G-E-T comeback bid falls short in loss to Luther

In the second half of their conference opener, the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau football team showed flashes of who they hope to be on offense, playing uptempo and moving quickly down the field on efficient scoring drives. First-half miscues and the inability to get the key defensive stops they needed, however, helped lead the Red Hawks to a loss to begin Coulee play.

Onalaska Luther (1-2, 1-0 Coulee) visited Galesville and came away with a 28-20 victory over G-E-T (0-3, 0-1) in a battle between two teams hunting for their first win of the season on the opening night of Coulee action last Friday.

The Knights returned the opening kickoff of the evening deep into Red Hawk territory, setting up a quick touchdown and an early 8-0 lead. G-E-T’s first possession ended after failing to convert on fourth and one just across midfield. After an Andrew Lebakken interception set up the Red Hawks in Luther territory again, another drive ended on a turnover on downs after consecutive errant snaps.

In the second quarter, the Knights again made a splash on special teams with a long punt return to the G-E-T 29-yard line. That drive ended with another touchdown on senior Jax Hendrickson’s one-yard touchdown plunge on fourth down.

Trailing 14-0, the Red Hawks finally came up with the explosive play they needed when junior Isaiah Carroll took a screen pass and weaved his way for a 69-yard touchdown with 3:40 left in the second quarter. That left Luther ahead 14-6 at the halftime break.

With just under two minutes to go in the third quarter, G-E-T junior quarterback Sawyer Foust found junior Luke Herman for a four-yard touchdown pass to end a methodical drive down the field. However, a failed two-point conversion kept the Knights clinging to a 14-12 lead heading into the fourth.

In a fourth-and-one situation early in the final quarter, Luther junior Logan Pierce rumbled his way for a 31-yard touchdown jaunt. The Red Hawks were quick to respond with a three-minute scoring drive of their own — capped off by Foust’s nine-yard TD run and a successful conversion — to cut the deficit to 22-20 with 7:27 left.

After again driving deep into G-E-T territory, the Knights came up big once more on fourth and goal from the four-yard line with junior quarterback Jonny Holub’s touchdown pass to Pierce. However, Pierce was stonewalled at the one on the conversion try to keep the Luther lead to 28-20 with 1:49 to play.

On G-E-T’s last-chance drive, a third-down pass downfield by Foust sailed on him a bit, going over the head of senior Daniel Herman and getting picked off by the Knights to seal the deal.

“In the first half, I just think we gave away too many opportunities. Yeah, it hurts, but the sun’s going to come up tomorrow,” said G-E-T head coach Luke Oliver. “We probably gave it away. Too many turnovers, botched snaps, just sloppy football. Not fundamentally sound like we need to play to win games. We’ll get better for next week and continue to go.”

Foust completed 21 of 31 passes for 234 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the loss, with Caroll nabbing six catches for 108 yards and a touchdown and Lebakken reeling in eight receptions for 95 yards. The Red Hawk rushing attack was held to 59 yards on 2.2 yards per carry.

Juniors Andrew Bishop and Luke Herman helped lead the G-E-T defense with nine tackles apiece.

For Luther, Pierce set the pace out of the backfield with 126 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 17 carries.

The Red Hawks are back in action when they host the Aquinas Blugolds (3-0, 1-0), ranked No. 3 in division four in the coaches’ poll, Friday at 7 p.m. in Galesville.

G-E-T

Rushing (att./yds) — Nichols 10/24, Bishop 4/22, Foust 11/8, Carroll 2/5

Receiving (rec./yds) — Carroll 6/108, Lebakken 8/95, Eiken 2/17, D. Herman 3/7, L. Herman 2/7

Passing (comp./att./yds) — Foust 21/31/234

Tackles — Bishop 9, L. Herman 9, Eiken 6, Hansen 6, Carroll 3, Busch 3, Lebakken 3, B. Gamez 3, Repaal 3, Ruesgen 3, D. Herman 2, L. Gamez 1, Stenberg 1