JUNEAU — It's not often you see complete relief from a group that just outran a one-legged man.

There was Ron Miller, wiping the sweat from his brow, and his Dodgeland Trojans, erupting in celebration Friday night. Was it elation over holding off rival Hustisford in a 34-28 nonconference thriller?

Or was it comfort from knowing they won't have to see Austin Neu again until he's on a wrestling mat or wearing the same baseball uniform?

"Neu is awesome," said Miller, delightfully relieved afterward. "He was on one leg and he dang near beat us.

"He's a nice player and he's got a nice target in Wade (Falkenthal). You don't see that a lot at this level."

Neu, who threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns, rolled his ankle returning a punt early in the third quarter.

With the Falcons' quarterback and best defender hobbled, Dodgeland rattled off 20 straight points to erase a 21-14 halftime deficit.

"It's pretty tough with a gun that isn't fully loaded," Hustisford coach Dan Simon said. "Austin's a pretty damn tough kid.

"I don't know the extent of the injury. I hope he's OK because it hurt us on both sides of the ball."

As valuable as he is to the Falcon offense, Neu might be even more valuable defensively. Hustisford struggled to stop Dodgeland's rushing attack in the first half and found itself completely overwhelmed after the break as the Trojans finished with 423 yards on the ground.

"It's hurting pretty bad," Neu said of his ankle.

"We were right there in a game that both teams could have won. We're younger and smaller and look how close we were."

For Miller, bragging rights took a backseat to the fear of entering conference with an 0-2 record.

"It was a big win for us," Miller said. "We couldn't go in 0-2.

"Most of these kids haven't been involved in the rivalry. Other than a few kids, they haven't seen it."

The schools met in football for the first time since 2005 and Dodgeland opened the scoring behind Steven Schmidt. He finished with 185 yards on 21 carries and three scores, starting with a 40-yard TD scamper.

When Dodgeland regained possession, disaster struck as a penalty wiped out a big Schmidt run and stuck the Trojans deep in their own end. Matt Dachs stripped Trojan QB Wes Jahnke and Matt Bosse fell on the loose ball in the end zone to tie the score.

Schmidt went right back to it, scoring early in the second quarter to put the Trojans ahead. Neu then lofted a 51-yard scoring bomb to Wade Falkenthal, who finished with eight catches for 131 yards, and found Adam Falkenthal from 11 yards out to give the Falcons their only lead.

Neu tried to play through the pain but had to get his ankle taped after getting hurt. Dodgeland swung the momentum while Neu sat as Schmidt scored from nine yards out to tie the game.

Three incompletions and a penalty forced a punt and the Trojans kept bashing away on the ground. Luke Greenwald barreled in from six yards away just 3:11 after Schmidt scored to put the Trojans back on top.

Hustisford, led by the noticeably-limping Neu, drove to the Dodgeland 7 but turned the ball over on downs. Tony Hanke, who carried eight times for 134 yards, bolted 54 yards for a score with 3:22 to play.

"We knew they had good backs," Simon said. "Hanke didn't surprise us."

Neu marched the Falcons down the field and found Ryan Connolly for a 2-yard TD toss to pull Hustisford within six. The Falcons nearly caught the Trojans napping with their surprise onside kick straight out of the huddle but the kick didn't travel 10 yards.

"If that ball goes another yard or two, the last 55 seconds would have been interesting," Simon said.

Both teams now sit at 1-1. Hustisford visits Cambria-Friesland next week while Dodgeland visits Oshkosh Lourdes.

DODGELAND 34, HUSTISFORD 28

Hustisford   7  14    0  7  -  28

Dodgeland  7    7  14  6  -  34

D - Schmidt 40 run (Saugstad kick)

H - Bosse  fumble return (Neu kick)

D - Schmidt 4 run (Saugstad kick)

H - W. Falkenthal 51 pass from Neu (Neu kick)

H - A. Falkenthal 11 pass from Neu (Neu kick)

D - Schmidt 9 run (Saugstad kick)

D - Greenwald 6 run (Saugstad kick)

D - Hanke 54 run (kick failed)

H - Connolly 2 pass from Neu (Hildebrandt kick)

    H    D

First downs    18    20

Total Net Yards    371    451

Rushes-yards    26-68    53-423

Passing    303    28

Comp-Att-Int    21-35-0    2-6-0

Penalties-Yards    4-45    9-61

Fumbles-Lost    1-1    1-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: RUSHING - H, Neu 14-45. D, Schmidt 21-185, Hanke 8-134. PASSING - H, Neu 21-34-0-303. D, Jahnke 2-6-0-28. RECEIVING - H, W. Falkenthal 8-131. D, Pieper 2-28.