TODD SOMMERFELDT
Coulee Sports Connection
HOLMEN – With Kaden Jostad watching on crutches and Adam Schmitt inactive due to a broken thumb, the situation appeared challenging for the Holmen High School football team on Friday.
The injuries put some pressure on the Vikings as they hosted Central – a team that beat them just a few weeks ago – in a WIAA Division 2 first-round playoff game at Empire Stadium. It impacted Holmen’s group of linebackers and offensive line.
Seniors Jaren Nygren and Drew Larson would have loved to have their captains on the field, but the bottom line was beating the RiverHawks and earning a second-round game for the first time since 2019.
Nygren, a defensive back, and Larson, a defensive lineman, led the way in a game filled with big Holmen performances as the fourth-seeded Vikings beat the fifth-seeded RiverHawks 31-14 to advance to a game next week at top-seeded New Richmond (10-0).
“All of us had to be locked in and on the same page,” Nygren said of the defense, which was steam-rolled on the first possession before shoring things up significantly the rest of the way. “It had to be that, and I felt like we were.”
The Vikings (7-3) held Central (6-4) to 264 total yards, stopped it on fourth down five times and recorded two takeaways after an early turnover of their own allowed the RiverHawks to take a 7-0 lead.
“Big Tristen Brennan was in there taking up double- and triple-teams, and that freed me up,” said Larson, who made one stop for no gain, nearly blocked a punt and teamed up with Ayden Smith for a sack of Jude Alvarado. “I had a lot of one-on-one on the outside, and I was happy to get a half-sack with Ayden.”
Holmen’s offense also produced at key times, namely with a short pass from Alex Berget to Jack Barth that turned into an early 72-yard touchdown and a drive that produced a 35-yard field goal by Gavin Davis in the fourth quarter.
The Barth touchdown catch – and ensuing Davis extra point – tied the game at 7 and allowed Holmen to answer immediately Central’s 44-yard touchdown drive on its first possession.
The Davis field goal followed a possession that lasted 6 minutes, 51 seconds as the Vikings clung to a 21-14 lead. The field goal gave Holmen a 10-point lead with 2:04 left.
“Davis has been one of the best kickers I’ve seen my entire life,” Holmen coach Travis Kowalski said. “He is, in my opinion, an all-state kid.”
The Davis field goal also came after Holmen had moved inside the Central 5 before a penalty for an illegal block was followed by a 2-yard loss on third down to move the ball back to the 18. The attempt was perfect.
“We didn’t have to worry about anything there,” Kowalski said. “We trust him. He’s a really good player.”
Berget passed for 129 yards and two touchdowns, and Barth completed a 24-yard touchdown pass from Rosenow. Rosenow also caught Berget’s second TD pass, and AJ Alesch added a touchdown run for the Vikings.
Senior Matthew Conn stopped one Central drive with an interception, and junior Colin Williams gave the Vikings their final margin of victory when he recovered a fumble and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown on the drive following the Davis field goal.
The RiverHawks were led by senior Gavin Shepard’s 129 rushing yards, but 44 of those came on their first possession. The holes he found early disappeared as the game progressed.
“We mixed up our fronts a little bit,” Kowalski said of the change. “We played some three-man and four-man, and that forced them to change up the blocking assignment.
“And I’m not gonna lie. We tackled well tonight. The last time we played them, we did not tackle well, and it turned into death by a thousand papercuts.”
