MENOMINEE - In their first game without Fred Hoversholm as head coach, the Eau Claire Crush fell to the Menominee Thunderhawks 41-6 Saturday night at Williams Stadium in Menominee.
The Crush turned the ball over 5 times and were not able to overcome early mistakes. After turning the ball over on downs on the first possession of the game, their offense then turned the ball over on their next two possessions. By the time the first quarter was over, the Crush found themselves in a 21-0 hole.
“If you look at the game tonight,” defensive coordinator Mike Lacombe said, “there were a lot of times that we took ourselves out of it.”
Offensively, the Crush (1-2) struggled moving the ball all game and were unable to score a touchdown. Quarterback Andrew Sevenland had 128 yards passing, but threw 3 interceptions. “We need to work on our splits and fundamentals on offense,” Lacombe said.
The Crush defense gave up a lot of yards but also made some big plays. Linebacker Colin Brown had 12 tackles and half of a sack, while linebacker Austin Ugo had 10 tackles of his own.
Defensive back John Heck scored the Crush’s only points of the game when he returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown in the 3rd quarter.
Crush defensive lineman Justin Cowell was part of a bizarre play that resulted in him ripping the ball out of a Thunderhawks receiver’s hands and running with the ball like a halfback. “It felt awesome,” he said. “I’ve never had an interception in my entire life so I was just trying to run with the ball as much as possible.”
Keith Mansur was named interim head coach last week when Hoversholm had to step down because of health reasons. However Hoversholm’s presence is still felt throughout the organization. “I’ve known Coach Fred for 3 months now, but he is the cornerstone of this team,” Lacombe said. “He is like a second father to every coach and player on this team.
“Coach Fred is everything to this organization” Cowell said. “He has made our team a brotherhood and a family. We would be completely different without him.”
-JZ
The Crush turned the ball over 5 times and were not able to overcome early mistakes. After turning the ball over on downs on the first possession of the game, their offense then turned the ball over on their next two possessions. By the time the first quarter was over, the Crush found themselves in a 21-0 hole.
“If you look at the game tonight,” defensive coordinator Mike Lacombe said, “there were a lot of times that we took ourselves out of it.”
Offensively, the Crush (1-2) struggled moving the ball all game and were unable to score a touchdown. Quarterback Andrew Sevenland had 128 yards passing, but threw 3 interceptions. “We need to work on our splits and fundamentals on offense,” Lacombe said.
The Crush defense gave up a lot of yards but also made some big plays. Linebacker Colin Brown had 12 tackles and half of a sack, while linebacker Austin Ugo had 10 tackles of his own.
Defensive back John Heck scored the Crush’s only points of the game when he returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown in the 3rd quarter.
Crush defensive lineman Justin Cowell was part of a bizarre play that resulted in him ripping the ball out of a Thunderhawks receiver’s hands and running with the ball like a halfback. “It felt awesome,” he said. “I’ve never had an interception in my entire life so I was just trying to run with the ball as much as possible.”
Keith Mansur was named interim head coach last week when Hoversholm had to step down because of health reasons. However Hoversholm’s presence is still felt throughout the organization. “I’ve known Coach Fred for 3 months now, but he is the cornerstone of this team,” Lacombe said. “He is like a second father to every coach and player on this team.
“Coach Fred is everything to this organization” Cowell said. “He has made our team a brotherhood and a family. We would be completely different without him.”
-JZ