EPPJ declaws Cougars 58 to 16

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Wolfpack reserves saw plenty of action Friday night. Here Kellan Hoefer (1), Collin Lindgren (17) and Linus Borer (62) join in to tackle a Cougar.

ELGIN — Familiar faces in different places. Same result – a Wolfpack victory.

Injuries have reshaped the Wolfpack football team. That didn’t matter Friday night as EPPJ crushed Niobrara-Verdigre 58 to 16.

With season-ending injuries to starters Paiton Hoefer and Jack Wemhoff, the Wolfpack coaching staff shuffled the lineup. The moves worked as new starting quarterback Austin Good ran for two touchdowns and threw two more touchdown passes to help lead the Wolfpack to their sixth victory of the season.

Cale Kinney moved to tailback, Taylor Beckman got the start at fullback and freshman Jarek Erickson found his way onto the field, playing in the line. Other players saw their roles change. It all added up to a big victory.

From the opening kickoff, which the Cougars fumbled and was recovered by EPPJ junior Sam Hemenway, it all went downhill from there for Niobrara-Verdigre. Two plays later, with less than a minute off the scoreboard clock, EPPJ scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Good to tailback Cale Kinney. For the complete story turn to this week’s Elgin Review.