EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – It scored first, but then the La Crosse Central High School football team went silent.
In the season-opener, Eau Claire North reeled off 34 consecutive points and ended up with a 41-27 victory on Thursday.
Matt Degenhardt put the Red Raiders on the board first, late in the first quarter, with a 1-yard run, then the big plays for the Huskies began.
Max DeGrasse hauled in a 29-yard touchdown, quarterback Adam LaRock ran one in from 28 out next. Following that, DeGrasse hauled in another one from LaRock from 56 out, and Carter Holden capped off the big play scores with a 56-yard punt return.
In all, Eau Claire North, which lost to the Red Raiders 47-12 and were 1-8 last season, put up 452 yards of offense to Central’s 307.
In his first start, quarterback Waylon Alvarado rushed 20 times for 52 yards and was 3-for-9 for 69 yards passing for the Red Raiders, who lost 19 starters from last year’s team.
Central’s leading rusher was Angel Fernandez, who busted off a 74-yard run for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Teammate, Connor Williams, a sophomore, had six carries for 65 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown in the fourth. Alvarado got most of his passing yards with a 41-yard touchdown pass to Ronnie Bryant in the fourth, as well.
STATS
NONCONFERENCE
EAU CLAIRE NORTH 41, CENTRAL 27
Central 7 0 0 20 — 27
EC North 7 14 13 7 — 41
First quarter
C—Matt Degenhardt 1 run (Jerred Ambrose kick) 2:22.
E—Max DeGrasse 29 pass from Adam LaRock (Zac Stange kick) :32.
Second quarter
E—LaRock 28 run (Stange kick) 8:22.
E—DeGrasse 56 pass from LaRock (Stange kick) 5:53.
Third quarter
E—Carter Holden 56 punt return (kick failed) 7:14.
E—Nate Sorenson 5 run (Grant Abens kick) 2:16.
Fourth quarter
C—Connor Williams 38 run (Ambrose kick) 11:46.
E—Nick Greenlund 41 run (Abens kick) 8:31.
C—Ronnie Bryant 41 pass from Waylon Alvarado (kick failed) 5:17.
C—Angel Fernandez 74 run (Ambrose kick) 1:13.
TEAM STATISTICS
C E
First downs 9 15
Rushes-Yards 44-238 33-304
Comp-Att-Int 3-9-0 9-14-1
Passing yards 69 148
Totals yards 307 452
Penalties-yards 8-57 8-82
Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: C—Fernandez 1-74, Willams 6-65, Alvarado 20-52, Degenhardt 6-41, Max Hengel 5-13, Tristian Morgan 1-1, TJ Pangier 1-0, Ben Richmond 4-(minus 8) ECN—Tyler Deacon 8-82, Sorenson 8-78, LaRock 7-56, Greenlund 3-47, Carson Lemanski 4-27, Holden 2-10, Tyler Voegeli 1-4.
Passing: C—Alvarado 3-9-0-69 ECN—LaRock 9-14-1-148.
Receiving: C—Bryant 2-57, Ambrose 1-12 ECN—DeGrasse 3-88. Lukas Lanners 2-33, Tyler Zainhofsky 2-16, Holden 2-7.
Records: C 0-1 ECN 1-0.
OTHER SCORES
Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 16, Mondovi 6
Bangor 42, Melrose-Mindoro 14