By Becky Walz,
The Decorah football team (5-0, 1-0) demonstrated their skills Friday night as they took on Mason City. The Vikings, who remain the top passing and rushing team in the district, ran over Mason City’s Riverhawks, who are second in passing and third in rushing touchdowns. The Viking power was there all night consuming the grid iron and the 41-7 victory.
“This was a great team win for us. I thought our defense was outstanding all night and our offense had a nice balanced attack. Brayden Wemark was great Friday night as well. He looked great kicking the ball all night and our field goal unit as whole did a great job,” said coach Mike Tangen.
Getting in the end zone
Decorah’s defense gave the offense a chance to strike after forcing a fumble three minutes into the first quarter. And the Vikings took full advantage of the opportunity, going 53 yards in 10 plays that were capped off by a Louis Bucksa strike thrown to Noah Milburn at the 6:00 mark. On the ensuing kickoff, the Viking defense got the job done again, recovering the muffed catch. The inability to move through the red zone, provided an opportunity for Brayden Wemark to showcase his kicking skills with a 35-yard field goal to give Decorah a 10-0 advantage after the first period.
Less than two minutes into the second stanza, the Vikes were back in the end zone as Gavin Groux had his named called for a nine-yard carry. Leading 17-0, Decorah gave up its lone score of the game in the second on a drive that went 55 yards on nine plays.
Wemark sent his second field goal through the uprights in the third quarter pushing Decorah ahead 20-7. The Vikes would score two more times in the period on a Groux 1-yard carry and through the air from Bucksa to Milburn from the 18-yard line.
In the final quarter, Gatlin Dahlberg shouldered the scoring duty, scampering 15-yards to the end zone with 5:21 remaining.
Highlights
Decorah picked up 205 yards through the air and another 183 on the ground, for 392 total over Mason City’s 133.
Bucksa completed 13 of 22 passes for 205 yards. Groux caught three for 94 yards while Milburn hauled in four passes for 63 yards. Will Larson caught five passes for 43 yards, while Tommy Sexton had one reception.
On the ground, Trevor Kuennen shouldered the workload. The senior had 19 carries for 70 yards. Groux ate up 45 yards on the ground in his five carries. Dahlberg had two carries for 27 yards.
The defense was led by Kuennen with four solo tackles, nine assisted stops and one sack for a loss. Jackson Pipho was there for four solo and two assisted tackles while Carter Dlhy had four solo stops.
Ready to go again
With Decorah one of the remaining undefeated teams in Class 4A, the Vikes will host Waverly-Shell Rock Friday, Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m. After dropping their first two games to Xavier (14-7) and North Scott (38-24), the Go-Hawks enters Friday’s district game with three straight victories over Bondurant-Farrar (20-6), Clear Lake (31-30) and Western Dubuque (25-6) and will be looking to stop the Vikings.
Scoring sequence
1st Quarter
Decorah – Louis Bucksa 8-yd. pass to Noah Milburn (Brayden Wemark PAT)
Decorah – Wemark 35-yd. field goal
2nd Quarter
Decorah – Gavin Groux 9-yd. run (Wemark PAT)
Mason City – 1-yd. run (PAT)
3rd Quarter
Decorah – Wemark 26-yd. field goal
Decorah – Groux 1-yd. run (Wemark PAT)
Decorah – Bucksa 18-yd. pass to Milburn (Wemark PAT)
4th Quarter
Decorah – Gatlin Dahlberg 15-yd. run (Wemark PAT)
Game stats
Total yards: Decorah 392; Mason City 133
Passing (comp/att/yds): Louis Bucksa (13-22, 205 yds., 2 TD)
Rushing (att/yds): Trevor Kuennen (19-70); Gavin Groux (5-45, 2 TD); Gatlin Dahlberg (2-27, 1 TD); Tanner Caddell (2-13); Mason Avila (3-10); Bucksa (3-9); Archer Sims (4-7); Carter Dlhy (1-2)
Receiving (att/yds/TD): Groux (3-94); Noah Milburn (4-63, 2 TD); Will Larson (5-43); Tommy Sexton (1-5)
Tackles (total): Kuennen (8.5); Jackson Pipho (5.); Dlhy (4.0); Dahlberg (3.5); Keaton Orris (2.5); Larson (2.0); Henry Brynsaas (2.0); Groux (1.5); Jameson LeBelle (1.5); Caddell (1.5); William Hahn (1.5); Sexton (1.0); Caleb Krieg (0.5); Peyton Web (0.5)
Interceptions (no/return yds): Kade O’Hara (1-14)
Punts (att/yds): Milburn (3-90)
Punt returns (att/yds): Groux (1-19); Pipho (1-7)
Kick-offs (att/yds): Brayden Wemark (8 KO, 452 yds., 2 TB, 2/2 FG, 5/5 PAT)
Kick-off returns (att/yds): Groux (1-43); Avila (1-26)
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