ELGIN — After dominating their opponent early in the game, Elgin Public-Pope John surrendered 22 unanswered points to give Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family their first-ever victory as a co-op school.
The Bulldogs took the lead just before halftime and never trailed again in handing the Wolfpack their first loss of the season.
Conditions Friday night were wet and damp for the start of the 2014 football season. Coach Randy Eisenhauer’s team, capitalizing on the strength of its offensive line, marched 46 yards with their opening possession to light up the scoreboard.
With fans barely settled into the new bleachers, they had plenty to celebrate when sophomore Chad Bode capped the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Seth Schumacher added the two-point conversion.
The defense forced a three-and-out on the Bulldogs, getting the ball back. However, the Wolfpack’s subsequent possession helped set up the Bulldogs’ first touchdown. Penalties pinned EPPJ deep in their own territory. A Wolfpack punt gave the Bulldogs good field position near midfield. They then began to start making big plays. Quarterback Duncan Hanzel connected with Brayden Frauendorfer on a 17-yard pass play down to the 10-yard line. On the next play, Frauendorfer took it into the endzone. The two point conversion tied the score at 8-all with 1:17 left in the first quarter.
The Wolfpack answered right back with an 11-play, 53-yard drive. The big play in the drive was a 20-yard run by Bode. Five plays later, Andrew Fangman scored on a three-yard run to give the Wolfpack a 14 to 8 lead.
Christopher Bush saved the day for the Wolfpack just moments later. The Bulldogs had marched down to EPPJ’s two-yard line when, on the next play, Hanzel coughed up the football and Bush recovered.
Momentum, on the side of the Wolfpack for much of the first half, disappeared on the next play when Hanzel intercepted a Wolfpack pass and returned it 18 yards to the two-yard line. Frauendorfer scored the touchdown on the next play to tie the score.
The teams traded possessions. The Bulldogs capitalized with just seconds left on the clock when Hanzel found Ashton Dohmen for a touchdown for a 20 to 14 lead at halftime.
“We wanted to really get a touchdown here right at the end and then hold them you know and it kinda turned on us in a hurry where we didn’t score at the end and then they got a big pass play at the end and took the lead going into halftime,” Coach Randy Eisenhauer said.
Kyle Heithoff recovered a Bulldog fumble on the second play of the third quarter, giving EPPJ good field position on the Bulldogs’ 34-yard line. However, EPPJ was unable to gain a first down, turning the ball over on downs at the 25-yard line.
The Bulldogs then went 65 yards to take the lead, covering 55 through the air. Dohmen got the touchdown on a seven-yard run.
Any hope of EPPJ answering the Bulldogs’ touchdown on their next possession was lost when the they fumbled the ball away.
The teams then traded possessions the remainder of the half. With under a minute to play in the game, the Bulldogs added a late touchdown to make the final score 36 to 14.
“Everything that happened tonight is things we can improve on all next week,” Eisenhauer said about the loss. “We were inside the 20-yard line four or five times and didn’t score. We had them stopped a lot of times and then they got a big play … They hit every big play that they needed and that’s something we didn’t.”
The Wolfpack were plagued by turnovers with four (two interceptions/two fumbles).
As a team, they gained 180 yards on the ground and just 13 through the air for a total offense of 193. Leading rusher for the Wolfpack was Chad Bode with 17 carries for 69 yards.
Frauendorfer led the Bulldogs in rushing with 73 yards on 17 carries.
On defense, the Wolfpack were led by Kyle Heithoff with 23 tackles, Schumacher had 14.
The Wolfpack had nine quarterback sacks in the game, led by Scott Moser with three.
Bush and Heithoff were each credited with fumble recoveries.
The Wolfpack (0-1) will play their first road game of the season Friday night at Creighton. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
Bulldogs 36, Wolfpack 14
Bulldogs………….8 12 8 8 — 36
Wolfpack………….8 6 0 0 — 14
EPPJ — Chad Bode 7 run (Seth Schumacher run)
H/LHF — Brayden Frauendorfer 9 run (PAT good)
EPPJ — Andrew Fangman 2 run (PAT failed)
H/LHF — Frauendorfer 2 run (PAT failed)
H/LHF — Duncan Hanzel 25 pass to Ashton Dohmen (PAT failed)
H/LHF — Hanzel 8 pass to Dohmen (PAT good)
H/LHF — Austin Preister 5 run (PAT Good)
Team Stats Wolfpack
First Downs 9
Penalties/Yds 4/35
Rushing 46/180
Passing 2/5/2
Passing Yds 13
Total Offense 193
Fumbles Lost 2
Individual Statistics
Passing — Seth Schumacher 2/5/2 — 13 yds.
Rushing — Kyle Kallhoff 12/45, Chad Bode 17/69, Kyle Heithoff 1/2, Andrew Fangman 6/18, Seth Schumacher 1/9.
Receiving — Kyle Kallhoff 1/6, Austin Meis 1/7.
Tackles (solo/asst) Dylan Behnk 2/2, Kyle Kallhoff 0/8, Austin Meis 2/6, Miles Schrage 1/1, Chad Bode 3/10, Alois Warner 0/4, Scott Moser 1/17, Christopher Bush 0/6, Kyle Heithoff 4/19, Andrew Fangman 1/10, Trent Bauer 1/11, Seth Schumacher 2/12.
Sacks — Scott Moser 3, Kyle Kallhoff 1, Austin Meis 1, Chad Bode 1, Kyle Heithoff 1, Andrew Fangman 1, Trent Bauer 1.
