ELGIN — Wolfpack fans Friday night got a glimpse of what might have been had not injuries shaped EPPJ’s season.
The Wolfpack produced 341 yards of total offense (242 rushing). Yet, missed opportunities in the second half cost EPPJ as Clarkson/Leigh capitalized on three touchdown runs and a touchdown pass from quarterback Anthony Bruhn to claim a 51 to 28 victory.
Trailing 27 to 20 to start the second half, the Wolfpack had a chance to march down the field to take the lead. However, they failed to pick up a first down and were forced to punt. On the Patriots’ first play, Jacob Gall took a handoff and burst through the line to go 66 yards for a touchdown, boosting the lead to 33 to 20.
EPPJ answered right back with the ground game as senior Chad Bode, playing his first game since August due to injury, carried the pigskin four times for 19 of his game-high 239 yards. With the ball on the Patriots’ 21-yard line, quarterback Conor Ramold went back to pass and found Kyle Schumacher for a touchdown. The two-point conversion made the score 33 to 28. On Schumacher’s reception, the Patriots’ were flagged for roughing the passer. The penalty was assessed on the ensuing kickoff, setting up a key moment in the game.
Kenny Bush’s kickoff pinned the Patriots on their 15-yard line to stop the drive. Twice they had the Patriots’ in fourth down situations with a chance to stop the drive. But, Bruhn made plays to keep the drive alive. Then, with 2:02 left in the quarter, he scored on a 20-yard run to make the score 39 to 28.
Things went from bad to worse two plays later when Bruhn picked off a Wolfpack pass. With the ball on the Wolfpack 24-yard line, the Patriots could have put the game away. Instead, the Wolfpack came up with several big plays to get the ball back. First, Bush broke up a pass intended for Hector Mendoza. A couple of plays later, on fourth & goal from the four-yard line, Bush sacked Bruhn who fumbled on the play. Hunter Reestman dived on the ball.
The Patriots’ defense then stepped up. They sacked Conor Ramold on consecutive plays, the second time forcing a fumble which they recovered on the Wolfpack eight-yard line. They capitalized on the fumble recovery as Mendoza scored on a three-yard run.
Clarkson/Leigh would add a late touchdown pass to make the final score 51 to 28.
In the first half the Wolfpack rushing attack pounded the Patriots. On their first possession of the game the Wolfpack went 58 yards in seven plays to take an 8 to 0 lead. Doing the damage on the ground were Reestman and Bode. Reestman had eight yards on one carry and Bode had 50 yards, the last 25 coming on a touchdown run. Ramold completed a pass to Bush for the two-point conversion.
The Patriots answered in one play as Mendoza went 50 yards to score. Still, the Wolfpack led and they appeared ready to tack on more points on their next drive. With Bode running the ball and Ramold connecting through the air with Reestman they moved the ball into Patriots’ territory. However, a Wolfpack fumble was recovered by the Patriots to end the drive. The Patriots turned the turnover into points on a 12-yard run by Jacob Gall. Then, they added another score to take a 20 to 8 lead early in the second quarter.
The Wolfpack answered back with a Bode eight-yard touchdown run midway through the quarter to cut the lead to 20 to 14.
The Patriots followed that with a Bruhn 32-yard quarterback keeper to bump the lead to 27 to 14.
Down by two scores, the Wolfpack did what Coach Randy Eisenhauer wanted them to do as the clock approached halftime. They put together a 4:29 minute drive, chewing up yards on the ground and time on the clock. The big play in the drive was a 27-yard run by Bode to move the ball into Patriots’ territory. He carried the ball nine consecutive times, the last carry a one-yard touchdown run to make the score 27 to 20 to end the first half.
Ramold had his best game passing the ball, completing nine of 12 passes for 99 yards.
On defense, the Wolfpack were led by Liam Heithoff with 16 tackles, Miles Schrage had 15, Bode added 13 and Reestman added 10.
The loss dropped the Wolfpack’s record to 0-7 heading into next week’s game against Neligh-Oakdale. The game will be played Thursday night, Oct. 13, with kickoff at 7 p.m. in Neligh.
Patriots 51, Wolfpack 28
Patriots……..13 14 12 12 — 51
Wolfpack…… 8 12 8 0 — 28
EPPJ — Chad Bode 25 run (Conor Ramold pass to Kenny Bush)
C/L — Hector Mendoza 50 run (PAT failed)
C/L — Jacob Gall 12 run (Blake Paprocki kick)
C/L — Anthony Bruhn 9 run (Paprocki kick)
EPPJ — Bode 8 run (PAT failed)
C/L — Bruhn 32 run (Paprocki kick)
EPPJ — Bode 1 run (PAT failed)
C/L — Gall 66 run (PAT failed)
EPPJ — Ramold 21 pass to Kyle Schumacher (Bode run)
C/L — Bruhn 20 run (PAT failed)
C/L — Mendoza 3 run (PAT failed)
C/L — Bruhn 18 pass to Mendoza (PAT failed)
Team Stats EPPJ
First downs 18
Penalties/Yds 5/25
Rushing 51/242
Passing 9/13/1
Passing Yds 99
Total Offense 341
Fumbles lost 2
Individual Stats
Rushing — Chad Bode 43/239, Conor Ramold 5/-11, Hunter Reestman 3/14
Passing — Conor Ramold 9/12/1 — 99, Hunter Reestman 0/1/0 — 0
Receiving — Chad Bode 1/12, Kyle Schumacher 2/34, Kenny Bush 5/40, Hunter Reestman 1/13
Tackles (solo/assists) — Conor Ramold 1/0, Miles Schrage 11/4, Chad Bode 1/12, Kyle Schumacher 1/2, Kenny Bush 4/4, Liam Heithoff 7/9, Hayes Miller 0/2, Lane Bartak 1/0, Hunter Reestman 3/7
Quarterback sacks — Miles Schrage 1, Chad Bode 1, Kenny Bush 3, Hunter Reestman 2
Fumbles recovered — Hunter Reestman 1
