Friday Oct. 10, 2025
HOLMEN – The Holmen Vikings suffered their first loss of the season on Friday night, falling 20-6 to the visiting La Crosse Central Riverhawks in a hard-fought conference matchup.
The Vikings (7-1) struggled to contain La Crosse Central quarterback Christian Rudrud, who rushed for 170 yards and three touchdowns on 38 carries to lead the Riverhawks’ ground attack. Central jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first quarter on Rudrud’s 4-yard touchdown run.
Holmen responded in the second quarter when quarterback Colin Williams scrambled for an 11-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 6-6. However, the Riverhawks answered quickly, with Rudrud adding two more rushing touchdowns of 2 and 13 yards to take a 20-6 halftime advantage.
Despite a strong defensive effort in the second half that kept Central off the scoreboard, the Vikings’ offense was unable to generate enough momentum to mount a comeback. Holmen managed 148 rushing yards on the night, led by Jack Barth’s 67 yards on nine carries. Quarterback Bennett Schild completed 4 of 10 passes for 30 yards but was intercepted once.
The Vikings’ ground game showed flashes, with Barth breaking off a 41-yard run, but consistency proved elusive against a disciplined Central defense. Holmen totaled 176 yards of offense compared to La Crosse Central’s 315 yards.
The Vikings will look to bounce back next Friday, October 17, when they travel to La Crosse to face the Logan Rangers in their first meeting of the season.