The 2004 Irish football squad got off to a roaring start this past Thursday evening, pummeling the Mayer Lutheran Crusaders 49-16 in their home opener.
From the first whistle, the Irish ground attack relentlessly pounded the Crusader defense and timely passes inflicted crushing blows as the Irish rolled up 409 yards of offense to get the 2004 season off to a good start.
Jason Klein and Kent Pawelk handled most of the running chores, combining for 271 yards and six touchdowns on a 15-yard average per carry. The line of Paul Latour, Craig Couette, Kyle Smith, Brad Salveson, DJ Manthie, Sam Luebbers and Cody Decker opened holes and built impenetrable walls to seal off the Crusader defense and allow Klein and Pawelk to roll. Doug Mavencamp added some precise passes and kept Mayer Lutheran off-stride throughout the game.
When the offense wasn’t dominating, the first-team defense held the Crusaders down, allowing only 112 yards on 44 plays from scrimmage (2.5-yard average) through the first three quarters of play. The super subs finished the fourth quarter off in style, allowing only one big play to score. The defense caused five turnovers, three interceptions–two by Sam Nordlie and one by Elliot Risbrudt–and two fumble recoveries–one each by Doug Mavencamp and Cody Decker.
“Our offensive line got us rolling and allowed our offense to eat up some huge chunks of real estate, both running and passing” said Head Coach Tim Knudsen. “But our defense really set the tone, holding Mayer to -18 yards in the first quarter. This gave us excellent field position and put Mayer back on their heels a bit.
“We played a pretty good game overall, however, we do need to work on our extra-point kicking game. We have a tough game with a scrappy Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa team next week, so it’s back to work and practice, practice, practice.”
Irish leaders for the game were:
Rushing–J. Klein, 6 attempts for 138 yards, 2 TDs; K. Pawelk, 12 attempts for 133 yards, 4 TDs.
Passing–D. Mavencamp, 8 of 13 for 84 yards. Receiving–C. Decker, 5 for 58 yards; E. Wurm, 2 for 20 yards.
Tackles–C. Couette, 6; J. Klein, 6: P. Latour, 5 & 1 sack; B. Salveson, 5; C. Decker, 4; T. Kempenich, 4 & 1 sack; A. Blizil, 4; E. Risbrudt, 4.
Interceptions–S. Nordlie, 2; Risbrudt, 1. Fumble Recoveries–D. Mavencamp, 1; C. Decker, 1.
The Irish travel to Belgrade on Friday, Sept. 10 for a 7 p.m. start against the Jaguars.
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