Offense impresses in second half of loss to powerful Abbotsford

ABBOTSFORD 47, RIB LAKE-PRENTICE 18

The Rib Lake-Prentice Hawks knew keeping up with Abbotsford’s rushing juggernaut wasn’t going to be easy Thursday.

But, they showed in the 47-18 non-conference loss that their offensive unit isn’t one to be taken lightly either.

While the Falcons pulled away over the last nine minutes of the second quarter and were never seriously threatened after that, the Hawks opened some eyes and built some belief amongst themselves by rushing for 208 yards and throwing for 71 more while tripling their point production from their first two games.

Had they finished a late second-quarter drive and an early third-quarter drive that got into Abbotsford territory, they would’ve at least put a little secondhalf stress on the Falcons, who gained all 433 of their yards on the ground.

Ty Falteisek gained 130 yards on just nine carries and scored three touchdowns in the mid-game stretch that put the game away. A host of other Falcons chipped in as Abbotsford surpassed the 400-yard mark for rushing yards for the second time this season.

“There’s still a lot that we can work on,” Hawks’ co-head coach Jonah Campbell said. “I know there were some drives that stalled early in the game with three and outs and there was a fourth-and-one stop on the goal line. But overall the effort the kids showed has been there through all of our games so far this year. So that’s encouraging, showing that we were able to play with them offensively. They have a very good offense with big guys that were hard to stick with all game long. We showed the grit that we have.

“If we can improve on some minor things, we’re going to continue to play some good ball with hopefully a little bit better results as the year goes on.”

Jordan Yanko averaged 11.3 yards per carry while bulling for 79 yards on seven carries between the tackles for Rib Lake-Prentice. Sam Gumz churned out 75 hardearned yards on 19 carries, including a third-quarter touchdown. Quarterback Michael Borchardt completed seven of 12 pass attempts for 71 yards and a fourthquarter touchdown to Trey Klemann. He was intercepted twice in the first half, both in Falcons territory.

“I think our quarterback got into a little better rhythm going into the second half,” Campbell said. “Running the ball was difficult to start but then we started opening things up in the first half and were able to finish drives in the second half. That was the big thing. Drive down and get a full drive put together. Early in the game we had a couple of decent runs that were kind of broken plays where Sammy was able to break tackles, get out in space and get some good chunks. The second half we ran our plays more like they should be ran.”

Abbotsford scored on two of its first three possessions to grab a 13-0 firstquarter lead, but the Hawks threatened on their third series, driving from their 38 to Abbotsford’s 17 before Borchardt was hit as he threw on a first-and-10 play, resulting in an easy interception at the goal line by Falcon Jacob Hirsch, who was tackled at the five. But, two plays later, Dominick Classen came up with Rib Lake-Prentice’s defensive play of the game, leaping and snaring a Jose Castillo pass intended for Brandon Diedrich with right hand and returning the interception 27 yards to the Falcons’ 13. Three plays later, Borchardt scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak to pull the Hawks within 13-6 with 9:04 left in the half.

“Classen just made a great, athletic play,” Campbell said. “Just being able to high point the ball and come down with it was huge. That play kind of negated our first pick. That was one of those highlights where we got the interception and then we actually turned it into something.”

The Falcons didn’t flinch, answering with a 59-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard score by Evan Schunk. The Hawks’ next promising drive ended with a pick that set up Falteisek’s 38-yard scoring run that made it 25-6 with 1:02 left in the half.

Yanko’s 20-yard kickoff return to start the second half set Rib Lake-Prentice up on its 40. Yanko broke off a 35-yard run on the first play and the Hawks wound up on Abbotsford’s 1 six plays later facing a fourth and goal. The Falcons stuffed Gumz for a 3-yard loss, Evan Reis broke off a 71-yard run that set up Falteisek’s 2-yard score that opened up a 33-6 lead at the 5:06 mark of the third quarter.

The Hawks responded with a solid nine-play, 65-yard drive that included completions of 15 yards to Michael Quednow and 16 yards to Trey Klemann and ended with Gumz winning the race to the left pylon from 9 yards out with 27 seconds left to close Abbotsford’s lead to 33-12.

But Falteisek came right back, finding a seam to his right and returning the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown that put the margin right back at 27.

Classen ran for 29 yards on a counter play to start the Hawks’ next possession, which went 64 yards and ended with a perfect back-shoulder strike from Borchardt to Klemann for an 8-yard touchdown on the right side of the end zone with 8:48 left. An onside kick failed and Abbotsford turned that into another Falteisek score, this time from 20 yards out with 8:01 to play.

“They have two guys who are 300-some pounds on the offensive line,” Campbell said. “They move like a wedge and a wall. Just that type of weight and those guys staying fresh while our linemen and linebackers are playing two ways, they got tired. You can only fight it for so long. We played well in the beginning. We forced them to punt. But it’s just an offense that wears on you.”

Gumz and Yanko were the leading tacklers with five and four total tackles respectively.

Offensively, Campbell said the backs and offensive linemen alike are making strides as the season reaches its midpoint.

“All of the backs had a pretty good game,” he said. “Anyone who touched the ball did well as far as getting what they could out of plays, getting some broken tackles.

“The interior seniors on the line have shown they can play, they’re locked in mentally and get what they’re supposed to be doing,” Campbell added. “The tackles are a little bit younger. We’ll get Grant Cravaack back this week to play left tackle, which will be good just having another guy with experience and a big body. He’s pretty strong too. He should add to our ability to move people.” Borchardt completed seven of 12 passes. Michael Quednow caught three for 24 yards and Klemann and Alex Schantner were credited with two receptions apiece.

Despite the loss, the Hawks will actually get credit for a forfeit win in the Lakeland Conference as the original week-four game was vacated by Lake Holcombe-Cornell, who chose to split and play eight-player football a year earlier than planned. The Hawks will get another Lakeland Conference forfeit this week, thanks to Flambeau leaving the conference to go to eight-man.

But that doesn’t mean the Hawks won’t play to win when they visit Auburndale Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Eagles also will be playing a forfeit game as the Hawks fill in for their originallyscheduled game with Athens.

Sam Gumz gets around the right edge and finds some room to run.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS