MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Sept. 1–8)
SWAL FOOTBALL: Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg 13, Southwestern/East Dubuque 12
By Casey Lindecrantz, Tri-County Press
Knights overcome late WarCats push
BENTON — Benton-Scales Mound-Shullsburg was on the right side of a 1-point split as it came away the victor at home against Southwestern/East Dubuque on Sept. 4, 13-12.
The night almost had the WarCats (0-3, 0-1) coming away with the victory, despite scoring stopping for both teams by the half. SW/ED came out swinging, as Lucas Foley recorded touchdown rushes of one yard and two yards partway through the first quarter, and at the start of the second frame, respectively. The scores gave the WarCats a 12-0 advantage, and what appeared to be an easy cruise to a conference-opening win.
The Knights (2-1, 1-0 SWAL) weren’t content to let the game slip away. and slowly worked back in over the final 10 minutes of the second quarter. The first breath of life into the co-op’s lungs came as Connor Doyle capped the ensuing drive with a 1-yard rush. Maddux Russel’s PAT sailed through the uprights to trim the split to 12-7 with 6:54 on the clock. B-SM-S later got the ball back ahead of the half, and Matthew Duerr tallied a lead-changing score on the ground from one yard out with a little over a minute left to the break.
Little did either squad know, that was the last time a player recorded a score in either end zone to the final whistle. More than a few chances were presented to both teams, but neither was able to finish a drive in the second half.
The closest attempt came at the hands of SW/ED as Jack Birkett recovered a fumble on his team’s 36 with 3:28 left in the fourth. A drive-opening penalty was negated the next play as Boen Sherman connected with Christian Lutgen that flipped field position to the Knights’ 29. Sherman redeemed himself following a pair of incomplete passes with another big connection, this time to Sam Martin on the BSMS 9-yard line with just over 2:30 on the clock. Sherman then needed to scramble following a low snap in shotgun formation, but was sacked by Brady Ubersox for a loss of 20 yards, forcing a WarCats’ timeout with 2:04 to play. Tough pressure from the Knights got an intentional grounding penalty as Sherman threw the ball away, putting the ball on the 36. The SW/ED quarterback was sacked yet again, this time by Maddox Hocking, but not before breaking four tackles to get back to the line of scrimmage.
As the WarCats lined up for a fourth down play, BSMS head coach Erik Kudronowicz called time out with 1:06 to play for what possibly would be a game-ending play. Sherman found Martin for another big play, this time a blown coverage on a hail mary attempt in the end zone, and possibly a game-winning touchdown. Unfortunately, a flag for a chop block was thrown, negating the score-altering play. SW/ED was looking at 4th-and-51, and Boen was hit as he threw to make the ball fall well short of its intended target.
The Knights needed to just kneel down twice to secure their win.
Doyle and Ubersox both led the rushing game in the win with 84 yards apiece, though the former did so with 10 rushes and tallied a touchdown, while the latter earned his in 14 carries. Matthew Duerr finished third with six attempts for 45 yards and one score. Duerr also completed 4-of-9 attempts for 73 yards and one interception. He completed one pass apiece to Doyle (48 yds), Lane Martin (14 yds), and Brayden Kilcoyne (11 yds).
The WarCats’ roster was led on the ground by Foley (12 att, 68 yds, 2 TD) and Lutgen (5 att, 13 yds). Sherman completed 7-of-18 passes for 168 yards and one interception in the loss. He leaned primarily on Lutgen (3 rec, 81 yds) and Martin (2 rec, 36 yds).
Next up for the Knights is a trip to Fennimore (3-0) on Sept. 11, while SW/ED hosts Cuba City (2-1, 0-1) in East Dubuque the same night. The Golden Eagles are fresh off a 42-7 beatdown of SWC opponent, River Valley, while the Cubans just suffered a 26-7 loss to New Glarus.
