-56, J. Nelson 8-117, J. Kopacz 1-35.