Mounders’ rushing game shut down by St. Croix Central Panthers
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TAKE DOWN — Gabe Siler (#4) and Trevor Kopacz (#16) of Saint Croix Central looked to take down Blaze Todd (#26) on his third break away run of the evening. —photo by Amber Hayden
ELK MOUND — Elk Mound’s dominance in running was caged on Thursday evening, August 29, when the three-time Division 4 state finalist Saint Croix Central Panthers shut down the Mounders to take a 29-8 non-conference victory and spoil Elk Mound’s 2019 football home opener.
“Our team played hard and we learned a lot about this group,” head coach Dave Lew said. “SCC had two punt returns for touchdowns which were the difference makers.”
Although the Mounders did manage to out gain the Panthers on the ground 200 yards to 120, St. Croix Central held a 64 to 6 yard advantage through the air.
The first half of the game belonged to special teams on both sides as Elk Mound’s Blaze Todd and SCC’s Gabe Siler were running the returns after the punt.
The Mounders had only one first down in the first half, one of which would result in a touchdown and successful two-point conversion for Elk Mound.
SCC started things out Thursday night with a 67-yard punt return by Gabe Siler with less than four minutes ticked off the game clock. Jackson Pettit hit the successful extra point for the Panthers for an early 7-0 lead over the host Mounders.
But Elk Mound answered back on the next drive with a touchdown of its own.
The Mounders earned their only score of the game when Blaze Todd scorched SCC for a 78-yard run to pay dirt at 6:41 of the first quarter for six points. Todd, in turn, stretched into the end zone for the two-point conversion to give Elk Mound the only lead of the evening at 8-7.
Todd finished his evening with 30 rush attempts for 210 yards, as well as four solo tackles.
SCC scored three more times in the second quarter to put the game out of reach. Panthers’ quarterback Tadan Holzer pitched a scoring pass to Kelson Klin, Jacob Roussopoulos scored a rushing touchdown and Trevor Kopacz ran back a second punt return for six points. SCC also tacked on a couple of two-point conversions.
The second half proved to be a stalemate between the two teams as each of their rushing games was shut down on each drive.
Elk Mound fumbled the ball early in the third quarter, but answered back with a forced fumble on SCC and a run back of 15-yards with 10:08 left on the clock.
Blaze Todd would breakaway for two long runs one of which was a 31-yard rush, but an interception on the next play resulted in a penalty flag being thrown against SCC for holding. Giving Elk Mound the first down and the ball back.
STUMBLE — Avery Kaanta slipped up on a kick return as the ball slipped through his fingers, he was able to recover the ball for the Mounders to keep it in their possession. —photo by Amber Hayden
With seven minutes left in the fourth quarter Elk Mound was desperate as they decided to go for a first down with eight yards separating them and the line of gain.
It was an unsuccessful attempt and the Mounders turned the ball over on downs.
Nate Lew finished the evening leading the way on defense with 11 solo tackles, and Ethan Levra had ten total tackles with eight of them being solo.
“We will continue to build and prepare for the next game,” Lew explained. “We schedule teams like SCC to make us better, and that is what they did. It was a good high school football game to be a part of.”
Elk Mound, 1-1, will be back on the road this Friday evening, September 6, as it opens Dunn-St. Croix play against one of their fellow tri-champions from last season, the Mondovi Buffaloes. Gametime is set for 7 p.m.
Elk Mound……………8…….0……..0……..0 – 8
St. Croix Central…..7…….22…….0……0 – 29
First Quarter
SCC punt return TD by G. Siler (extra point successful) 8:10
EM 78-yard rushing TD by B. Todd (2-point conversion successful) 6:41
Second Quarter
SCC rushing (2-point conversion successful)
SCC rushing TD (extra point successful)
SCC rushing TD (extra point unsuccessful)
Individual Statistics
Passing (att-comp-yds-int): EM (7-1-6-0) C. Rhude 7-1-6-0; SCC (8-5-64-0) T. Holzer 8-5-64-0.
Rushing (att-yds): EM (41-200) C. Rhude 9- -13, L. Schultz 1- -1, B. Todd 30-210, E. Levra 1-4; SCC (36-120) G. Siler 1-25, T. Kopacz 13-43, T. Holzer 11-21, B. Bloom 7-13, J. Roussopolulos 4-18.
Receiving (rec-yds): EM (1-6) C. Steinhorst 1-6; SCC (5-64) K. Klin 3-29, G. Siler 2-35.