Mounders handed a loss in first game of season

By Cara L. Dempski

ELK MOUND — Elk Mound drove nearly 80 yards in 12 plays in the first quarter to score the first points of the game. After that, it was all Chetek-Weyerhaeuser in the season football opener Friday, August 19 in Elk Mound.

Despite rushing for 137 yards on 38 carries, the Mounders managed a total of only eight first downs and were out-passed by Chetek-Weyerhaeuser’s Dawson Davis, who threw for 225 yards and all three scores in the Bulldogs 21-6 victory.

“He’s grown a lot,” Mounder coach Dave Lew said of Davis, “He (Davis) was very calm and poised tonight.”

The Mounders looked to be off to a good start when, after only five minutes of play in the first quarter, junior Dylan Black sacked the Chetek-Weyerhaeuser quarterback on a fourth down play. Elk Mound took over on their own 21-yard line and then marched down the field over the next five minutes to score the game and season’s first touchdown on Hunter Adleman’s 1-yard plunge. The conversion run was no good leaving the Mounders in front 6-0 with just 2:37 left in the opening quarter.

The rest of the first quarter seemed to be a case of each team testing the other side to see what each other’s strengths and weaknesses were. Each team played a series of three and out possessions over the last minutes of the first quarter and into the second quarter.

After a fourth-down punt by Elk Mound senior Chandler Schreiber, the Chetek-Weyerhaeuser Bulldogs took over possession on their own 39-yard line and strung aseries of first downs together to set up the Bulldogs’ first touchdown, a 15-yard pass from Davis to Hunter Flor with 2:21 left on the first-half clock. Elk Mound successfully blocked the kick for the point after, which left the game tied 6-6.

Elk Mound’s Tyler Sahm returned the ensuing kick-off to the Mounders’ 47-yard line.

Elk Mound pushed ahead six yards, but a holding call stalled the drive which ended with another punt resulting in the Bulldogs’ Darryl Williams returning the ball to his own 37-yard line.

A few plays later, Elk Mound was penalized for an illegal block, setting up a fresh set of downs for Chetek-Weyerhaeuser at Elk Mound’s 49-yard line. It took five more plays for Davis to connect with Sam Newell for a 35-yard touchdown as time expired. The two-point conversion was successful, and the Bulldogs led 14-6 at the half.

In the second half, things looked up a bit for Elk Mound when Brady Redwine recovered a Bulldog fumble, but two plays later Dane Lew was picked off by Davis.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Bulldogs scored their final touchdown of the game. Again, Davis went to the air and found Darkys Williams open for the eight-yard scoring pass with just 1:25 remaining in the game. Brett Knowlton added the point-after-touchdown kick to make the final 21-6.

Offensively, Elk Mound controlled the rushing stats with 137 yards to the Bulldogs’ 63, but tacked up only 9 yards passing to Chetek-Weyerhaeuser’s 225. Lew said that could be credited to the Bulldogs’ defensive line.

“They really brought it,” Lew stated. “They are physical, and their linebackers are physical. They really exploded off the ball. We pounded that first drive, but then after that, we just kind of let up.”

Elk Mound played without their 2015 conference player of the year, Noah Zurbuchen, who Lew said was suffering an “ailment” and would need some time to recover.

Elk Mound will face the Eleva-Strum Cardinals in Eleva this Friday, August 25. Lew shared that after having seen part of the Cardinals game against Colfax on August 18, he knows what he and the team will be working on this next week in practice.

CHETEK – WEYERHAEUSER 21, EM 6
CW: 6  8  0  7 — 21
EM: 6  0  0  0 — 6

1st Quarter:
EM — H. Adleman 1 run (2-pt conversion failed), 2:26.

2nd Quarter:
CW — H. Flor 15 pass from D. Davis (kick failed), 2:21.
CW — S. Newell 35 pass from D. Davis (T. Buse pass from Davis), :00.

4th Quarter:
CW — D. Williams 8 pass from D. Davis (B. Knowlston kick), 1:25.

 

First downs: CW — 15, EM — 8

Net yards: CW — 288, EM — 146

Rushing: CW — 28-63, EM — 38-137

Passing: CW — 225, EM — 9

Passes: CW — 17-35-0, EM — 2-13-2

Fumbles-lost: CW — 1-1, EM — 2-1

Penalties-yards: CW — 4-35, EM — 7-50

 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:

Rushing: CW — B. Knowlston 5-8, D. Davis 7-26, D. Williams 2-4, D. Chuchwar 14-25; EM — T. Sahm 21-73, H. Adleman 15-67, C. Lee 1-1, D Lew 1-(-4).

Passing (comp-att-int-yds): CW — D. Davis 17-35-0-225; EM — D. Lew 2-13-2-9.

Receiving (rec-yds): CW — D Williams 3-13, Newell 4-65, T. Buse 2-12, H. Flor 4-68, B Knowlston 2-12, D. Chuchwar 2-21; EM — C. Lee 1-4, C. Schreiber 1-5.

Interceptions (tot-yds): CW — D. Davis 2-7.

Sacks: CW — D Chuchwar 1-4; EM — H. Adleman 1-3.