ELMWOOD — Elmwood/Plum City got into a memorable battle against Osseo-Fairchild on Friday night, and the hard-nosed style of football they chose to play gave them the edge 20-15.

“It was a high-emotion game. We had to win this game to give ourselves a chance at the playoffs, and we got it done,” senior Logan Auth said. “It means everything. Senior year, you want the best season, and only up from here. Only up.”

EPC played a gritty style of offense Friday. The Wolves opted for empty backfield direct snaps to Auth, primarily looking for windows to run. Auth was also tasked with some rollout passes, where he was having some success connecting with receiver Brewer Link. That combination of plays got the Wolves to the goal line on the opening drive, where Auth found fellow senior Robbie Duffy over the middle for a touchdown to take an 8-0 lead. Osseo-Fairchild countered with a touchdown on its first drive to tie the game. The Thunder had some firepower, namely senior jump ball threat Brooks Koxlien, who had 77 receiving yards and 16 tackles Friday.

In the second, Auth found senior Teigen Bauer on a deep crossing route, and the speedy Bauer outpaced the defense all the way down the field for a 51-yard touchdown. The Wolves would end up taking that 14-8 lead into the halftime break.

Osseo-Fairchild came out of the half with energy, scoring to take a 15-14 lead early in the third. The Wolves really dug their cleats into the ground and took a few yards at a time on the following drive. After converting third down after third down, the drive taking the game from the third to the fourth quarter, the offensive line made just big enough of a push at the goal line for an Auth touchdown up the middle at the goal line.

“He’s a gamer. He’s a guy that lives and breathes football, and he proved it tonight,” Coach Mike Birtzer said.
“Our kids got to where they needed to be. It got a little scary there when that ball got tipped up because that’s when things get scary, but they did their job,” Birtzer added.

A holding call on a play that would have put the Thunder within striking distance could have cut into the Thunder’s chances. Koxlien would not let that be the end, as he went up and made a great catch on second and 20 to bring it all the way to a first down. On fourth and one across midfield, an incomplete pass would give the Wolves the ball back.

Auth bullied the ball down the field, chewing all but a minute off the clock before being stopped on fourth down and short at the Thunder 10. The EPC defense had one final stop in them, with the clock running out before Osseo-Fairchild could get much going, 20-15.

“When we execute, we do well. Tonight we executed, and we did well. We executed on both sides of the ball. It’s very important for the kids. These kids worked so hard, and tonight they came together. They played well on both sides of the ball,” Birtzer said. “This was important for us because of the confidence. We showed we were physical.”

Duffy said the previous upperclassmen have encouraged the Wolves to keep the program moving forward, and this year’s senior class was determined to do just that. He is eager to see if they can do the same for the current underclassmen.

“We don’t play paper football. They beat McDonell and we lost to McDonell, so we had to come out here with a little different mentality,” Duffy said. “We fixed a lot of mistakes from our past, not jumping offsides, not calling fouls. We kept our heads up the whole game. We didn’t break down at halftime. We didn’t crumble in the last seconds.”