Friday night, the Mauston Golden Eagles hosted the Lake Mills L-Cats for their home opener. On a wet, rainy, breezy, and chilly evening, both teams were battling for their first win of the 2010 season.

Lake Mills got out to a quick start as Mauston fumbled the ball away on their first possession, and it only took the L-Cats one play from scrimmage to take an early lead. Senior Dane Wollin’s 4 yard run for a touchdown, less than a minute into the game, gave Lake Mills a 7-0 lead.

Wollin did all the scoring for the L-Cats with three offensive touchdowns and one on defense. He returned a fumble 90 yards for a touchdown to give Lake Mills a quick 14-0 lead in the first half.

Mauston would fight back late in the half as they got on the board with a nice drive finished off with a 10 yard run by senior Kyle Czys. The Golden Eagles would miss the extra point attempt, but find themselves back in the game.

The Golden Eagle defense had a great first half shutting down the offensive attack of the L-Cats. Mauston would force Lake Mills to punt the ball away with less than a minute left in the first half. Senior QB Brady Nelson went back to receive the kick, and was able to find a hole to run through. Nelson returned the punt 84 yards for the touchdown with 43 seconds on the clock. After a failed 2 point conversion attempt, Lake Mills would take a 14-12 lead into the half.

It was a back and forth battle in the second half that was started with Wollin running 77 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the 3rd quarter. Mauston would answer with an impressive drive capped off with a 17 yard pass from Nelson to senior Mark Roemer for a touchdown, but would once again fail to convert on the 2 point conversion making the score 21-18.

Lake Mills came right back giving the ball again to Wollin. This time he broke free for a 53 yard touchdown run. The Golden Eagles wouldn’t be denied as they were able to drive back down the field and get in the end zone with Jirousek picking up his second touchdown of the night on a 4 yard run. Mauston would finally convert on the 2 point conversion with Brady Nelson taking it in himself to get the Golden Eagles within 2.

Mauston’s defense was able to shut down the L-Cats’ offense from that point on to give the Golden Eagles a few more chances to score and win the game, but Lake Mills was able to hang on as they intercepted a pass from Nelson to wrap up the victory. The L-Cats were able to run out the clock and pick up their first win of the season.

Mauston starts the 2010 season 0-2 and will look for their first win Friday night against Prairie du Chien as the non-conference schedule continues. Friday’s game against the Blackhawks will also be the 4th annual J.J.J.A. Memorial game at the Mauston High School. Come show your support and enjoy the tailgate meal starting at 5pm with all proceeds going towards the memorial scholarships.