Wolves’ Trevor Asher has 1,500 rushing yards

The Elmwood/Plum City football team improved to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in Dunn-St. Croix action with a 24-21 victory against Boyceville on Friday, Sept. 23, in large part because of a dynamic ouensive rushing at tack.

Elmwood/Plum City senior running back Trevor Asher has been a diuerence-maker this season for the Wolves. Asher has accounted for more than 1,500 of the Wolves’ 2,000 total ouensive yards and 18 of the team’s 22 touchdowns through the first six games this year.

Asher’s brilliance was on full display during the home game against Boyceville on Friday night. Less than four minutes into the first quarter, Asher broke loose for an 84-yard touchdown run and then successfully scored the two-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead.

Boyceville responded late in the opening frame with a touchdown drive of its own, capped ou by a six-yard touchdown run. Through the second and third quarters, Boyceville scored 14 unanswered points to take a 21-8 lead going into the final 12 minutes of action.

Asher and the Wolves remained calm at the start of the fourth quarter and put together a two-minute scoring drive. Asher got Elmwood/ Plum City back on the board with a 47yard touchdown run and another successful two-point conversion to make it a 21-16 ball game, still favoring Boyceville.

After the Wolves’ defense made a late defensive stand, Elmwood/Plum City and Asher took to the field with a chance to lead a game-winning drive. That’s exactly what they did. The dynamic rushing attack con- tinued, as Asher capped ou the scoring drive with a 21-yard touchdown run. A successful two-point conversion pass made it 24-21 for the Wolves. One more defensive stand on the ensuing drive secured the victory.

“Trevor (Asher) loves football. He’s a very heady football player and he watches film and watches it with a purpose,” Elmwood/ Plum City head coach Mike Birtzer said of Asher. “He’s an unbelievably hard worker in the weight room. He will go out of his way to help others get better too.”

While Asher has accounted for nearly all of the Wolves’ ouensive output this season, he hasn’t let it go to his head, according to coach Birtzer. Asher is always quick to give praise to his teammates, even though he’s the one filling up the stat sheet every Friday night.

“This entire group is very close and they will do everything for each other. These guys want to see Trevor (Asher) have success and they’re proud of his success,” Birtzer said. “He understands that he doesn’t have that success if it isn’t for his teammates.”

The Elmwood/Plum City Wolves run an old-school single wing ouensive scheme that sometimes requires Asher – the most athletically gifted player on the team – to get out and block for other players. Other standout athletes might think they’re too good for that, but Asher embraces the opportunity.

“In our rushing attack, he has to get out and block,” Birtzer said. “He’s never turned down an opportunity to get out and block. That’s the unselfishness that he has.” The Wolves’ unique ouensive scheme re lies on both athletically gifted backs and an ouensive line working in unison. Through the first six weeks, both aspects have been firing on all cylinders and that’s what has helped Asher put together one of the best statistical campaigns in the state thus far.

“The single wing has a lot of moving parts and the ouensive line has to work together,” Birtzer said. “It has to be all five of them working together and they’ve done that. They take pride in how well they work together.”

While the Wolves’ rushing attack has been potent through the first six weeks, the pass ing attack has been anything but. Elmwood/ Plum City has accumulated only 83 passing yards and one touchdown through the air this season.

While running the football nearly all of the time may work against weaker non-conference teams and struggling teams in the Dunn-St. Croix, coach Birtzer knows it won’t work later in the season against top-tier programs – especially in the playous.

“We have to balance it out,” Birtzer said. “I don’t know what it’s going to take. We’ve tried diuerent things and we work on it at practice, but we’ve been a few steps ou on each one. When we pass we haven’t given our thrower time and our receivers haven’t been where they need to be. It’s something we’ve got to fix in the next couple of games because we’re going to need it.”

The Wolves’4-2 overall record and 3-1 display in Dunn-St. Croix play is good enough for a share of second place. Elmwood/Plum City is in a three-way tie with Cadott and Turtle Lake. Spring Valley remains atop the conference with a 4-0 record in league play.

Spring Valley is coming ou of a 2021 conference championship and despite graduating extensive talent, the Cardinals remain the best team – at least record-wise – in the conference. Boyceville, Cadott and Turtle Lake all remain tough, in addition to Birtzer’s Wolves. He spoke about the competition in the conference.

“Spring Valley has got the edge because they’ve got the mental edge. It’s because of how successful they’ve been,” Birtzer said. “This conference is unbelievably tough this year. It’s got a lot of teams that could sneak up and bite you (like Cadott did to us). It’s a good, physical conference that will be a battle right down to the end.”

The Wolves will look to continue their successful 2022 campaign on Friday, Sept. 29, at home against Colfax. That game is slated to begin at 7 p.m.