STARTING POINT
Gaels, West Bend-Mallard test early-season football waters
Trending
The experience and size of West Bend-Mallard were too much for the St. Edmond football team to handle here Thursday night.
The Wolverines piled up over 400 yards of total offense and outscored the Gaels in the fourth quarter, 22-0, as they pulled away for a 60-26 victory at a muggy Dodger Stadium.
West Bend-Mallard quarterback Trent Morey accounted for five touchdowns, and Carter Stalzer ran for 227 yards and a score. Grady Goddard returned an interception for a TD and finished off the impressive fourth with a receiving touchdown.
All three were key pieces returning for the Wolverines – something St. Edmond head coach Matt Dillon does not have this season.
"We've got a long way to go," Dillon said. "But we knew that coming in. This was still good to get out there and see what we have and where we need to build off of.
“There will be a lot of growing pains as we navigate through this season."
For the Gaels, junior Thomas Ehn threw for 276 yards and had two passing touchdowns and a rushing score. He completed 21 of 43 passes in his first varsity start.
Coltin Fevold scored his first two career touchdowns, catching a 43-yard pass from Ehn in the first quarter and running in an 11-yard score. The sophomore finished with four receptions for 81 yards, but was injured late in the game.
"That is going to really, really hurt if Coltin is out for an extended period of time," Dillon said. "You saw what he is capable of out there on both sides of the football. That's a big, big loss we are probably going to have to try and overcome."
The two teams, who last met in 2022, traded touchdowns through the second and early stages of the third quarter, with West Bend-Mallard holding a slim 30-26 advantage when Ehn capped off a drive with a 1-yard TD.
However, a turnover on downs by the Gaels would see the Wolverines retake all the momentum. WB-M finished the game off with 30 unanswered points.
Morey ran in two scores and Goddard had his two touchdowns – highlighted by a 78-yard interception return as St. Edmond was looking to creep back into it.
"Turnovers are so important, especially for a young team learning to win," Dillon said. "We'll get better from here. We'll get back to work and prepare for Glidden-Ralston."
Senior Ty Mericle had his first career receiving touchdown and finished with a game-high seven receptions for 55 yards. Blake Bartlett had two catches for 58 yards, Griffin Laufersweiler had a career-high six catches for 49 yards and Matthew Crimmins had 54 yards from scrimmage.
On defense, Mericle recovered a fumble. Bartlett, Julian Blanco and Joseph Alvarez each recorded a sack. Blanco had three tackles for loss; Fevold, two.
St. Edmond will host Glidden-Ralston on Friday night back inside Dodger Stadium. West Bend-Mallard heads to GTRA.