Mounders derail Altoona behind Todd’s 6-touchdown performance
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ALTOONA – The Elk Mound Mounders’ football team traveled to Altoona on Friday evening, October 11, and derailed the Railroaders with a 50-14 final score.
“Our defense started off slow, but then picked it up after Altoona scored two touchdowns,” said Mounders’ head coach Dave Lew. “We did not allow another score in the second half.”
The Mounders, who trailed 8-0 and 14-8 in the first quarter, scored 42 unanswered points over the remaining three plus quarters for the big non-conference victory and improved to 5-3 for the 2019 season.
A week after being held scoreless and less than 100 yards rushing, Elk Mound senior Blaze Todd busted out in a big way running rough shod over the Railroaders defense for 318 yards and six touchdowns in the game. For the season, Todd now has 1,581 yards in 169 attempts (a 9.4 yard per carry average) and 26 touchdowns in eight contests.
“Blaze ran the ball really well on offense,” said Lew, “and Chase Rhude made some really nice plays for us at the quarterback position all night long.”
Rhude completed his only pass of the game for 15 yards and rushed twice for 34 yards.
Elk Mound finished with 377 yards rushing.
A 62-yard Paxton Gluch run and a two-point pass conversion gave host Altoona an 8-0 advantage just 17 seconds into the game.
It took Elk Mound a bit longer but it tied things up at 8:04 of the first quarter on a 16-yard ramble into the end zone by Blaze Todd for the first of his six TDs. Todd followed with the two-point conversion.
The Railroaders reestablished the lead with another long run, a 44-yard jaunt by Keshawn Harris, at 5:14 of the first. A failed conversion left Altoona in front 14-8.
That advantage would prove to be short lived.
Just 19 seconds later, Todd broke free for a 64-yard scoring run and with Gaelen Young’s extra point kick the Mounders held a 15-14 lead, one they would never relinquish.
The Mounders scored twice more in the first quarter; a 40-yard run by Logan Schultz at 1:54 and a 3-yard rush by Todd with only 16 ticks left in the opening frame. Each of Galen Young’s PATs were successful giving Elk Mound a 15-point lead heading into the second quarter.
The three remaining Elk Mound touchdowns – two in the second quarter and the final one in the third – all belonged to Blaze Todd, who found his way back into the end zone from two, 48, and two yards out.
Each score was capped with successful extra-point kicks by Galen Young.
Elk Mound wrapped up their evening, up by 36 points in their final non-conference game of the season.
“It was nice to see our guys having fun and getting a road win against a Cloverbelt school as we head into playoffs,” Lew explained.
The Mounders, who became playoff eligible two weeks ago with a win over Colfax, will travel to Glenwood City this Friday evening, October 18 for the final regular-season and conference game. It will also mark the Mounders last Dunn-St. Croix conference game in school history as they move to the Cloverbelt next season. The playoffs are slated to begin Friday, October 25.
Elk Mound………………29…..14…..7……0 – 50
Altoona………………….14…….0…..0……0 – 14
First Quarter
A – 62-yard rushing TD by P. Gulch (2pt successful) 11:43
EM – 16-yard rushing TD by B. Todd (2pt successful) 8:04
A – 44-yard rushing TD by K. Harris (2pt unsuccessful) 5:14
EM – 64-yard rushing TD by B. Todd (PAT successful) 4:55
EM – 40-yard rushing TD by L. Schultz (PAT successful) 1:54
EM – 3-yard rushing TD by B. Todd (PAT successful) 0:16
Second Quarter
EM – 2-yard rushing TD by B. Todd (PAT successful) 5:04
EM – 48-yard rushing TD by B. Todd (PAT successful) 0:47
Third Quarter
EM – 2-yard rushing TD by B. Todd (PAT successful) 6:43
Fourth Quarter
NO SCORE
Individual Statistics
Passing (att-comp-yds-int): EM (1-15) C. Rhude 1-1-15-0
Rushing (att-yds): EM (36-417) N. Lew 1-23, C. Rhude 2-34, B. Todd 29-318, L. Schultz 1-40, B. Burlingame 3-2.
Receiving (att-yds): EM (1-15) C. Steinhorst 1-15.