Hornets sting first-seed Saints, 28-0
The importance of holding onto the football has been exemplified over the Colby Hornets’ last three games. In their final regular season game, the Hornets suffered their only loss after turning the ball over five times. Then they recovered three fumbles against Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau to help them cruise to a 49-16 first round playoff victory over the Red Hawks. Finally, after the second round matchup between the fourth-seeded Colby squad and the first-seeded St. Croix Falls Saints, the largest discrepancy on the final box score could be found in the turnover column.
In many regards, the two teams matched the other’s production. The Hornets ended the game with 307 total yards, the Saints finished with 305. Colby gained 10 first downs, St. Croix Falls had 15. But when it came to takeaways, the Hornets held a huge advantage. Four interceptions and a fumble that essentially took away a Saints’ touchdown were forced by Colby’s defense, allowing them to hold the home team scoreless on their way to a 28-0 win.
“The playoffs are always a special and exciting time of year,” head coach Jim Hagen said after the game. “When you can play on a beautiful night and at a picturesque setting such as Saints Stadium in St. Croix Falls, and come out with a win, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
The opening minutes could not have gone much better for the visiting Hornets. St. Croix Falls received the opening kickoff, but Colby held the Saints to a three-and-out. The visitors found themselves in jeopardy of following suit after struggling to find many yards on their first two plays. On third down, the Hornets needed six yards to continue their drive. Running back Caden Healy found more than enough on an 18-yard draw play, slipping past multiple potential tacklers at the line of scrimmage to break through into the secondary.
That was the first and only third-down play of the drive, with the Hornets’ offensive line providing the trio of Healy, wingback Tevin Rue, and fullback Ivan Haemer the space they needed to operate. Haemer finished off the drive, bullying his way into the endzone from two yards out to give Colby an early lead. Tucker Brost’s PAT brought the score to 7-0 halfway through the first quarter.
The second Saints possession ended on a turnover on downs after a penalty and an excellent tackle by Colby linebacker Isaac Raatz on a screen forced St. Croix Falls to try something drastic. In a fourth and forever situation, the home team dug into their bag of tricks and pulled out a fake punt reverse. The play never had a chance as St. Croix Falls’ Aiden Meador slipped in the backfield and fell to a knee, ending the play and giving the ball back to Colby on the Saints’ 43-yard line.
Sweep right was the name of the game for Colby for much of the evening, especially so on their second drive of the game. St. Croix Falls seemed to have no answer on the outside, with pulling guards Brost, Oscar Zamora and Jacob Hoppe leading the way for Healy while Rue, tight-end Kaden Wiese, and tackle Logan Stuttgen sealed the edge. The first went for 21 yards, though it would have gone for more if not for a penalty. That hardly stopped the Hornets, however, as they’d use three more sweeps over the next six plays to punch in their second score of the game. Healy found paydirt on the first play of the second quarter, scoring on a one-yard rush.
St. Croix Falls took nearly six minutes off the clock on their next possession, pushing into Colby territory for the second- time. Just like the prior drive, a penalty on the Saints halted the home team’s forward momentum and the Hornets forced another punt.
A 29-yard run on a sweep by Gavin Voss followed by a 12-yard scamper by Rue on a counter set Colby up in Saints’ territory. St. Croix Falls’ defense stepped up and stopped Colby from advancing any further, dragging Healy down for a loss on a fourth down play near midfield.
With time running down in the half, the Saints turned to the air to try to score. Two big plays from Colby’s defense put a stop to the effort, as a Levi Dommer sack was followed by an interception from Erik Martinez, allowing Colby to take a 14-0 lead going into halftime.
As good as the first half had been for the Hornets, there were some worrying signs as the second half began. Colby received the kickoff and promptly went three-and-out, punting the ball over to the Saints. Starting their first possession of the second half at their own 6-yard line, St. Croix Falls went on another long drive, moving the ball down the field with purpose. After holding Saints’ top option Meador to just 50 yards in the first half, the Hornets gave up runs of 33 and 26 yards to the junior running back to open the possession. The Saints worked inside the Hornet’s ten-yard line and were on the verge of scoring when Colby came up with the biggest turnover of the game.
On a stretch run play, Meador made a beeline to the west pylon and looked to have the edge. Defensive back Nathaniel Robida came up to contest and Meador reached out to extend the ball across the goal line. The collision between Robida and Meador knocked the ball loose and it tumbled out of the side of the endzone, which resulted in Colby taking possession on their 20-yard line.
Colby wasted no time taking advantage of the situation. On the very next play, Rue took the ball to the outside and outran the field along the east sideline for an 80-yard touchdown. The two plays combined for what was essentially a 14-point swing in a matter of seconds. Instead of allowing St. Croix Falls to finish off a very impressive drive with a touchdown that would make it a one score game, Colby now enjoyed a 21-point lead midway through the third quarter.
St. Croix Falls wasn’t done yet, but saw another drive into Colby territory end without points. The Hornets defense held strong on fourth and short, with Martinez, Healy and Dommer combining on a tackle in the middle to hold Meador short of the line to gain. The Hornets wouldn’t get much done on the next possession, however, and an excellent punt return would have the Saints starting their next drive on Colby’s side of the field.
Colby put the game away on the next two plays. On the first play of the Saints’ possession, St. Croix Falls quarterback Jayden Adams rolled out to his right. Under pressure from Voss and Raatz, Adams unleashed an ill-advised pass into triple coverage. Wiese came down with the ball and advanced the interception all the way to the Saints’ 27-yard line before being brought down. Healy would deliver the dagger on the next play, taking a sweep around the right side of the line to the house. An extra point by Brost followed and Colby had opened up a 28-0 lead.
The visitors defended that lead with two more interceptions, one from Healy and the last courtesy of Tucker Meyer. A fourth-down run from Haemer on the following drive allowed the Hornets to run out the clock and punch their ticket to the third round.
“Our players are playing with so much confidence right now and we played so well in all three phases of the game,” Hagen said of his team’s performance. “Defensively we bent at times but never broke. We came up with some key turnovers when we needed them. Offensively, we didn’t open up the playbook a whole lot because we just kept hurting them with our run game. Special teams continues to play well, not allowing any big plays, converting on extra points, and pinning St. Croix deep a few times on kick-offs and punts.”
All 307 of Colby’s offensive yards came on the ground. Seniors Healy and Rue led the way for the Hornets, with Healy recording 105 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries and Rue racking up 101 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. Haemer provided some tough yards up the middle for the Hornets, ending the game with 40 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown. Voss did well when giving Healy a breather, getting 57 yards on six carries. Colton Orth also had a six-yard carry for a first down that helped Colby ice the game.
Four interceptions highlighted the defensive performance from the Hornets, with Martinez, Wiese, Healy and Meyer all recording one each. Robida also helped force a fumble that stopped the Saints short of scoring. Healy led the team in tackles with 12, followed by Martinez who had 10. Raatz, Dommer and Stuttgen all had five tackles.
Colby continues its 2022 campaign with a trip to third-seeded Aquinas. The Blugolds are 10-1 on the season and took second in the Coulee conference. They defeated second-seeded Northwestern 36-16, outsourcing their opponents 22-0 in the second half. Their offense is led by quarterback Jackson Flottmeyer, who has over 2,000 yards passing and 25 touchdowns. His top target is Collin Conzemius, who had 662 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns. While the Blugolds have done well through the air throughout the season, which could potentially be problematic for the Colby squad, they dominated Northwestern on the ground last Friday. Aquinas racked up 321 yards on 41 carries, showing that they can be just as dangerous on the ground.
The third-round matchup is set for this Friday, Nov. 4, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
GOING, GOING, GONE -Tevin Rue (2) follows Oscar Zamora (54) around the left side for an 80-yard touchdown in the third quarter.STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
SPECIAL TEAMS TACKLE -Braxton Meyer (71) takes down the ball carrier on a Saints punt return.STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
