Chippewa Falls football pulls away from Menomonie

CHIPPEWA FALLS — The Menomonie football team has played well for much of the first third of the season.

But the Mustangs have been unable to put together four strong quarters and talented opponents have been able to take advantage.

Chippewa Falls outscored the Menomonie in the second half by a 30-0 margin on Friday to pull away to a 44-7 victory in the Big Rivers opener for both teams.

The Mustangs (0-3, 0-1) took momentum into the locker room at halftime after Aaron Howard scrambled and found Bruce Behrend in the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first half, a first 24 minutes where Menomonie had double the plays from scrimmage of Chippewa Falls.

But in the second half the fast and physical Cardinals were able to lean on the Mustangs, running for the majority of their 378 yards which was led by senior Tyler Behnke with 146 yards and three touchdowns.

“They’re a really talented, well coached team,” Menomonie coach Mitch Olson said of Chippewa Falls. “I was happy with the way we competed, especially early. I think we kinda wore down a little bit as the game went on.

“We weren’t able to sustain any drives in the second half and we left our defense out on the field way too much.”

After playing to essentially even yardage numbers in the first two quarters, the Cardinals dominated that category in the second half with Menomonie putting together just 21 yards of offense after halftime.

Second halves have not been kind to the Mustangs so far this season. Menomonie has either led or trailed by one possession versus a strong slate of early opponents. Wausau West carried a slim 8-7 lead into half of the season opener on Aug. 20 before outscoring the Mustangs 28-14 in the second half for a 36-21 win.

Menomonie led defending Wisconsin Valley Conference champ D.C. Everest 13-9 at the break before the Evergreens came to life in a 30-21 win.

“We need to be able to put together a complete game,” Olson said. “We haven’t done that yet. We need to grow out of these growing pains and figure out how to finish games off in the second half.”

Menomonie’s first three opponents exit the third week with a combined 7-2 record and D.C. Everest’s two losses came to Chippewa Falls and Wausau West. The road doesn’t get easier for the Mustangs, who host unbeaten Hudson next Friday.

Olson is in his first season leading Menomonie after spending the last five seasons as head coach at La Crosse Central. For the Chippewa Falls grad, Friday’s game marked his first matchup against his high school coach, longtime Chippewa Falls head coach Chuck Raykovich.

“I told him he’s doing a heck of a job,” Raykovich said of his postgame chat with Olson.

Church, local veterans recognized

Friday was also the Chippewa Falls program’s annual Veterans Appreciation Night. The two schools were able to coordinate their efforts for the pregame festivities as players from both teams held a large American flag on the field during ceremonies.

Veterans from both communities and all branches of the military were recognized before the game and 2007 Menomonie grad Jason Church performed the coin toss as an honorary captain. After graduating from UW-La Crosse, Church was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army and following completion of Army Ranger School, Army Airborne School and Stryker Leader Course was deployed as a platoon leader to Afghanistan. In 2012, Second Lieutenant Church was injured in an IED explosion that resulted in the loss of both legs below the knee.

Following nearly two dozen surgeries and a lengthy recovery, Church went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political science from UW-La Crosse, master’s degree in security studies from Georgetown University and a law degree from UW-Madison. Less than three months after sustaining his injuries, Church received the Purple Heart as awarded by his father, a US Army colonel.

Olson said Church talked with the team during the week and was proud to be able to share in the experience.