Even by Onalaska’s standards, Friday night was one for the ages on the ground.
The Loggers ran all over Seton Catholic, tallying 622 rushing yards in a dominant 56-20 win over the Cougars.
It’s a mark that Onalaska coach Mazen Saade, who is in his 16th season at the helm in Grit City, believes is the most the Loggers have tallied in his tenure.
“I thought our offensive line did pretty well tonight, and our ball carriers ran really hard tonight,” Saade said. “We were proud with how they performed tonight … But we have a lot of room for growth.”
Seton Catholic got on the board first, but Onalaska responded with six unanswered touchdowns to blow the game open.
Ethan Thayer finished with 300 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries, Haze Hamrick added 98 yards and a score on 10 rushes, and Lane Gordon tallied 96 yards and two touchdowns. Gordon also added a touchdown pass in the air, hitting Morgan Allen on a 9-yard score.
“Gordon did a hell of a job commanding our offense and leading us tonight,” Saade said.
Including Gordon’s passing yards, the Loggers finished with 657 total yards of offense.
Defensively, Eli Srnka intercepted a pass and recorded a pair of knockdowns, and Saade commended Allen and Carson Albertson’s play at linebacker.
“Our guys were excited to play,” Saade said. “It's always nice to play somebody in a different color jersey. I thought our kids responded well to the challenge of playing a bigger school with a dynamic offense.”
It doesn’t get any easier for Onalaska (1-0) next week, as the Loggers will welcome Napavine in a non-league matchup.
“We’re just excited,” Saade said. “We’ll enjoy this for the next 24 hours, then we’ll get to work … It’s gonna be a hell of a challenge for us. We gotta get a lot better at a lot of things as a team. We need to go grow this week and really focus in. We’re excited about the challenge and the next game on the schedule.”
