Eagles soar past Norse in DC grid opener

The Alma/Pepin football team connected on three long passing touchdowns in the first quarter and Whitehall wasn’t able to catch up.

The first A/P touchdown was on a running play before Drew Seifert connected on three passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter as the team took a 29-0 lead. The Eagles — ranked 10th in Division Seven in the WisSports.net poll — led 43-0 at halftime and went on to win 51-13.

The loss dropped Whitehall to 0-3 on the season and 0-1 in Dairyland Conference play. They’ll be on the road again this week playing another team that figures to contend for the DC title, Augusta. The Beavers won the DC last year thanks to a 22-20 win over A/P in what was a two-team race.

A/P 51 Whitehall 13

The Eagles showed why they are one of the top-ranked teams in Division Seven as they were in control throughout the game.

A 33-yard touchdown run by Demetrius Bergmann put the Eagles ahead before Bergmann caught the two-point conversion to make the score 8-0.

Seifert took control of the game from there. The Eagles got the ball back and added to their lead two minutes later when Seifert connected with Evan Olson for a 59-yard touchdown pass.

The two would hook up for two more touchdowns before the end of the quarter. They scored on a 78-yard pass play with 3:49 left then a 34-yard strike with 18 seconds left. The extra points made the score 29-0 at the end of the first.

Bergmann found the end zone again about three minutes into the second quarter. Jackson Riesgraf had a 17-yard touchdown run with 3:38 left in the half as the Eagles took a 43-0 lead into the intermission.

Whitehall kept battling as Devon McCune put the Norse on the board with a 47-yard touchdown run with about nine minutes left in the third quarter.

The Eagles answered with a 26-yard touchdown run by Owen Post. McCune scored again, this time from 12 yards out with 8:42 left, making for a final score of 51-13.

McCune ran for 94 yards to lead the Norse on the ground and he also completed two-of-three passes for 38 yards. 

While the score wasn’t close, the Norse found success on the ground, averaging 5.4 yards per carry as Eric Kleinhans added 66 yards on 13 attempts. 

However, Whitehall had no answer for the Eagles attack as A/P ran for 256 yards on 30 attempts. Bergmann led the way with 72 yards on eight carries, but they had five players run for more than 25 yards. 

Seifert completed three-of-four passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns.