Mounders collar Bulldogs in football opener
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
CHETEK — Seniors Avery Kaanta and Carson Steinhorst each ran for a first-half touchdown while sophomore quarterback Kaden Russo returned an interception for a touchdown and threw for another, both in the third quarter, to propel Elk Mound to a 26-8 non-conference victory over host Chetek-Weyerhaeuser in the 2021 football opener last Friday, August 20.
Running back Avery Kaanta tallied 139 yards running the ball on 18 carries to lead the Mounders to victory with end Carson Steinhorst contributing 61 on seven hauls to account for nearly all of Elk Mound’s 190 ground yards.
Russo threw the ball just seven times for Elk Mound but, competed four of them for 19 yards including a six-yard scoring toss to senior end Braedon Pederson with 55 ticks left in the third quarter to close out the game’s scoring and account for the 26-8 final.
Elk Mound was the first to get on the scoreboard breaking a scoreless deadlock with just 1:42 left in the first quarter when Kaanta broke loose for a 19-yard jaunt to pay dirt. Russo’s extra point kick went wide of the uprights leaving the Mounders with a 6-0 advantage heading into the second quarter.
In that frame, the host Bulldogs gave their fans something to cheer about when quarterback Cade Johnson, who completed just two of his 14 pass attempts, hit an open Ashton Kummet for a 21-yard scoring strike to knot the contest at sixes with 4:11 to play in the opening half. Kummet carried the ball in to the end zone on the two-point conversion to give Chetek-Weyerhaeuser an 8 to 6 advantage in what would be its only lead in the game.
It was a short-lived one, however, as just 39 seconds later Elk Mound regained the lead for good when Stienhorst ripped off a 39-yard touchdown run at 3:32. A missed conversion pass left the Mounders with a 12-8 halftime advantage.
The Mounders grew that lead in the first 12 minutes of the second half.
Russo snared one of the two picks that Cade Johnson threw for the Bulldogs and returned it 43 yards for a pick six at the 8:52 mark. Aiden Bartholomew tossed the completion to Ryan Bartig for the two-point conversion that upped the Mounders’ lead to 20-8.
Then, with under a minute remaining in the third quarter, Russo found Pederson open for the final touchdown on the six-yard toss. Although the conversion pass for two fell incomplete, the Mounders now had a comfortable 26-8 lead.
That is exactly how the contest would end as neither team scored in the fourth frame.
Aiden Bartholomew went 4-of-6 for 38 yards while Ryan Bartig finished with 40 yards on five catches and Braedon Pederson had ten yards and a pair of cradles to lead the Elk Mound receiving corps.
Carter Kummet had 36 of the Bulldogs 73 rushing yards.
Elk Mound out gained their hosts 247 to 99.
The Mounders will welcome St. Croix Central for the home opener this Friday, August 27 before beginning their second season of Cloverbelt play in Neillsville on Thursday, September 2.