Colfax falls to Eleva-Strum in opener

By Cara L. Dempski

COLFAX – The Vikings were handed their first loss of the season they fell 43-6 in the 2016 home and season opener against the Eleva-Strum Cardinals Thursday, August 18.

In a game that saw 99 rushing yards for Colfax and a further 28 passing yards, the Vikings managed to pull together a solid enough defense to hold off the Cardinals, who put up all their points in the first half, for the entire second half.

Coach Matt DeMoe said he encouraged his team to stick with things during halftime.

“When we stuck to our plan, things went pretty well,” DeMoe said of his team after the game.

Offensively, Treyton Teige and Adam Pretasky picked up 98 rushing yards, with Pretasky punching through the middle of a group of Cardinal defenders on multiple occasions. Teige was able to use his height and mobility to pick up some yardage when connecting with his receivers was not going to be possible.

Junior Brett Schindler contributed another rushing yard on a fourth-down attempt to set up another set of downs for the Vikings.

The game did not start out well for Colfax when Cardinal running back Quinn Olson broke free of the pack at the 45-yard line and sprinted down the left sidelines a touchdown to complete the 59-yard scoring run  just 53 seconds into the contest. The Cardinals ran in the two-point conversion to make the game 8-0.

A few minutes later after forcing a Vikings’ punt, the Cardinals repeated the scenario when Mitchell Hong scampered 66 yards to pay dirt. After a good kick for the point after, the score stood at 15-0.

Adam Pretasky received the ball on the Cardinals kick-off and when he started to move forward the ball slipped from his hands. In the ensuing scramble, the Vikings wound up with the ball and retained possession on their own 25-yard line. After pushing forward for a first down, the Vikings were once again forced to punt and Eleva-Strum took over on its own 25.

On the next play, the Cardinals fumbled and the Vikings came up with the ball.

Colfax signal caller Treyton Teige’s pass on the first down was broken up. But Teige flipped the ball to Tommy Anderson on second down and who earned the team a five-yard gain. The Vikings gained nothing on the third, but then pushed all the way to the Eleva-Strum five-yard line on a nice fourth-down pass from Teige to Brett Schindler that covered 15 yards.

Finding no open receivers on the first and goal play, Teige stepped out to the left and took the ball in for the Vikings’ first score of the season. After a flag for illegal motion on their first conversion attempt, the Vikings were not successful in their second attempt to complete a two-point conversion and the game score remained 15-6 at the 3:51 mark of the first quarter.

Over the course of the first half, the Cardinals continued to show a strong preference for sending a runner to the outside and up the sidelines to score, something that became less prevalent after Matt DeMoe talked with his team at half-time.

Eleva-Strum added to its tally with scoring runs of 12-yards by Dustyn Topper, 80-yards from Quinn Olson (his second of the game) and an 85-yard burst by quarterback Jedediah Lorenz. Lornez also connected with Drew Severson on a 51-yard pitch-and-catch for a touchdown to make it 43-6 at the intermission.

Neither team scored in the second half.

“They (Eleva-Strum) are fast and shifty,” DeMoe said of the opponents. “We needed to tackle and watch our spacing.”

In the second half, the Vikings struggled offensively, but were able to move down the field after picking up a fumble and a touchback as the Cardinals looked ready to score for the first time in the half.

DeMoe said overall he was glad to have seen a good attitude on the sidelines, and was pleased to have had a chance to identify the strengths and weaknesses of his team before conference play starts.

“We are still looking for strong, consistent leaders,” DeMoe stated of the team. “Things are going well in practices, and a leader will emerge here or there during the week, but we need them to step up and be consistent.”

RUSHING: Colfax: T. Anderson 21-60, T. Teige 10-28, B. Foyt 1-1. Eleva-Strum: Q. Olson 139, J. Lorenz 85, D. Topper 21, B. Schaefer 6, G. Midland 5, M. Hong 4, M. Highley 6, K. Maug 2.

RECEIVING: Colfax: A. Pretasky 1-10, B. Schindler 1-11, G. Scharlau 7-1.

PASSING: Colfax: T. Tiege 3-8-28; Eleva – Strum: J. Lorenz 51.