the line to the house. ….
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.
