Prep football: Eau Claire North earns 1st victory over Menomonie since 1991

Sep. 24—The Eau Claire North football program spent 31 long years trying to knock off Menomonie, to no avail. The Huskies made up for some of those frustrations on Friday night.

North was in control from start to finish in a 20-6 victory over the Mustangs at Carson Park, the Huskies' first win against Menomonie since 1991. It snapped a 29-game win streak Menomonie held in the series, and is the latest milestone in a breakthrough year for the Huskies.

"This feels almost unreal," North senior Lucas Barby said. "I knew it was going to happen at some point in the season, that we were going to beat a team that we really weren't supposed to beat. It just so happened to be tonight. I'm so proud of my boys, we've worked so hard for this."

North's last win over Menomonie came long before any members of this year's team were born. Menomonie had an average margin of victory of roughly 31 points in its 29 consecutive wins over the Huskies. But none of that history mattered on Friday.

"I think it shows that we can show up and play with really good teams," North coach Matt McGinnis said. "This conference is really good, and that's a really good football team over there that we just played. I think it just shows the kids that we're a good football team too, and we can be when we put it all together."

The Huskies scored on their first possession and never looked back. North controlled the line of scrimmage all night, and a punishing ground game surged for 371 yards. Jack Kein ran for a pair of touchdowns, and Cam Olson added a long scoring run of his own. The duo teamed up to rush for 316 yards on 40 carries.

"We've got some big dogs up front," McGinnis said of his offensive line. "All five of those guys are amazing. We put it on them: We're going behind you, and that's what we're doing. They stepped up."

That was more than enough help for North's defense, which kept the Mustangs to 190 yards of offense.

Kein plunged into the end zone from one yard out to put North ahead midway through the first quarter. The Huskies doubled their lead on a 67-yard touchdown run from Olson in the first minute of the second quarter.

The Mustangs made it a one-score game on Steele Schaefer's one-yard touchdown run with 6:16 left until halftime, but they wouldn't get any closer. Kein scored on a 21-yard run in the third quarter to make it a two-possession game again, and North's ground game chewed plenty of time off the clock to keep Menomonie's offense off the field. That included a 16-play drive that spanned the third and fourth quarters and took about nine minutes off the board.

"We practiced our X's and O's the entire week, and just got it done," Barby said. "Our schemes for defense, Coach (Dave) Decker knows his stuff obviously. This is so fun."

Olson had a team-high 193 rushing yards on 19 attempts for North. Kein was close behind, taking his 21 rushes for 123 yards. James Jarzynski added 51 rushing yards for the Huskies.

North improved to 2-2 in the Big Rivers Conference, ensuring the Huskies will finish with multiple conference wins for the first time since 2010. They blanked Superior 21-0 two weeks ago.

"I'm just super happy for the kids," McGinnis said. "These seniors, I can't say enough about them. They showed up and did this. It all goes to the kids, it goes to the staff. I couldn't be happier for the kids and our program."

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Eau Claire North 20, Menomonie 6

Menomonie;0;6;0;0;— 6

North;7;7;6;0;— 20

First Quarter

ECN: Jack Kein 1 run (Ryan Conlin kick), 6:49.

Second Quarter

ECN: Cam Olson 67 run (Conlin kick), 11:22.

M: Steele Schaefer 1 run (kick failed), 6:16.

Third Quarter

ECN: Kein 21 run (run failed), 7:47.

Team & Individual Statistics

RUSHING (att-yds): Menomonie (25-133): Schaefer 12-95, Jack Drout 7-34, Isiah Birt 2-7, Treysen Witt 1-(-1), James Hoff 3-(-2). North (56-371): Olson 19-193, Kein 21-123, James Jarzynski 15-51.

PASSING (comp-att-int-yds): Menomonie: Witt 6-14-0-57. North: Kein 4-8-1-28.

RECEIVING (rec-yds): Menomonie: Charlie Behrend 2-25, Birt 2-13, Brady Goodman 1-13, Schaefer 1-6. North: #22 2-20, Olson 1-4, Carter Burns 1-4.