Buffaloes shut out Mounders in Cloverbelt football contest
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MONDOVI — It’s hard to win when you don’t score any points as Elk Mound discovered last Friday evening.
For the first time this season, the Mounders were shutout when Mondovi blanked them 35-0 in a Cloverbelt football contest played on the Buffaloes home turf October 8.
Mondovi put points on the scoreboard in all four quarters including 21 in the second half to build on a 14-0 halftime advantage while holding Elk Mound scoreless.
Elk Mound, who sits in seventh place in the Cloverbelt standings, dropped to 1-5 in conference games and 2-6 overall. Meanwhile, Mondovi secured a playoff spot with the win as it went to 4-2 in league games and 5-3 overall.
The game’s statistics also reflected what was on the scoreboard as the host Buffaloes dominated the contest on both sides of the ball amassing 393 yards including 253 yards rushing and three scores while holding the Mounders to just 128 yards of offense, 99 of which came via the ground.
Dawson Rud, whose runs gashed the Mounder defense all night long, put the hosts on the scoreboard first with a one-yard dive in the first quarter. Elk Mound stopped the two-point conversion run to keep the score at 6-0.
In the second quarter, however, Mondovi broke through for its second touchdown, a 51-yard pass play from Buffaloes’ quarterback Jarod Falkner to wide out Dustin Mohler. The pair also connected on the two-point try to put the Buffaloes in front 14-0 which was also the score at intermission.
In the third quarter, Rud would again light the scoreboard for Mondovi on a four-yard run to paydirt. The conversion pass failed but the Buffaloes now led 20-0.
That advantage would grow in the final stanza when Mondovi tacked on two more TDs and a safety.
In his only throw of the game, Rud launched a halfback pass to his quarterback Jarod Falkner that went for 23 yards and another six points.
Although the conversion try failed once again, the Buffs would pick up the two points just minutes later on a safety by Tristen Teigen to up the host’s lead to 28-0.
Rud then capped the night’s scoring with his third rushing touchdown, a 31-yard jaunt late in the fourth quarter, that when combined with Falkner’s PAT kick made the final score 35-0.
Rud finished with 167 yards rushing and three scores on 21 carries and had the 23-yard TD pass to Falkner who chipped in for 61 yards on 14 attempts. Falkner also finished 7-of-16 for 117 yards passing with a TD and a pick.
Avery Kaanta was the top ground gainer for Elk Mound with 96 of the team’s 99 rushing yards on 23 hauls. Kaden Russo completed just three of his 20 pass attempts for 29 yards and was intercepted twice.
Elk Mound will finish out its 2021 gridiron campaign when it hosts 5-3 Stanley-Boyd this Friday evening, October 15.