Mounders mauled by SCC Panthers
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HAMMOND — Yardage was at a premium for Elk Mound when it visited Hammond last Friday evening, August 25 to take on St. Croix Central in a non-conference football match-up between the former Dunn-St. Croix foes.
The Mounders, a member of the Cloverbelt Conference for football, and the Panthers, who now play all sports in the Middle Border Conference, both entered the game with 1-0 records.
Unfortunately for Elk Mound, the game turned out to be a one-sided affair as a stingy St. Croix Central defense coupled with its powerful offense crushed the Orange and Black 42-0.
Fresh off a 70 to zip whitewashing of Spencer/Columbus Catholic in week 1 of the season, the Panthers, a favorite in this year’s Middle Border championship race, allowed the Mounders just 45 yards of total offense which included a negative 55 yards of rushing while finishing with 335 yards of offense, 276 of which came via their ground attack.
St. Croix Central scored in all four quarters, posting half of its point tally – 21 – in the first quarter alone. It added a touchdown and an extra point in each of the subsequent quarters.
Elk Mound found that the old axiom, “If you cannot move the ball, you cannot score; and if you cannot score, you cannot win the game!”, proved true.
Despite a 100-yard effort on an 8-for-17 throwing performance by Mounders’ quarterback Logan Jerome, Elk Mound found itself going backwards when it tried to run the football against the stout Central defense. Jerome threw for a combined loss of -65 yards on his eight rushing attempts, some of which were sacks. In its other 13 rushing attempts, Elk Mound netted just ten yards led by Parker Dutzle who finished with seven yards on five carries. Kaden Russo had a rush for two yards and Brandon Lee finished with a yard on seven hauls.
Sam Wenzel caught five of Logan Jerome’s throws for 57 yards with Kamron Diermeier cradling a pair of passes for 40 yards and Carter Vieth had a reception for three yards.
Sam Fischer led the Panthers running game with 104 yards and four touchdowns on just ten carries. Noah Nusbaum added 86 yards on 14 hauls and quarterback Caden Wester ran nine times for 70 yards. Wester also added 59 yards passing as he hit three of his four pass attempts. Mason Sullivan caught a pair for 43 yards and Nusbaum had one for 16 yards.
Elk Mound (1-1) will look to get back on track when it hosts Eau Claire Regis (1-1) in the Cloverbelt opener this Thursday evening, August 31 at 7 p.m. Regis, last year’s Division 7 state champion, evened its early-season record with a 35-6 win over Bloomer at Carson Park last Friday.