By RICK SOLEM
rsolem@mwfbroadcasting.com
HOLMEN, Wis. – In a battle of the undefeated, the Logan High School football team had to be underdogs Friday.
Holmen was playing at home, had won the last three meetings and had its starting quarterback – one that had scored 10 rushing touchdowns in the first half of the last three games and had a 12.1-yard rushing average this season.
On top of that, the Rangers were without their starter at quarterback, Johnny Kind, who was injured in the third quarter the week before playing defense in a blowout win over Tomah.
That, however, didn’t matter. All Logan needed was this:
Josh Stevens’ 25-yard field goal as the clock ticked to zero to end the first half was enough, as the Rangers knocked off the Vikings 3-0.
The teams may be still playing, however had Holmen not committed a penalty on Stevens’ first field-goal attempt right before the eventual winner.
One of Holmen’s players tried to gain height to block the kick using a teammate, which resulted in a 5-yard penalty – it’s a 15-yard penalty in the NFL.
The 5 yards, however, were enough for Stevens, and the “practice” attempt helped. After the penalty, Logan quarterback Trey Davis ran one play to center the football, allowing Stevens to get a better angle for his kick.
Despite Logan’s defense and ability to sustain drives, thanks to Kyle Bakalars’ 114 yards on 24 carries, Holmen (4-1, 3-1) had chances late.
The first came after this play:
Bakalars was stripped by Jack Bahr and Holmen took over with 5:06 remaining in the game. Holmen took over and got down to the 28 yard line, but the drive ended here:
Justin Jorstad got the pick on Kyle Koebl’s pitch-pass, but the Vikings weren’t done. Timeouts and three stuffed runs forced Logan to punt. Holmen took over for this last shot:
Kind’s interception sealed it. Holmen wasn’t down much, but a team that runs the triple-option has a hard time making up a deficit late in the fourth quarter. Going to the air is not the Vikings’ specialty.
In the end, the two teams had nearly identical yardage totals – 235 for Logan to 228 for Holmen. The difference, those two interceptions and penalties – especially, of course, the one on the first field goal. The Vikings committed seven penalties for 63 yards.
The other factor, Logan holding Zimmerman to just 31 yards on nine carries.
You can watch the entire game, or any of our Friday night broadcasts right here.
Logan 0 3 0 0 — 3
Holmen 0 0 0 0 — 0
Second quarter
L—FG Josh Stevens 25 :00.
Team Statistics
First downs: L 14, H 12. Rushes-Yards: L 50-196, H 37-207. Comp-Att-Int: L 3-6-0, H 4-10-2. Passing yards: L 39, H 21. Totals yards: L 235, H 228. Penalties-yards: L 5-30, H 7-63. Fumbles-lost: L 2-1, H 3-1.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: L—Kyle Bakalars 24-114, Tanner Holzer 5-26, Trey Davis 10-23, Aric Elmore 5-18, Manny Buckhanan 2-5, Dakota Horton 1-5, Dylan Crocker 1-2, Bailey Gaines 1-3, H—Chris Magnuson 6-73, Mitch Dienger 14-57, Seth Wilson 4-37, Camryn Zimmerman 9-31, Alex LaFleur 1-5, Kyle Koelbl 3-4.
Passing: L—Davis 3-6-0-39, H—Zimmerman 4-8-1-21, Wilson 0-1-0-0, Koelbl 0-1-1-0.
Receiving: L—Holzer 2-28, Evan Verhota 1-11, H—Wilson 2-14, Magnuson 1-11, Dienger 1-(minus 4).
Records: L 6-0, 4-0, H 5-1, 3-1.
CENTRAL 34, TOMAH 28 OT
Throw out the records, and it wasn’t Logan-Holmen that was the game of the night.
Waylon Alvarado was the hero starting and finishing a Central comeback, after being down 28-14 with 9 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
The comeback started when the 5-foot-9, 150-pound junior quarterback hit Jerrod Ambrose for a 74-yard touchdown, pulling the Red Raiders (2-4, 2-2) within eight after the missed extra point and 6:09 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Tomah (1-5, 0-4) fumbled away the ensuing possession, setting up a Matt Degenhart 1-yard touchdown and a Connor Williams two-point conversion with 1:59 to go.
In overtime, Central got the ball first and it was Alvarado with a 9-yard touchdown. The defense then stopped Tomah on four downs to complete the comeback.
There were big plays all over this game, beginning with Collin Eswein’s 35-yard touchdown to put Tomah ahead in the first.
The comeback looked to have started early in the fourth quarter when Williams went 45 yard for a score. Tomah, however, answered that with an 18-yard touchdown connection from Jack Haye to Christian Wagenson.
Williams finished with 107 yards on 22 carries, while Tomah was led by Josh Peardot’s 14 carries, 109 yards. Central amassed 314 yards of offense to Tomah’s 317. The difference: fumbles. Central had three, lost none, while Tomah had four and lost three.
Central 0 0 6 22 6 — 34
Tomah 7 14 0 7 1 — 28
First quarter: T—Collin Eswein 35 run (Gavin Brand kick) 7:03.
Second quarter: T—Ben Venner 21 run (Brand kick) 5:52. T—Brand 4 run (Brand kick) 0:44,
Third quarter: C—Matt Degenhardt 3 run (kick failed) 3:01.
Fourth quarter: C—Connor Williams 45 run (Waylon Alvarado run) 8:11. T—Christian Wagenson 18 pass from Jack Haye (Brand kick) 7:08. C—Jerred Ambrose 74 pass from Alvarado (kick failed) 6:09. C—Degenhardt 1 run (Williams run) 1:59.
Overtime: C—Alvarado 9 run (run failed).
Individual Statistics
Rushing: C—Williams 22-107, T—Josh Peardot 14-109.
Passing: C—Alvarado 3-5-1-90, T—Haye 5-8-0-54.
Receiving: C—Ambrose 2-74, T—Wagenson 3-40.
Team Statistics
Total yards: C 224-90—314, T 263-54—317. Fumbles: C 3-0, T 4-3.
Records: C 2-4, 2-2, T 1-5, 0-4.
ONALASKA 42, AQUINAS 7
A week ago, Alex Gumz had over 300 yards on 41 carries. Against Aquinas, on the second play from scrimmage, he had himself 54 more.
The Onalaska halfback went 54 yards for the touchdown. Four plays later, the Hilltoppers blocked a Blugolds punt and Austin Brown recovered it in the end zone. The game had the makings of a blowout, Onalaska up 13-0.
Aquinas (1-5, 0-4) didn’t do much on offense – outgained 410-132 – but managed to hold Onalaska (3-3, 3-1) at bay for a half, despite the tragic first two series.
Aquinas quarterback Tyler Young hit Alex Dee for a short gain turned long. Dee bobbed and weaved his way for a 58-yard touchdown and the Blugolds found themselves down just 13-7.
That, however, was it for Aquinas. Ryan Williams, who was 7-for-7 for 113 yards, answered with a strike to Nate Sweeney for one of his two touchdown passes and the route was on.
Gumz scored two third-quarter touchdowns and finished the game with 178 yards on 21 carries.
Onalaska 13 8 14 7 — 42
Aquinas 7 0 0 0 — 7
First quarter
O—Alex Gumz 54 run (kick failed) 11:20
O—Austin Brown recovered blocked punt in end zone (Hunter Bockhop kick) 10:04.
A—Alex Dee 58 pass from Tyler Young (kick good) 2:28.
Second quarter
O—Nate Sweeney 53 pass from Ryan Williams (Jalen Zubich run) 6:32.
Third quarter
O—Gumz 26 run (Tyler Bluske kick) 5:00
O—Gumz 2 run (Bluske kick) :10
Fourth quarter
O—Zayne Wicks 3 pass from Williams (Bluske kick) 10:45
Team Statistics
First downs: O 19, A 8. Rushes-Yards: O 47-297, A 28-30. Comp-Att-Int: O 7-8-0, A 10-18-0. Passing yards: O 113, A 102. Totals yards: O 410, A 132. Penalties-yards: O 5-35, A 3-25. Fumbles-lost: O 2-1, A 1-1.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: O—Alex Gumz 21-178, Jalen Zubich 9-47, Ryan Williams 7-36, Asher Freybler 2-17, Josiah LeFebre 4-13, Jamal Wagner 3-5, Connor Lorentz 1-1, A—Tyler Young 14-25, Isiah Brown 7-9, Connor Haag 6-5, Danny Sieck 1-(-9).
Passing: O—Williams 7-7-0-113, Lorentz 0-1-0-0, A—Young 10-18-0-102.
Receiving: O—Nate Sweeney 4-62, Zayne Wicks 2-12, Tyler Hughes 1-14, Gumz 0-25, A—Alex Dee 3-90, Connor Haag 4-10, Alex Schulte 1-4, Danny Sieck 2-(-2).
Records: O 3-3, 3-1, A 1-5, 0-4.
WEST SALEM 40, SPARTA 13
SPARTA, Wis. – After getting shut out by Holmen a week before, and spotting Sparta a seven-point lead on a Noah Schauf 86-yard opening kick return, West Salem got back to its winning ways.
The Panthers (4-1, 3-1) scored the next 40 unanswered, highlighted by three touchdowns from Colin Hass, who finished with 19 carries for 131 yards. West Salem QB Tim Schauf, who had a touchdown run of his own, finished 10-for-15 for 115 yards. Sparta (1-5, 1-3) was outgained 435-219.
West Salem 7 7 12 14 — 40
Sparta 7 0 0 6 — 13
First quarter: S—Noah Schauf 86 kickoff return (Ben Jacobs kick). WS—Colin Hass 30 run (Alec Gorski kick).
Second quarter: WS—Hass 3 run (Gorski kick).
Third quarter: WS—Hass 1 run (run failed). WS—Tim Schauf 5 run (pass failed).
Fourth quarter: WS—Zach Sierce 66 run (Gorski kick). WS—Sam Netza 5 run (Gorski kick). S—Jasiah Scott 55 run.
Rushing: WS—Hass 19-131, S—Scott 3-64.
Passing: WS—T. Schauf 10-15-0-115, S—Jaret Sullivan 6-14-1-66.
Receiving: WS—Trent Kastenschmidt 5-75, S—Jacobs 1-25.
Team statistics
Total yards: WS 139-296—435, S 146-73—219. Fumbles: WS 4-0, S 1-1.
Records: WS 4-1, 3-1, S 1-5, 1-3.