Mounders beat Vikings 51-0 in annual gridiron showdown
By Cara L. Dempski
COLFAX — Graduates of Elk Mound and Colfax could probably tell some dramatic stories about the football games between the Mounders and Vikings over the years.
The September 16 game between the two teams is one Elk Mound fans will likely be talking about for a long time, while Colfax fans will mention it and shake their heads.
Mounder Noah Zurbuchen rushed for 187 of a total 611 yards in Elk Mound’s 51-0 whitewash victory over Colfax. The Mounders, who evened their conference record at 1-1 with the big win, held the Vikings to 65 rushing yards on 29 attempts. Colfax fell to 0-3 in Dunn-St. Croix play and 0-5 overall.
Our game plan all week was to work on the little things, like defense swarming the ball,” Mounder coach Dave Lew said. “We wanted to focus on simple things every single play.”
The Mounders went on the board when Zurbuchen ran the ball into the end zone from 10 yards out to grab the first score of the game. Dane Lew’s pass to Ben Lambele was good for the extra two points, and Elk Mound went up 8-0 with 7:14 left in the first.
Senior offensive lineman George Friberg nailed an on-sides kick for the kickoff, giving Elk Mound decent field position for another first-and-ten at their own 49-yard line.
The Vikings pushed Elk Mound back on the first down of the drive, setting the Mounders up for a second-and-long that took them up to their own 39 yard-line. Several Colfax players jumped offsides, earning a five-yard penalty and giving Elk Mound a first down at their own 45.
Lew handed the ball to Lambele on the very next play, and Lambele sprinted 55 yards to give Elk Mound their second touchdown less than three minutes after they scored their first. Lew’s kick was good, and the score became 15-0 with 4:52 left in the first.
Mitchell Kiekhafer made the catch for Colfax and ran it back to the Viking 21-yard line before flags started flying. The Vikings started their next set of downs pushed back to the 11-yard line after earning a penalty for an illegal block.
Colfax’s offense tried to put together enough yardage to earn a fresh set of downs, but eventually wound up punting back to Elk Mound. Mounder senior Hunter Adleman came up with the ball and ran it back toward the end zone for another six points for Elk Mound. Lew’s point-after was good, and the Mounders went up to 22-0 with 2:21 left in the quarter.
Viking quarterback Treyton Teige opened the second quarter by being sacked for a loss. Colfax would eventually punt the ball back to Elk Mound on a fourth down with 12 yards to go.
Zurbuchen caught the ball and ran it 13 yards to score again, changing the board to 28-0 for the Mounders. After another successful kick from Lew, the score became 29-0.
Senior Brad Kamp took over for Teige at quarterback, using his agility and arm to move the ball forward, but was not able to add up 10 yards and punted it away to Elk Mound.
The Mounders caught the ball on their own 30-yard line, but were meted a holding penalty to push them back to the 20. On the next play, they again earned a holding penalty, which forced a replay of the first down with 20 yards to go.
Elk Mound marched down the field against a series of respectable blocks from Colfax defenders before Tyler Sahm found a whole new gear and carried the ball 61 yards to cross the goal line.
Elk Mound Junior Bryce Kasper and Colfax senior Bryce Kragness had some things to say to each other in the end zone at the end of Sahm’s run, earning them both penalties for personal fouls. The yardage for each penalty cancelled each other out, and Elk Mound’s touchdown stood.
After another nice kick from Lew, Elk Mound led Colfax 36-0 with 6:38 to go until the end of the half.
A scant two minutes later, junior Will Muzynski would find the end zone again for Elk Mound on a 70-yard sprint to make his first touchdown of the season. With the kick good for the point after, Elk Mound went to 43-0 with 4:35 left in the first half.
Kamp flubbed a handoff on his own 20-yard line and Elk Mound recovered the ball. On the very next play, Elk Mound dropped the ball at the Colfax 14, and the Vikings got the ball back with 3:41 left in the half.
The Vikings were not productive on the next set of downs, but were able to pick up an Elk Mound fumble at their own 37 to keep the Mounders from scoring again as time ticked off the clock.
The Mounders opened the second half with an 80-yard kick return run from Tyler Sahm for a touchdown. With Lew’s kick failing, the score went to 49-0 after only 15 seconds in the half.
Kiekhafer took a knee at his own 20-yard line for the Vikings’ first possession of the second half. The Colfax offense continued to struggle offensively, but the defense was able to better keep up with Elk Mound in the third quarter, forcing a Mounder fumble in the closing seconds of the third to set up a possession starting on their own three-yard line.
Colfax head coach Matt DeMoe said after the game, “We stopped them on the inside a few times, but they were fast.”
However, Kamp was pulled back into the end zone and then piled on by multiple Mounders at the beginning of the fourth, nabbing a safety for Elk Mound and making the score 51-0.
When he got the ball back, Kamp aired out a beautiful pass to hit Adam Pretasky, who was 30 yards down the field. Again, though, the Vikings ran up against Elk Mound’s defense and could not produce a scoring drive.
The back-and-forth play continued for the rest of the game until the Mounder quarterback knelt on their fourth down with 20 seconds left to play.
The Vikings will travel to Washburn on September 23 to play a Washburn/Bayfield/South Shore team with a 1-4 record.
“They look a lot like we do, so that’s our shot,” DeMoe said of the non-conference team.
The 3-2 Mounders will take on the 0-5 Mondovi Buffaloes at home on September 23.
Coach Lew said of the Buffaloes, “That’s going to be a tough battle. They’re going to want us from last year. We have to be able to play and do the little things again, correctly.”
ELK MOUND 51, COLFAX 0
Elk Mound 22 21 6 2 — 51
Colfax 0 0 0 0 — 0
First Quarter: EM — N. Zurbuchen 10 run (B. Lambele pass from D. Lew), 7:14; EM — B. Lambele 55 run (D. Lew kick), 4:52; EM — H. Adleman 9 run (D. Lew kick), 2:21.
Second Quarter: EM — N. Zurbuchen 13 run (D. Lew kick), 10:31; T. Sahm 61 run (D. Lew kick), 6:38; EM — W. Muzynski 70 run (D. Lew kick), 4:35.
Third Quarter: EM — T. Sahm 80 run (kick fail), 11:45.
Fourth Quarter: EM — Safety, 7:50.
Individual Statistics
Passing (att-comp-int-yds) — C (9-4-0-61) — B. Kamp 8-3-0-49, T. Teige 1-1-0-12; EM (1-1-0-9) — D. Lew 1-1-0-9.
Rushing (att-yds) — C (29-67) — T. Teige 8-34, B. Kamp 8-23, B. Schindler 10-14, A. Pretasky 1-(4); EM (37-611) — N. Zurbuchen 9-187, T. Sahm 5-161, H. Adleman 8-96, W. Muzynski 2-76, B. Redwine 6-44, B. Lambele 1-20, C. Schreiber 1-9, D. Lew 1-3, A. Benson 1-3.
Receiving (comp-yds) — C (2-42) — A. Pretasky 2-42; EM (1-9) — H. Adleman 1-9.