Augusta-Fall Creek contest ended in second quarter
The way the game was going, it was a no-brainer.
Fall Creek was ahead of Augusta 31-0 and after two lengthy injury time-outs to Augusta players in the second quarter of their ballgame at Augusta's Balliett Field last week Friday, Aug. 30, both coaches, Derek Boldt for Augusta and new head coach Marcus Wahleithner for Fall Creek, agreed to end the contest with 3:21 left before halftime.
"I didn't even think twice about it," Boldt said.
That's because the Beavers have only 21 players on their roster 9-12 and could not afford anymore injuries, especially with a tough early season schedule. Up next, one of the top-ranked teams in the state in Division 7 in Alma/Pepin this Friday at Alma.
"We've got a very tight, very strong group of senior and upper-class leaders who've got each other's backs and who will keep this team together this season." Boldt said.
FC can be happy with the win, especially after a tough defeat the week before in its opener vs. Altoona that saw starting quarterback Nathan Kurtz go down with an injury. But they can't be happy with the number of penalties and turnovers they had, including an unsportsmanlike conduct and two illegal chop-block penalties in a row. Yet it was a measure of the Crickets' dominance that even when Augusta got these breaks they couldn't move the ball at all while FC, on their last touchdown drive, faced a first down and 48 yards to go on the Augusta 47 and still scored on Ethan Westrate's 38-yard touchdown run.
In fact, the game started ominously for the Beavers on their Parent's Night and home opener as FC's Koen Tumm returned the opening kick-off 75 yards for a score. Tumm also caught a 39-yard TD pass from sophomore back-up QB Josh Wright in the first quarter too as FC led 24-0 after running back Gus Pranckus, one of the few seniors on the FC roster, scored on a 26-yard TD run.
Westrate finished with 117 yards rushing on five carries to lead the Crickets while Pranckus had 63 and Kramer 58 on just four carries each. Pranckus was also FC's tackler leader with six.
"We have a very young team with a lot of juniors and sophomores with few seniors," Wahleithner said. "We have a lot to clean-up and lot of areas to improve in but the potential we have is very good."
And they'll need to get clean if they want to compete with one of the favorites in the Cloverbelt Conference this season, Stanley-Boyd, this Friday at S-B with the kick-off at 7 p.m.
Eleva-Strum evened its record at 1-1 with an overwhelming 51-8 victory at Colfax last week Friday, Aug. 31. The Cardinals had a 36-8 lead at halftime and added 15 more points in the second half. E-S's Ty Fjelstad rushed for 149 yards on 10 carries and scored four time on the ground. That was just part of the Cards' 342-yard attack on ther ground. Quarterback Brennan Hanner rushed for 71 yards on six attempts and a TD, Luis Itehua had 58 yards on four carries and Brock Stendahl rushed for 41 yards on seven carries. Hanner was an effcient 4-for-5 for 70 yards and a TD to Bo Windjue for 15 yards. Itehua caught three passes for 55 yards to lead E-S. Dan Segerstom had 12 tackles to lead Eleva-Strum while Reede Brown and Windjue finished with five. Colfax finished with just 30 yards rushing on 30 carries.
E-S has a good chance of starting off Dairyland Conference action with a win as they take on winless Independence/Gilmanton this Friday in Indy at 7 p.m.
