BURWELL — Dominating the line of scrimmage on offense and defense was not enough Friday night as Elgin Public-Pope John fell to Burwell 24 to 20 in the season opener for both teams.
Taking the lead just before halftime, the Wolfpack led till the final minutes of the fourth quarter when Drew Dawe sliced through the Wolfpack defense for the game-winning touchdown with under two minutes to play. The Wolfpack’s final drive came up empty, denying co-head coaches Nick Heithoff and Matt Euse their first victory of the season.
“We discovered a little bit about ourselves,” Heithoff said. “Our line played really well … Before the game I really challenged our offensive line to be the aggressors. We wanted a good push and I felt we sustained that.”
Euse said the game showed the Wolfpack will be a formidable foe in upcoming games. “In the first half we had some things go our way. But, in the second half, things didn’t quite go our way. We had some opportunities, the guys fought hard the entire game … We’ll get better.”
Burwell scored the game’s first touchdown. After the teams traded possessions, Burwell marched 60 yards for a touchdown, culminating with a nine-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Binyam Sikes to Gauge DeGroff.
After turning the ball over on downs on their ensuing possession, EPPJ got the ball back on a fumble recovery by freshman Max Henn on the Longhorns’ 35-yard line. Three plays later the Wolfpack were in the endzone when senior quarterback Kellan Hoefer tossed a 31-yard stike to Max Henn.
Wolfpack defensive back Landyn Veik got the ball right back for the Wolfpack when he intercepted Sikes just past midfield. EPPJ then marched the ball 46 yards in seven plays with Kellan Hoefer scoring on a five-yard run. Grady Drueke added the two-point conversion, giving EPPJ a 14 to 6 lead.
Just before halftime, Burwell added another touchdown on a Sikes run to cut the lead 14 to 12 at halftime.
The Wolfpack added to their lead on their second possession of the second half when Dreuke followed the block of Jarek Erickson and raced 44 yards for a touchdown.
Having failed to make a dent in the Wolfpack’s defense in the third quarter, Burwell suddenly found success handing off the ball to Dawe. His 30-yard run put the ball deep in EPPJ territory. Three plays later, Dawe scored on a nine-yard run to cut the lead to two.
On the Wolfpack’s next possession they turned the ball over inside their own five-yard line. Taking over at the two, Sikes scored on the first play to give the Longhorns a 24 to 20 lead with just over five minutes to play.
EPPJ managed just one first down on their final possession, turning the ball over on downs on their 37-yard line. Burwell then ran out the final 2:02 of the game to earn the victory.
Drueke had a monster game for EPPJ. He carried the ball 23 times for 114 yards and, on defense, made six tackles.
Taylor Beckman led the Wolfpack in tackles with 15, Dylan Kolm had 10 and Trey Rittscher added nine.
Next up for the Wolfpack is Walthill who dropped their season opener to Cedar Bluffs by the score of 36 to 20. EPPJ will be playing at Elgin Field. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
Burwell 24, Wolfpack 20
EPPJ………………….0 14 6 0 — 20
Burwell………………6 6 0 12 — 24
Bur — Binyam Sikes 9 pass to Gauge DeGroff (PAT failed)
EPPJ — Kellan Hoefer 31 pass to Max Henn (PAT failed)
EPPJ — Hoefer 1 run (Grady Drueke run)
Bur — Sikes 1 run (PAT failed)
EPPJ — Drueke 36 run (PAT failed)
Bur — Drew Dawe 9 run (PAT failed)
Bur — Sikes 2 run (PAT failed)
Team Statistics EPPJ
Passing 2/19/1
Passing Yds 42
Rushing 38/150
Total Yds 192
Tackles for loss 6
Interceptions by 1
Fumble recoveries 2
Individual statistics
Passing (att/comp/int – Yds) — Kellan Hoefer 2/19/1 – 42
Rushing (att/yds) — Dylan Kolm 1/10, Grady Drueke 23/114, Kellan Hoefer 8/2, Taylor Beckman 6/24
Receiving (rec/yds) — Max Henn 1/31, Grady Druele 1/11
Tackles (solo/assist) — Dylan Kolm 4/6, Gavin Kallhoff 0/1, Grady Drueke 4/2, jarek Erickson 3/8, Justice Blecher 1/4, Kellan Hoefer 1/3, Landyn Veik 1/3, Max Henn 1/4, Taylor Beckman 6/9, Trey Rittscher 2/7
Quarterback sacks — Max Henn 1.
Interceptions — Landyn Veik 1
Fumble recoveries — Max Henn 1, Dylan Kolm 1
