Hilltoppers come from behind for win over Vikings

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by Marlys Kruger

Sports Correspondent

GLENWOOD CITY — The Glenwood City Hilltoppers hosted the Colfax Vikings in their annual Homecoming game on a rather pleasant evening last Friday night, September 29, and had to come from behind from a 12-0 deficit before claiming a 26-12 victory.

The Hilltoppers are now 4-3 overall and 2-3 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play with two games left. The Vikings have been struggling the last several years and are 1-6 overall and 0-6 in conference play.

It was almost a tale of two halves with the Vikings controlling most of the first. After Hilltopper junior Andrew Blaser threw three, first-half interceptions, senior Morgen Eggert took over at quarterback late in the first half and led a second-half, Glenwood City resurgence as he rushed for a game-leading 182 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

Colfax took the game’s opening  kickoff and using fullback Colton Hoffman a lot in their first possession, the Vikings picked up a first down before the Toppers forced them into a punt when Steven Booth tackled the runner for a loss of yards. 

Glenwood City took over at their own 27 and after a holding penalty, quarterback Andrew Blaser threw a pass that was intercepted by the Viking’s Drew Buchner.

Taking over at the Topper 36, Hoffman gained nine yards on two plays but a Topper player came up with another tackle for a loss of yards. On fourth down, quarterback Buchner launched a pass that was picked off by the Toppers Brody Riba giving them the ball back at their own 15.

After a false start penalty, Mitchell McGee zipped off a nine-yard run and gained a first down on another run, but a second down pass from Blaser fell into the wrong hands again with Peyton Hover picking it off. Colfax took over on the Topper 32 and on a second-down play, Theo Hovde appeared to have a long touchdown run for the Vikings and everyone on the Toppers side breathed a sigh of relief when they saw a yellow flag drop. Colfax was called for a holding call and the ball went back to the 38 yard line. The quarter ended with a 0-0 score.

Colfax was forced to punt and the Toppers started at their 15. McGee picked up a first down but Blaser was sacked twice while trying to get a pass off and the Toppers had to punt. They almost caught another break when a Topper tackler nailed Hovde when he received the punt, but he somehow hung on to the ball at the Viking’s 40. Nine running plays took the ball to the Topper two and Hovde ran it in for six points. Buchner’s kick hit the upright but it was 6-0 with 3:33 left in the half.

After Eggert took the ensuing kickoff back to the Toppers 40, Glenwood City seemed to pick up their offense by gaining a pair of first downs on five running plays. But the aerial attack was just not clicking as Blaser threw another interception, this time by Hovde who once again appeared to have a touchdown. And once again the yellow flag saved the day as the Vikings were called on a late hold. The ball went back to the Topper 36 and it looked like the Topper defense was going to hold when the Vikings had a third and nine. But a trick play with Hovde taking the ball and passing across the field to Buchner resulted in another Colfax touchdown. The kick was missed but it was 12-0 with 29 seconds left in the half.

They say opportunity only comes once so you need to take advantage of it. The Toppers did just that.

The Colfax kicker sent a booming kickoff out of bounds around the Topper 20 yard line which drew yet another penalty and the Hilltopper chose to have the Viking re-kick it. That proved to be the right decision as the second boot sent the football right into Eggert’s hand who zipped down the field through several Colfax defenders and was tackled around the Viking six yard line. Mitch McGee took the ball to the promised land and although the kick was missed it was stunningly 12-6 at the half.

Glenwood City took the second-half, bouncy kickoff to its own 46 but fumbled the ball away on first down.

The Topper coaches must have made some adjustments on their defense because they controlled the line of scrimmage for the rest of the game, virtually shutting the Colfax running backs down. They forced a Colfax punt then their offense went to work.

Starting at their own 20, McGee and Eggert kept their legs moving and eventually they moved to the Colfax nine. But the drive stalled with a holding call and the Vikings took over. 

An illegal shift penalty on Colfax and a run by Hoffman brought up a fourth and six. Whether a fake punt was called or it was just a blunder on the Vikings’ part, punter Hoffman made an attempt to pass the ball but was swarmed by the Topper defense. The ball ended up around the two yard line and on first down, McGee took it in for a TD. Booth booted the extra point to make it 13-12 with 5:02 left in the third quarter. 

The Topper defense forced the Vikings into another punting situation and they took the ball over at their own 27. Eggert gained a first down with a 12-yard sprint on third and four and McGee ran for yet another first down with an 11-yard run. With the ball now on the Viking 35,  Eggert blazed his way down the sideline and hit paydirt. Two penalties on Colfax during the extra point kick allowed the Toppers to go for an easy two-point conversion but the runner was stuffed, making it 19-12 and that’s how the quarter ended.

Colfax was forced to punt again on their next possession on yet another penalty and a six-yard loss on a tackle by Eggert.

The Hilltoppers took over on their own 45 and on fourth and one, a facemask penalty on Colfax gave them a first down on the Vikings 35. After seven running plays, Eggert threw a pass to sophomore Brody Riba in the corner of the end zone, and with two defenders around him, Riba came down with the ball for a 17-yard TD. Booth made the kick for a 26-12 lead and after the Vikings tried four pass plays on their next possession, only one was caught. Booth ended their night with a quarterback sack on fourth down and the Toppers ran out the clock.

Glenwood City finished with 276 yards rushing on 45 carries with most of the gains coming in the second half of play. Eggert led the way with his 182-yard performance and a touchdown while McGee added 89 yards and a pair of scores on 16 hauls. The Toppers finished 2-of-6 for 26 yards passing with 17 yards coming from Eggert’s TD toss to Riba. Eggert was 1-2 for 17 yards with Blaser hitting on just one of his four tosses for nine yards and finished with three picks.   

Glenwood City will look to keep its playoff hopes alive when it travels to Turtle Lake this Friday, October 6 in search of a second straight win.