GAME OF THE WEEK (SRC football): River Ridge 33, Shullsburg 14

Crubel, Timberwolves run past Miners

River Ridge senior Blake Crubel rushed for 172 yards and three touchdowns, and recorded a team-high 13 tackles in the Timberwolves 3314 season-opening victory over visiting Shullsburg last Friday night.

River Ridge senior Blake Crubel rushed for 172 yards and three touchdowns, and recorded a team-high 13 tackles in the Timberwolves 3314 season-opening victory over visiting Shullsburg last Friday night.

SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Aug. 15–Aug. 21)

SIX RIVERS CONFERENCE FOOTBALL: River Ridge 33, Shullsburg 14

BLOOMINGTON – After giving up an early first-quarter touchdown last Friday night to find themselves in an early 6-0 hole, the River Ridge varsity football team strung together four consecutive touchdowns of their own to defeat visiting Shullsburg, 33-14, in their Six Rivers conference season opener.

The Timberwolves, who return 16 letterwinners from last year’s squad, did most of their damage on the ground, while the Miners elected o attack from the air in a game of contrasting styles.

Coach Wade Winker’s squad ran the ball 43 times for 254 yards and three touchdowns for an average of nearly six yards per attempt.

Senior fullback Blake Crubel accounted for 172 rushing yards and two TDs on 23 attempts, scoring on first-quarter runs of 51 and seven yards, while averaging 7.5 yards per carry.

Junior quarterback Cole Crubel chipped in 57 yards on 11 rushing attempts, including a 33-yard TD run in the third quarter to give River Ridge a 26-6 advantage.

Senior Brett Moravits turned seven carries into 26 yards.

While River Ridge pounded the ball on the ground for the most part, Shullsburg took to the air with quarterback Jacob Berendes, who completed 28-of-47 passing attempts for 248 yards, one TD and one interception.

With such an early test for his defensive backfield, coach Winkers was pleased with how well they tackled in the open field and prevented Shullsburg from any big gains.

“Defensively, when a team passes 47 times on you, you’re just hoping to get them down in space, and we did that pretty well, only giving up two 20-plus yard plays all night,” said Winkers.

Accompanying River Ridge’s productive run game was a passing attack of their own that proved to be very efficient, as Crubel completed 8-of-12 passing attempts for 117 yards, two TDs and one interception.

Moravits led the team in receptions with four, including a three-yard strike late in the fourth quarter, and finished with 17 receiving yards.

Fellow senior Colton Clark hauled in one catch and took it 90 yards to the house for the game’s only score in the second quarter, while junior Connor Mumm had two receptions for five yards and Blake Crubel one catch for five yards.

In all, the Timberwolves accounted for 371 yards of total offense to Shullsburg’s 276, 28 of which came on 14 rushing attempts for the Miners.

Leading the River Ridge defense from his linebacker spot with 13 total tackles was Blake Crubel, while Connor Mumm and Will Esser each had 10 and Colton Clark nine. Junior cornerback Brayan Barrita had the team’s only interception.

The Miners lost two fumbles to River Ridge’s one, and committed seen turnovers for 60 yards to eight for 75 yards for the Timberwolves.

“We had a lot of mental mistakes, which happens early in the year as far as some false starts and poor snaps and things like that, which we’ve got to clean up to beat teams like Markesan this week, or Potosi/Cassville the following week,” said coach Winkers.

The Timberwolves (1-0) host Markesan (0-1) this Friday night in a non-conference contest in Bloomington. The Hornets, who were coached by Winkers’ brother, Travis, the past four seasons before taking the Darlington position, are coming off a 51-0 loss to Saint Mary’s Springs, who are the defending D6 State Champions.

River Ridge 33, Shullsburg 14

(from Friday, Aug. 17)

Shullsburg.. 6 0 0 8 - 14

River Ridge. 13 6 7 7 - 33

First quarter

S - Alex Wand, 7-yard pass from Jacob Berendes (kick failed)

RR - Blake Crubel, 51-yard run (Kaine Baus kick)

RR - Blake Crubel, 7-yard run (kick failed)

Second quarter

RR - Colton Clark, 90-yard pass from Cole Crubel, kick failed)

Third quarter

RR - Cole Crubel, 33-yard run (Baus kick)

Fourth quarter

S - Dylan Heim, 9-yard run (Heim run)

RR - Brett Moravits, 3-yard pass from Cole Crubel (Baus kick)

Team statistics

First downs - S 15, RR 14. Rushing - S 14-28, RR 43-254. Passing yards - S 248, RR 117. Passes - S 28-47-1, RR 8-12-1. Fumbles-lost - S 2-2, RR 1-1. Penalties-yards - S 7-60, RR 8-75.

Rushing leaders — S: Dylan Heim 7-39. RR: Blake Crubel 23-172, Cole Crubel 11-57, Brett Moravits 7-26.

Passing leaders — S: Jacob Berendes 28-47-1, 248. RR: Cole Crubel 8-12-1, 117.

Receiving leaders — S: Alex Wand 7-82. RR: Colton Clark 1-90, Brett Moravits 4-17, Connor Mumm 2-5, Blake Crubel 1-5.

Game of the Week

Game of the Week