Colfax football earns first season win in Boyceville
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HANGING ON — Colfax’s Cole Kiekhafer (#4) hung on tight as Ira Bialzik (#3) of Boyceville tackled Kiekhafer to the ground and rolled him up. —photo by Amber Hayden
BOYCEVILLE — The Colfax Vikings’ football team claimed their first victory of the 2019 season with a 34-14 road triumph over the Boyceville Bulldogs last Friday, September 20 at Evenson Field.
The win not only spoiled the Bulldogs’ homecoming but snapped the Vikings’ eight-game losing skid that dated back to last season. Ironically, Colfax’s last Dunn-St. Croix victory came just over a year ago against these very same Bulldogs as the Vikings pummeled Boyceville 42-8 in the September 14, 2018 contest.
Colfax is hoping this latest win over Boyceville will help them harness some much needed momentum going forward.
“We played our best game of the year, and had a balanced attack,” said Vikings’ head coach Matt DeMoe. “We were able to get a few key pieces to our team back for this game and they definitely made a difference.”
Colfax rushed for 239 yards behind a pair of 100-yard rushers – Trey Hovde and Mitchell Harmon – and gained another 126 through the air as senior quarterback Noah Albricht tossed three touchdowns.
Colfax began the first drive deep in their own territory and were able to move the ball forward. But the Bulldogs’ defense worked hard to bring the movement to a halt as the Vikings’ opening drive ended two yards shy on a fourth down play.
Tanner Hoffman and Zach Rindy made their return to the gridiron for Colfax on Friday. Hoffman’s presence was felt on defense as he helped shut down the Bulldogs offense in their first two drives.
The Vikings third drive, which came on the heels of a blocked Bulldogs’ punt, would yield points when Noah Albricht connected with junior Hunter Rebak for a 26-yard reception into the end zone and six points.
Boyceville knew Mitch Harmon would be handed the ball for the two-point conversion attempt, but with a hop over one of the defenders, Harmon found himself in the end zone for the extra two points for an 8-0 Vikings ‘lead at 5:59 of the first quarter.
Noah Albricht, who went 8-for-16 in passing for a total of 126 yards and three touchdowns, threw for two more scores in the second quarter to give Colfax a 20-0 advantage.
Boyceville suffered several penalties in the second quarter including a late hit on Cole Kiekhafer.
Kiekhafer was the target of a 26-yard pass, but the late hit from Simon Evenson would move the ball 15-yards downfield.
Trey Hovde and Noah Albricht connected for a 38-yard touchdown pass after the penalty. But Mitch Harmon’s two-point run attempt was unsuccessful giving Colfax a 14-0 lead at 7:34.
Colfax’s next drive would see a 55-yard ramble toward the end zone by Hovde, but referees marked him one-yard short of the end zone. On the following play, Zach Rindy craddled a 1-yard Albricht toss for the touchdown to make it a 20-0 contest, after another conversion run came up short, with 2:03 left in the first half.
However, Boyceville would move the ball on three quick passes from Connor Sempf to Brendan Sempf in order to find the end zone. Brendan Sempf snagged the hand-off for a quick 6-yard jaunt into the end zone to bring the score 20-6 at the end of the first half.
“At halftime with the score 20-6, I told our team we would win this game by running the ball and playing with heart,” explained coach DeMoe. “We followed through with that plan and came out on top. The coaches were proud of the players after this win.”
Colfax would score two more times in the second half of the Friday evening game.
Trey Hovde, who finished wth 129 yards on ten carries, took the ball down into the end zone on a 35-yard run just 42 seconds in to the second half. Rindy took the pass from Albricht to make good on the 2-point conversion for a 28-6 lead.
Then midway through the final quarter, Mitch Harmon made his way into the end zone from one-yard out. Despite another missed conversion run, Colfax held a 34-6 advantage with just 7:07 left in the game. Harmon rushed 20 times for the Vikings and finished with 110 yards.
Just seven seconds later, Boyceville score its second and final touchdown after Brendan Sempf had a seven-yard run. Brendan Sempf also got the pass off to Jacob Granley for the two point conversion to make the final count 34-14.
Trey Hovde also finished with two receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown while Hunter Rebak also corraled a pair of passes for 40 yards and a score.
Colfax will take on rival Elk Mound this Friday evening, September 27, on the Mounders’ home field. It will be Elk Mound’s homecoming game. This may likely be the last football game between the pair of rivals as Elk Mound will be moving to the Cloverbelt conference next season.
Colfax………………..8……..12…….8…….6 – 34
Boyceville…………..0……….6……0…….8 – 14
First Quarter
C – 26-yd. reception TD by H. Rebak (two point conversion successful) 5:59
Second Quarter
C – 38-yd. reception TD by T. Hovde (two point conversion unsuccessful) 11:49
C – 1-yd. reception TD by Z. Rindy (two point conversion unsuccessful) 3:48
BV – 6-yd. rushing TD by B. Sempf (two point conversion unsuccessful) 0:36
Third Quarter
C – 35-yd. rushing TD by T. Hovde (two point conversion successful) 11:18
Fourth Quarter
C – 1-yd. rushing TD by M. Harmon (two point conversion unsuccessful) 7:07
BV – 7-yd. rushing TD by B. Sempf (two point conversion successful) 7:00
Individual Statistics
Passing (att-comp-yds-int): C (16-8-126-0) N. Albricht 16-8-126-0; BV (19-10-194-0) C. Sempf 19-10-194-0.
Rushing (att-yds): C (30-250) M. Harmon 20-111, Trey Hovde 10-139; BV (14-68) B. Sempf 14-68.
Receiving (att-yds): C (8-126) C. Kiekhafer 2-29, R. Albricht 1-6, H. Rebak 1-26, T. Hovde 2-50, Z. Rindy 1-1.