By Becky Walz,
Following a late score in the district opener at Mason City a week earlier, the Decorah football team (2-4, 0-2) was looking to get back on track as the Vikes hosted Western Dubuque-Epworth (4-2, 2-0) Friday night. However, the Vikings’ scoring opportunities were limited in the first half, allowing the Bobcats to roll up the win 38-22.
Following a late score in the district opener at Mason City a week earlier, the Decorah football team (2-4, 0-2) was looking to get back on track as the Vikes hosted Western Dubuque-Epworth (4-2, 2-0) Friday night. However, the Vikings’ scoring opportunities were limited in the first half, allowing the Bobcats to roll up the win 38-22.
Scoring moments
Western Dubuque got on the board first, scoring on a 46-yard burst. With the PAT good and a 28-yard field goal, the Bobcats led 10-0 after the first quarter. The Vikings put together a good drive in the second period to set up an Erik Hjelle 36-yard field goal. However, WD marched down the field 64 yards in four plays to score again to make it 27-3 at halftime.
Back on the field for the third, a Bobcat fumble at their own 24-yard line, set the momentum in Decorah’s favor that culminated in Brady Stille racing 12 yards for the touchdown. With Hjelle’s PAT through the goal posts, the Vikes trailed by a touchdown, 17-10. Eleven plays later, the Bobcats galloped 35-yards to the end zone and pulled away once again to 24-10 with one quarter of play remaining.
Stille put his second touchdown on the scoreboard four plays into the final period; however, it took just two plays for Western Dubuque to bust out big moves to run 54-yards into the endzone. Not done yet, Stille led the charge down the field once again and crowning it off with his third touchdown of the game. The Bobcats added one more score in the closing minutes to claim the victory.
“We got in a hole early and fought back to within seven points and eight points late in the game. We are proud of our effort to learn some new things for the game and keep fighting to win but came up short on the scoreboard. So many guys played so hard. Brady, Ben and Jaden ran the ball well and our line showed improvement in our combination blocks,” said Coach Pat Trewin.
A quick peek
The Vikings had 209 yards rushing and 70 through the air for 279 total.
Western Dubuque collected 439 yards overall, with 242 on the ground.
Stille was 6-for-12 for 70 yards and carried the pigskin 20 times for 93 yards. Ben Wymer caught five passes for 37 yards, while Kelley Gates hauled in one pass for a 33-yard gain. On the ground, Jaden Baker had 12 carries for 53 yards while Wymer had 53 yards on six carries.
Brady Benzing and Baker led the defense. Benzing had 10 total tackles including two solo and eight assists, while Baker had four solo and four assisted stops to go with a pass deflection. Dakota Johnson was there for three solo and four assisted tackles. Wymer provided four solo stops and two assists. With two solo tackles and four assists was Kasey Krauskopf, along with a broken up pass.
Back on track
Decorah is at Marion Friday, Oct. 7, at 7:30 p.m. Marion has two losses in district action already to Waverly-Shell Rock and Western Dubuque with both scores at 42-7.
“Our guys have continued to strive to improve in practice. We look forward to another good week. Marion is a very fast team with a player being recruited at the Division I level in Alex Mota. We know if we play our game that we have a chance to get a victory. More and more players are playing at a high level, and we can get better still,” concluded Coach Trewin.
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q F
W. Dubuque 10 17 7 14 38
Decorah 0 3 7 12 22
Scoring sequence
1st Quarter
WD – 46-yd. run (PAT)
WD – 28-yd. field goal
2nd Quarter
Decorah – Erik Hjelle 36-yd. field goal
WD – 10-yd. run (PAT)
3rd Quarter
Decorah – Brady Stille 12-yd. run (Hjelle PAT)
WD – 35-yd. run (PAT)
4th Quarter
Decorah – Stille 3-yd. run (PAT failed)
WD – 54-yd. run (PAT)
Decorah – Stille 2-yd. run (2-pt. pass failed)
WD – 7-yd. run (PAT)
Game stats
Total yards: Decorah 279; Western Dubuque 439
Passing (comp/att/yds): Brady Stille (6-12, 70 yds.)
Rushing (att/yds): Stille (20-93, 3 TD); Jaden Baker (12-53); Ben Wymer (6-29); Erik Hjelle (5-21); Kaiden Quandahl (3-13)
Receiving (att/yds/TD): Wymer (5-37); Kelley Gates (1-33)
Tackles (total): Brady Benzing (10); Baker (8); Dakota Johnson (7); Kasey Krauskopf (6); Wymer (6); Stille (6); Quandahl (4); Andrew Rhodes (3); William Hahn (3); Brady Bohner (3); Fisher Tweten (3); Hjelle (2); William Einck (1)
Fumble recoveries: Stille (1)
Punts (att/yds): Quandahl (4-142)
Punt return (att/yds): Wymer (1-4)
Kick-offs (att/yds): Hjelle (5-221, 1TB, 1 FG)
Kick-off returns (att/yds): Wymer (6-111); Baker (1-16)
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