'Trying to get a little better': St. Mary's Springs remains unbeaten with big win over WLA
FOND DU LAC – The St. Mary’s Springs high school football team executed a nearly flawless game plan Saturday as it steamrolled to a 37-0 victory over Winnebago Lutheran Academy at Fruth Field.
The Ledgers (5-0 overall, 3-0 Flyway) accounted for 190 total yards offensively in the first half, while the Vikings could only muster 33 yards against the Springs defense. The second half saw much of the same dominance on the Ledgers’ part, controlling both the time of possession and field position battles throughout the contest.
“It was pretty much what I expected,” Springs head coach Bob Hyland said. “We’re getting better. The whole performance was unemotional on our part.”
WLA (3-2, 1-2) started the game with the ball but on the first play from scrimmage Springs sophomore defensive lineman Noah Moul sacked quarterback Sam Loehr, which set the tone.
The Ledgers began their opening possession with a 17-yard run from Levi Huempfner, which culminated in a 1-yard touchdown carry by J.T. Koenigs to cap an 11-play scoring drive that included five first downs.
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An interception by senior defensive back Gavin Jahns shut down one of the Vikings’ longest drives shortly into the second quarter, which set up a 37-yard touchdown pass on fourth down from Cullen King to Lucas Rameker giving Springs a 14-0 advantage.
Following a three-and-out for WLA, the Ledgers continued to pound the ball on the ground. Jonathan Korb ripped off a 23-yard run to precede another 23-yard carry, this one to the end zone courtesy of Koenigs for his second score.
It took three plays for Springs to increase its lead and, according to Hyland, those big plays along with stifling defense were the key to their success.
“We pretty much totally shut down their run. When we get teams to throw, our defensive backfield is as strong as we’ve ever had, the four or five of them that are back there. It's really tough to throw against them. It’s one of the things that we’re pretty proud of. They’ve worked hard, and all of them are basketball players, so they’re tall, long, lanky kids,” Hyland said.
The Ledgers’ lone miscues came toward the end of the half. Loehr earned some revenge on his counterpart by picking off a pass from King at the Vikings’ 16-yard line with a little more than two minutes to go. Despite the turnover, however, Springs drove WLA back into its own end zone for a safety collected by the combination of John Coon and Jacob Holmes.
“We had that nice drive in the first half, (but) we needed to capitalize to tie the score,” said WLA head coach Kevin Loehr. “Then that didn’t happen and like I told the boys, the train starts moving and we were unable to stop it. There were some spots we played really well, there’s no doubt. The guys played hard. It’s just that we were outmatched. Now we’re moving on, trying to run the rest of the Flyway. We’ll do our thing and see what happens.”
Springs opened the third quarter by losing four yards, but the next play Huempfner sprinted 76 yards to put the Ledgers up 30-0.
“That felt great,” said Huempfner, who had nine carries for 125 yards. “I was quiet the first half, which was alright. We had some guys do most of the hard work. I had some great blocks, and it was just wide open field so it felt good.”
With the game mostly in hand, Springs put in backup quarterback junior Max Bauer and he seized his opportunity by delivering a 50-yard touchdown run.
After pitching a shutout, Hyland was asked what the team could possibly do to improve on its performance.
“Nothing in particular,” Hyland said. “What you see is what you get from us. You can’t work on getting more physicality when you don’t have it. So, we’re just going to continue to try to eliminate errors, get our emotions up and play better football. Every week is trying to get a little better.”
The Ledgers will return to Fruth Field next week to host the winless North Fond du Lac Orioles (0-5, 0-3 Flyway) while the Vikings welcome Campbellsport (3-2, 2-1 Flyway) to their home turf.
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This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: St. Mary's Springs high school football team beats WLA to stay perfect
