Butch McCartney
Playing on the familiar turf of Carson Park for the first time this season, the football team beat a rival from the Minnesota Intercolligeate Athletic Conference for the second straight week on Saturday, thumping Augsburg College (Minn.) 37-14.
The Blugolds started the game Saturday in much the same way that they started last week against St. John’s University (Minn.), as they were forced to punt on their first possession. But they quickly bounced back to force a turnover on their opponent’s first possession.
Sophomore Austin Crow forced Augsburg quarterback Dave Fransen to fumble at the Augsburg 41-yard line, and junior Nick Draeger was able to recover to give the Blugolds the ball back.
Eau Claire converted that turnover into points when freshman Andy Rohloff made a 32-yard field goal to put the Blugolds up 3-0.
Eau Claire’s defense struck again on Augsburg’s next possession, with junior Justin Miller intercepting a pass by Augsburg quarterback Dave Fransen at the Augsburg 21-yard line. Two plays later, senior quarterback Brian Rasmussen scrambled around before finding freshman tight end Don Kahl in the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown, giving Eau Claire a 10-0 lead.
Eau Claire coach Todd Hoffner was glad the team was able to get off to a quick start.
“It’s very important to have a great start,” he said. “The first possession, we started out going in the wrong direction, but we did a good job of coming out and getting going.”
Eau Claire was able to add two more touchdowns in the second quarter. Rasmussen hit junior Jason Foemmel for a 14-yard touchdown with 4 minutes, 56 seconds left in the quarter. Then, with less than a minute left in the half, junior Chad Crutchley caught a punt at the Eau Claire 34-yard line and exploded up the middle of the field for a 66-yard touchdown that may have sealed the game.
“Crutchley’s return opened up the game for us,” Hoffner said. “He’s been close before, and he finally busted one.”
“We were set up for the punt block,” Crutchley said. “It just ended up being the perfect punt to return.”
Crutchley’s touchdown gave Eau Claire a 22-0 halftime lead.
“They’ve been playing well all year,” Crutchley said of the defense. “They have done a great job of keeping points off the board.”
Hoffner said the team has installed a new defensive system, and that the players seem to be thriving under it.
“I was very impressed with the defense,” he said. “We made a full commitment to the 50 defense this year, and the players are responding.”
The aggressive style of defense seems to fit the players perfectly.
“It’s the way we always play,” Draeger said. “We work on pursuit. If we don’t have four or five guys at the ball, there’s something wrong.”
The defense continued to dominate in the second half, as Augsburg was only able to get 17 yards of total offense in the third quarter.
When Rasmussen found senior Jeremy Bergeron from 19 yards out for his third touchdown pass, Eau Claire started to put the second-string players into the game, including redshirt freshman quarterback Nels Fredrickson, who completed the two-point conversion to junior Brad Newton after Bergeron’s touchdown.
Augsburg was able to add two touchdowns in the fourth quarter against Eau Claire’s second team defense; the first one coming when the Auggies still had their first-string offense in the game.
Sophomore Tim Gunderson capped the scoring for Eau Claire with a 2-yard touchdown run with 1:30 left in the game.
Despite their dominance against Augsburg, the players and coaches were still not completely satisfied with their performance.
“It was a see-saw game offensively,” Hoffner said. “Our defense forced so many three and outs, and the offense will start to respond. They weren’t able to all game long today.”
Crutchley agreed that the offense wasn’t running on all cylinders.
“It’s just a timing thing,” he said. “We’re not as crisp as we want to be.”
The Blugolds outgained the Auggies 430-188 in the game, forcing Augsburg into five turnovers and 10 punts. Eau Claire sacked Fransen six times, including three by junior Nick Goeser and two by Draeger.
Rasmussen went 22-46 passing for 244 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Freshman Dave Garrison gained 117 yards on 26 carries in his second straight start at running back.
Foemmel caught five passes for 65 yards and a touchdown, with Newton also catching five for 53 yards. Bergeron and Garrison each caught four passes for the Blugolds, who had eight different receivers catch passes.
Every available player played for Eau Claire in the game.
Hoffner was happy with the way his team responded after the big win last week.
“The way they responded was outstanding,” he said. “After beating a powerhouse like St. John’s, it’s easy to come back and have a letdown. I’m very impressed.”
The Blugolds will travel next to Indiana to take on Valparaiso University, at noon on Saturday.
