Augusta, Osseo-Fairchild prep gridders looking for change, FC and E-S hope to keep success going

AUGUSTA - Derek Boldt believes this is the year Augusta football breaks back into the win column after four years, especially when victory was in their grasp last week.

The Beavers lost a winnable non-conference game to Elmwood/Plum City last week Thursday, Aug. 27 at Centennial Field 26-22.

After some discussion of going to an eight-man football program in the spring, AHS still plunged ahead with 11-man football for this fall. They actually did win a victory, off the field, before the season started as nearly 30 players came out for the team, a big increase when they barely fielded 20 players the past two seasons.

"I knew coming out of our summer camp and workouts we were going to be a better team," Boldt, the Beavers' head coach, said.

That was evident as the Beavers (0-2) had one of its best games on the ground in four years led junior, 6-1, 230-lbs. running back Rylee Mickelson. He rushed for 141 yards on 20 carries and a TD, the Beavers' first of the ballgame against EPC that put them ahead 8-0.

And when the Beavers fell behind 20-8 in the fourth quarter, they rallied back with a pair of TDs from senior flanker Owen Lee. He caught a 27-yard scoring pass from junior quarterback James Shong and had a 12-yard TD run to bring Augusta within four points at 26-22 with five minutes to go. Lee caught four passes for 59 yards and led the team in all-purpose yards as well.

Lee, Mickelson, Shong and his brother, senior 270-lbs. lineman Josh, senior linebacker Nate Atchinson, who led the team in tackles with 11, including a tackle-for-loss (TFL) and junior linebacker Dylan Dircks are the returning lettermen who are the foundation the Beavers can build on to find the kind of success they enjoyed five years ago when they were unbeaten and Dairyland Conference champs.

"They're the kids who can make plays for us and that's the sets the tone of leadership they have for the rest of the team," Boldt said.

Lee also recovered a fumble at the Elmwood/PC 27-yard line with three minutes to go. The road to victory was open for AHS. But a fumble, one of eight in the ballgame (four them lost) gave the ball back to the Wolves (1-1) and they ran out the clock.

"We improved from the mental mistakes we made against Colfax and did not make the same ones this week," Boldt said. "So fixing the fumbling problem we had this week will be easier because it's something we work on in practice and its inexcusable that we had that problem,"

Taking that last step, putting everything together to get that single win, will be the biggest challenge for the Beavers this fall, especially in a DC that includes state Division 7 runner-up Cochrane-Fountain City, perennial state power Alma/Pepin and good teams at Whitehall and Melrose-Mindoro this season. But opportunities to get that first win exist for the Beavers against Eleva-Strum, Blair-Taylor and Independence/Gilmanton, all 0-2 squads so far.

AHS hosts C-FC this Friday at 7 p.m. to begin conference play.

Osseo-Fairchild also begins league play this week in a new league. The Thunder moved from the Cloverbelt to the Dunn-St. Corix Conference, joining Chippewa Falls McDonell, now back as an 11-man football program, as new members. The timing is probably not bad for such a move as O-F lost their top statistical leaders from last season's 2-7 squad (which broke a long losing streak as well) such as quarterback Drew Paulus, running back and top defender Noah Filla, wide receiver Mason Schmidt and back Colton Williams. A much younger Thunder squad is led by junior quarterback Ty Skoyen and sophomore running back Daegan Swett., Senior Brooks Koxlien returns as O-F's top receiver. Another returning letterman is junior Holden Mccray. These players had big games in the Thunder's big 43-6 season-opening win over Necedah.

Also in the D-SC are teams from solid programs like Glenwood City, Spring Valley, Boyceville, Elmwood/Plum City and Colfax. All the teams have at least one win so far and the league is just as tough and competitive as the Cloverbelt as demonstrated by by Osseo-Fairchild's loss to a D-SC-like team in Webster last week on the road 33-6. Skoyen threw for 173 yards and Koxlien caught nine passes for 94 yards but the Thunder rushed for only 38 yards compared to Webster's 368 led by senior running back Ron Hatch's 314 yards and four touchdowns. Swett had O-F's lone score of the ballgame on the ground and the Thunder were hurt by three interceptions. Running the ball effectively and stopping the run is crucial for O-F's chance for success in their new league. Play begins in a week, Sept. 11 at Boyceville. This week O-F plays its final non-conference game at home against Grantsburg (1-1).

Fall Creek is staying in the ultra-competitive Cloverbelt and hoping to up its play to compete for a league title against the likes of Eau Claire Regis, Elk Mound, Durand-Arkansaw, Stanley-Boyd and their opponent in the league-opener Friday, Sept. 4, Mondovi at home. Six of the seven teams in the league are undefeated so far including FC and Mondovi.

The Crickets are hoping to offset the loss of many experienced linemen and defenders to graduation by returning skill players like senior running back Ethan Westrate and junior quarterback Bryson Elkins and senior wide receiver Koen Tumm and senior Nolan Ritger. Against Barron last week at Barron, Elkins threw for 147 yards and two TDs and Westrate led the team in rushing. FC had a nice balance of 166 passing and 127 yards rushing in their 36-0 win. Another letterman, senior Tyler Biegel led the team in tackles with 12.

Mondovi comes into Friday's game considered one of the top teams in the state in their division led by the junior trio of quarterback Bode Falkner, running back Cameron Gruber and wide receiver Beau Spindler. Gruber is also their leading tackler.

It's been a rough start to the season for Eleva-Strum and new head coach Chad Hanson after making Level 2 of the playoffs last season. The Cardinals were blanked by Glenwood City in their home opener 43-0 and lost at Colfax 38-12 last week Friday, Aug. 28. Jacob Wahl's 173 yards rushing and two touchdowns powered the Vikings to their best start to a prep football season in ages. The Cardinals will try to turn things around with the start of conference play this Friday, Sept. 4 at Whitehall. The Norse are 1-1 after shutting out Pittsville in their opener 40-0 and losing a close contest to Arcadia last week 20-14. The Norse are considered a favorite in the DC this season led by players such as senior running back Bo Killian and junior quarterback Karston Auserdau and sophomore wide receiver Max Pientok

Although E-S lost a good number of good players from last season's team they do return lettermen such as senior quarterback Lucas Grangaard, senior running backs Bo Windjue and Brock Stendahl and juniors Cashton Kulig, Nolan Semingson and Asher Franson.