Hawks earn first gridiron win

The Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau High School football team earned its first win of the 2023 season last week, and they entered the win column with an offensive boon.

The Red Hawks beat Black River Falls in a 57-0 win at home, a victory highlighted by a 36-point first half and a dominant performance running the football.

The win is the Red Hawks’ first of the season as they improve to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the Coulee Conference. Another conference matchup awaits G-E-T this week as they host Viroqua (2-2 overall, 1-1 Coulee).

Nine different players scored touchdowns against the Tigers last week on a night G-E-T ran for nearly 300 yards. Quarterback Ben Hansen got the game started with a 2-yard rushing touchdown, and teammate Taylor Haney had a rushing touchdown in the first quarter as well.

Max Knapmiller returned an interception 32 yards for a score in the first quarter, one of two pick-sixes for G-E-T on Friday — Gavin Christian returned an interception 20 yards to close the scoring in the fourth quarter.

Black River Falls was held to 114 total yards on offense on a day the Red Hawk defense combined to force seven sacks and four interceptions. Knapmiller led G-E-T with 7.5 tackles and a pick, while teammate Carter Repaal added six tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Oliver Remus, Kyle Seiling, Kolby Lewis and Matt Halverson each scored on runs in the final three quarters to pad G-E-T’s lead.

Seiling carried the football often on Friday, leading the Red Hawks in receiving by catching four passes for 47 yards and also pacing the hosts with 92 yards rushing and a score on seven touches.

Knapmiller added 60 yards on the ground, and Halverson contributed 54 yards and the score. Ten different players ran the ball for G-E-T as they hope to continue building its offense around the run game.

G-E-T—

Rushing (att./yds.)—Seiling 7/92, Knapmiller 9/60, Halverson 4/54, Lewis 6/41,  Remus 1/20, Hansen 2/11, Haney 2/9, Hammel 1/0, Johnson 1/-1, Repaal 1/-10.

Receiving (rec./yds.)—Seiling 4/47.

Passing (comp./att./yds.)—Hansen 4/4/47.

Tackles—Knapmiller 7.5, Repaal 6, Wieczorek 4, C. Jimenez 3.5, Burns 3, Lewis 3, Haney 3, Remus 2.5, Waxlax 2.5, D. Herman 2.5, Hammel 2, S. Herman 1.5, Busch 1, O. Jimenez 1, Johnson 1, Thoma 1, Seiling 0.5, Christian 0.5, Pickering 0.5.