LA CROSSE — Instinct would say there was too much Christian Rudrud on the field for the Sparta High School football team to handle on Friday night.
But Rurdrud didn’t show up a lone, and Central was happy to use any offensive weapon it could to beat the Spartans 54-33 in an MVC game played at the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex at UW-La Crosse.
Sure, Rudrud was the bulk of Sparta’s troubles, with his ability to run through, past and away from the Spartans just about every chance he had.
But Camden McTaggart made sure Sparta was able to hang with the RiverHawks into the fourth quarter before Rudrud and Gabe Servais unleashed the combination punches that led to a knockout and Central’s fourth straight victory.
Rudrud rushed for 286 yards and four touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass during a 510-yard offensive explosion for the RiverHawks (4-2 overall, 4-0 MVC), who maintained their share of the conference lead with Holmen (6-0, 4-0).
“You’d think that playing the way we did on offense, we would have won by more than 21 points,” Rudrud said. “This was a really, really, really bad game defensively for sure.
“We gave up way too many big plays.”
The RiverHawks made enough of their own, though, to assure themselves of an important victory. Three of those came in the fourth quarter, but two of them unfolded in the span of 49 seconds after Sparta moved within a touchdown for the final time.
McTaggart scored his third touchdown of the game by turning a screen pass into a 12-yard touchdown with 8 minutes, 51 seconds left to play. The conversion pass was incomplete, and Central’s lead stood at 33-25.
Rudrud carried three times on the drive that followed and took a pitch from Gabe Servais on a second-and-5 snap before drifting to his right. The time spent during the pitch was enough for senior teammate Connor Groth to get some separation near the end zone, and he hauled in the pass and completed the touchdown. After watching Rudrud carve them up with his running, the Spartans allowed it to happen on a pass play.
Charlie Buxton’s extra point pushed Central’s lead to 40-25 with 7:11 left.
Two plays later, Servais caught a long Everett Laufenberg pass at his own 22 before dashing toward the right sideline, He cut back to his left before widening his angle and beating everyone to the end zone for a 78-yard return.
Buxton kicked another extra point, and the RiverHawks suddenly had a 47-25 advantage with 6:22 remaining in the game.
Central had seven offensive possessions and scored seven touchdowns. They also had the Servais interception return to help get a bad taste out of their mouths when it came to defensive performance.
“It was a high level of execution, scoring on every drive,” Central coach Mitch Olson said. “I think that starts up front. Played with good pad level, we were aggressive and went with the right guy and took care of the ball.
“(The Spartans) have two really good linebackers, and we made sure get to those blocks on the second level. We did a better job with that tonight than we have in weeks past.”
Central student Kaylee Zielke has provided us with the photos below:
