Aaron Vehling

RIVER FALLS – It should have been a day of celebration for the UW-Eau Claire football team after its 42-28 victory over UW-River Falls.

Instead, the players quietly filed off the field after the game, their thoughts not on the victory, but with one of their teammates.

Junior linebacker Justin Greenwood was in critical condition after the game with internal bleeding in the head as a result of a hit in the second quarter.

Greenwood was taken off the sideline at Ramer Field in an ambulance at halftime and taken to River Falls Area Hospital before being airlifted to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., for treatment of his injury. He remained in critical condition at time of print.

After Greenwood was taken off the field, the start of the second half was delayed about five minutes to give the coaches time to tell the Blugolds what happened.

Junior linebacker Mike Lansing said it was very difficult for Eau Claire to take the field after hearing about Greenwood’s injury.

“I felt about as low as you could be,” Lansing said. “The bottom line was Justin wouldn’t have wanted us to lose this game.”

After the Falcons tied the game at 14 five minutes into the third quarter, the Blugolds took control. They scored 28 points in just over seven minutes in the third period to take a 42-14 lead.

Lansing set up two of the third quarter touchdowns by forcing turnovers deep in Falcons territory. Lansing intercepted a Troy Foss pass at the 22-yard line, which led to a five-yard touchdown run by sophomore Joe Gast.

Later in the quarter, Lansing fell on an Owen Schmitt fumble at the 25-yard line, and two plays later, junior quarterback Jeremy Darnell hit sophomore receiver Matt Evensen on a crossing route for a touchdown.

The 42 points was more than enough for the Blugolds, (2-1, 1-0 WIAC), despite the dominating performance by the Falcons’ wishbone offense.

River Falls ran the ball 71 times for 366 yards against Eau Claire. Halfback John Peterlik led the way for the Falcons with 171 yards on 20 carries, an average of 8.6 yards a carry. Peterlik also scored all four touchdowns for the Falcons (0-3, 0-1).

While Peterlik was running free on the outside, Schmitt was pounding the ball inside, running for 111 yards on 27 carries.

The Falcons outgained the Blugolds 525-416, but Eau Claire’s defense came up big when it needed to, forcing four Falcon turnovers and giving the offense the ball in River Falls territory six times.

It seemed easy for the Eau Claire offense as the Blugolds used a balanced attack to put away the Falcons. Eau Claire ran for 178 yards while passing for 238.

Four different Blugolds scored touchdowns Saturday, led by Evensen. He scored his first three touchdowns of the season, two in the air and one on a reverse.

“Our receivers were running the right routes, and our linemen were blocking really well,” junior quarterback Nels Fredrickson said. “Offensively, there’s nothing else we could ask for.”

After the game, the Blugolds gathered on the field as coach Todd Hoffner gave them an update on Greenwood’s condition. The Blugolds then bowed their heads in prayer before leaving the field in near-silence.

“We just wanted to play this game for Justin,” Fredrickson said. “He’d want us to play hard for him. We’re going to keep him in our prayers.”

Lansing said the team’s focus was on doing whatever it needed to help Greenwood.

“Now we’re going to be a family, we’re going to go see him,” he said. “He’s going to be back because I know he’s a fighter.

“Hopefully, he’ll be all right.”