LANCASTER – Behind a hard-nosed running attack and a stingy defensive performance, the host Flying Arrows improved to 2-0 on the 2023 football season with an 18-7 non-conference victory over visiting Cuba City last Friday night.
Trailing the visiting Cubans 7-6 early in the fourth quarter, coach Jordon Rolland’s Arrows played with a sense of urgency in the closing minutes, where they asserted their will both offensively and defensively.
Holding a 6-0 lead after three quarters of play, the Arrows gave up a 58-yard touchdown run to Andy Loeffelholz in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. The extra-point kick by Wyatt Lisk put Cuba City in front, 7-6.
Neither team could get much going in the first three quarters of action, though Lancaster held a 6-0 lead on a 15-yard pass from senior Logan Wolf to junior running back Brennen Gildersleeve midway through the second quarter.
Starting quarterback Nolan Wolf was on the sideline at the time of Lancaster’s touchdown, dealing with dehydration issues, but reentered the game to start the second half.
Trailing the Cubans 7-6, the Arrows went to work offensively, establishing their running attack behind senior fullback Peyton Alvarado.
Marching the ball down the field, Alvarado capped off an impressive drive with a one-yard TD plunge, giving the Arrows a 12-7 lead with 6:50 to play in the contest.
The Lancaster defense then stepped up, forcing the Cubans to punt on their next possession, and putting the ball back in the hands of Alvarado.
With momentum clearly on their side, the Arrows marched down the field one more time, getting a 10-yard TD run from their 5’8’-175-pound fullback with 2:37 remaining in the game.
The Lancaster defense then put an exclamation point on the night with an interception by senior Jackson VanNatta, ending any threat by the Cubans with 1:38 to play in the contest.
The night belonged to Alvarado, whose hard-nosed running accounted for a game-high 190 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries, while refusing to be denied in the fourth quarter.
Of course nothing happens offensively without the boys up front as Evan Becwar (LT), Will Bussan (LG), T.J. Nelson (C), Connor Breuer (RG) and Connor Raisbeck (RT) paved the way.
“The O line blocked a lot better in the second half than in the first half and played good during the entire fourth quarter,” said coach Rolland.
Led by Alvarado, the Arrows rushed for 270 yards and two touchdowns on 43 attempts for an average of 6.3 yards per attempt.
Nolan Wolf added 34 yards on seven rushing attempts, while completing 4-of-9 passing attempts for 28 yards.
“He’s kind of figuring it out,” coach Rolland said of his junior quarterback. “He’s figuring out the path on where he needs to go when he pulls it out and runs.”
Logan Wolf was Lancaster’s Swiss army knife, completing 1-of-2 passing attempts for a 15-yard touchdown during his stint under center, while also rushing for 18 yards on three attempts. He also was Lancaster’s top receiver with three receptions for 27 yards.
After rushing for 245 yards and four touchdowns in their week-one win over Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg, the Cubans were limited to just 101 yards rushing last Friday night against the Arrows.
Cael Donar, who rushed for 132 yards and four TDs a week earlier, suffered a foot injury on Cuba City’s second offensive possession Friday night and never returned to the game.
“We really wanted to stop the run and they had only the one toss for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, which was their only play that gained more than six yards,” Rolland said of his defense.
“Our defense played really well for the most part. We were a little soft in coverage that gave up some short stuff that I don’t think we needed to. I thought we were just a little cautious on giving up the deep ball, but overall the defense played really well,” Rolland added.
Leading the Lancaster defense with eight tackles and one interception was senior linebacker Jackson VanNatta, while fellow senior Devin Tydrich was right behind him with seven stops.
The Arrows kick off their Southwest Wisconsin Conference schedule this week against the defending conference champs from Prairie du Chien.
The Blackhawks (2-0), who are picked by many to repeat as conference champs, are coming off a 21-19 victory over Darlington, who many pick to win the SWAL.
“They’re very physical. They’re going to stop the run and they want to run the ball,” Rolland said of the Blackhawks. “As of right now, they’re probably just a bigger more experienced version of what we’re doing right now.”
