Boyceville overcomes early deficit to blister Clear Lake 58-10 for homecoming win
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BOYCEVILLE running back Owen Rydel followed a teammate’s block en route to one of his two rushing scores against Clear Lake. The Bulldogs defeated the Warriors 58-10 in their annual homecoming game played Friday, September 27 at Evenson Field. —photo by Joel DeWitt
by Joel DeWitt
Sports Correspondent
BOYCEVILLE — For the first time this season, the Boyceville football team found themselves in unfamiliar territory. Until the first quarter in their matchup with Clear Lake, the Bulldogs had not yet trailed on the season.
However, that was exactly the position Boyceville found themselves in with 4:33 left in the first quarter. The Warriors took the opening kick off 65 yards on 11 plays and the 7-0 lead when Dariuis Garrett plunged in from 2 yards out.
“That is never how you want to start your Homecoming game,” lamented coach Michael Roemhild on his team’s early deficit. “Luckily for us Carson and Landyn had a special connection and were able to get us back in the game on the first play of each of the first two possessions.”
The quarterback-receiver duo connected for two deep touchdown passes only minutes apart to wipe out the early deficit and right the Bulldog ship as they piled up 491 total yards en route to a 58-10 drubbing of Clear Lake.
Starting on their own 30-yard line for their first possession, Carson Roemhild connected with Landyn Leslie across the middle. The junior receiver proceeded to elude Warrior defenders to complete the 70-yard touchdown reception. Clear Lake still led 7-6 after the two-point conversion failed.
Following a three-and-out by Clear Lake, Boyceville took over at midfield. This time Roemhild found an open Leslie streaking down his team’s sideline and connected from 50 yards out for the score and the lead. The score was 14-6, after the two-point conversion, with 1:36 left in the first quarter.
Boyceville (6-0, 4-0) almost made it three straight touchdowns on their next possession. Following a 62-yard punt return by Roemhild, the Bulldogs had first-and-goal on their own 3-yard line. However, two fumbles on the first three plays, the second of which was recovered by Clear Lake, robbed the Bulldogs of the scoring chance.
BOYCEVILLE’S Landyn Leslie (#11) cradled one of his two touchdown catches in the Bulldogs’ 58-10 homecoming win over Clear Lake September 27. Leslie finished with three receptions for 130 yards and rushed twice for 42 yards. —photo by Joel DeWitt
Regardless, Boyceville controlled much of the second quarter. After stopping Clear Lake on a fourth-and-1 on the Warriors own 26-yard line, the Bulldog offense once again wasted little time scoring. Leslie took a reverse handoff from Roemhild 26 yards into the end zone for the 22-7 advantage at the 9:22 mark of the second quarter.
The next Bulldog series saw them score once again, however, this drive took five plays and covered 72 yards. For this score, Roemhild connected with Lexton Benitz from 54 yards out to extend the lead to 28-7 with 3:44 left in the half. Clear Lake added a late field goal to make the score 28-10 at halftime.
While the first half was dominated by Boyceville’s passing attack, the second was controlled by the Bulldog ground game.
“Instead of coasting in the second half we came out and made a point to be able to run whatever play we wanted with success,” commented coach Roemhild.
And coast the Bulldogs did not. The Bulldogs scored four, second-half rushing touchdowns, with three coming in the third quarter, to blow the doors off the Clear Lake defenders.
Zach Hellendrung capped a ten play, 60-yard opening half drive with a 4-yard rush to push the Bulldog lead to 34-10 midway through the third quarter.
Jake Bialzik recovered a fumble two plays later, on Clear Lake’s 31-yard line, to set up the next Bulldog score. Owen Rydel subsequently carried the ball across the goal line from 9-yards out to extend the lead to 41-10 with 4:39 left in the third quarter.
Two more touchdowns from Boyceville, another rush from Hellendrung from 1 yard out near the end of the third quarter and a 16-yard run by Andrew Tonn with 3:34 left in the game, put the Bulldogs up 58-10 and locked up their sixth straight win to start the season.
“Defensively Jake Bialzik led our team with a total of 14 tackles, four of those for a loss, two sacks, and a forced fumble,” praised coach Roemhild. “He has really been a huge asset to our defense this year at the middle linebacker spot.”
Bialzik led a defensive squad that held Clear Lake to only 154 total yards, force two fumbles and had an interception.
On the offensive side of the ball Roemhild led the team in both rushing and passing. He carried the ball three times for 59 yards, while Leslie followed up with 42 yards on two carries.
The junior quarterback completed 8-of-12 passes for 294 yards and three scoring passes. Leslie was his favorite target on the night with 130 yards on three catches and two scores. Bradley Maes was second on the team with 76 receiving yards.
The Bulldogs are on the road Friday, October 4 when they travel to Balsam Lake for a crossover game against Unity. The Eagles, playing in the Lakeland conference, are 1-5 on the year. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.