Regis takes control in second quarter to nail a 35-25 win over Stanley-Boyd

As far as area high school football games go, it doesn’t get much bigger than what went down between Regis and Stanley-Boyd late Saturday morning at Carson Park.

Having both clinched state playoff qualifying spots, Saturday’s game was for Cloverbelt Conference supremacy and both teams had perfect season records entering the contest.

In the end, though, it was the Ramblers who took over sole possession of first place in the conference and remained undefeated by virtue of its 35-25 win over the Orioles.

At halftime, the game couldn’t have been much closer, with the Ramblers taking a two-point lead into the locker room. They never surrendered that lead in the second half en route to their seventh-consecutive win over the Orioles.

It was a tale of two completely different games and teams between the first and second quarters, with the Orioles dominating on both sides of the ball in quarter number one and the Ramblers completely owning the second 12 minutes of play.

The Orioles won the coin toss and elected to defer, so the Ramblers had a perfect opportunity to get some points on the scoreboard first.

That didn’t happen, though, as the stingy Stanley-Boyd defense dominated the Ramblers and forced them to punt, gaining nary a yard on their downs.

Instead, it was the Orioles who struck first in nine plays and a Jake LaGrander short run into the end zone. With an unsuccessful two-point conversion, it was 6-0, Stanley-Boyd, with 7:25 left in the first quarter.

Things didn’t get any better for the Ramblers in their second possession and soon the Orioles had the ball again and were threatening to score for the second time in the first quarter.

And eventually they did just that on an Carter Isenberger pass to Madden Mahr with 2:45 left in quarter number one. Another two-point conversion was unsuccessful so that gave the Ramblers some hope that they could get ahead in the game — if they could get into the end zone to do just that.

And, for the Ramblers, that’s exactly what they did in taking over the game and at the end securing the victory.

As the seconds ticked off the time clock ending the first quarter and going into quarter number two, Regis was driving with its best possession to date of the game.

The Orioles didn’t necessarily make it easy for the Ramblers, but the home team prevailed and got their first points of the game on a four-yard Harrison Haas run into the end zone. The long, methodical drive took 16 plays, 71 yards and more than seven minutes off of the time clock. With a successful extra point, the Orioles lead was now cut to 12-7.

As stout as the Orioles defense had been up to this point in the game, it was now Regis’ turn to dominate on D,

And then some.

Forcing the Orioles to turn over the ball on downs, it only took one play and eight seconds for Regis to suddenly take the lead. A 31-yard touchdown pass from Owen Weisenberger to Evrett Tait, as well as another successful kick through the uprights, and suddenly this was an entirely different football game, with Regis now in the lead for the first time, 14-12.

They kept that lead for the rest of the game.

On the Orioles next possession, a quick Stanley-Boyd turnover, recovered by Haas, then allowed the Ramblers the chance to get even more points on the scoreboard before the first half ended.

That didn’t happen, but an awe and punishing Ramblers defense kept the Orioles out of the end zone, too, on the final drive from the visitors before the first half ended.

Now on to the second half and it started off much like quarter number two ended, as the Ramblers’ defense was able to prevent the Orioles from getting any more points.

Now with control of the ball a 22-yard pass from Weisenberger to Haas put the Ramblers at mid-field. A huge 35-yard pass to a practically wide open Austin Rideout put the home team within five yards of another touchdown.

And that’s exactly what Regis got on the next play on a five-yard touchdown run from Tait. With another successful extra-point kick, it was now 21-12, Regis, with 6:35 left to play in the third quarter.

It took three minutes and change, but the Orioles finally got into the end zone in the second half as a 21-yard pass from Isenberger to Mahr put Stanley-Boyd back into the game. Another missed two-point conversion, though, made it Regis 21, Stanley-Boyd 18.

That’s how the third quarter ended.

By the 9:45 mark of the final quarter, it was 28-18, Regis, on a 13-play one-yard run to glory by Weisenberger that was followed by another successful extra-point kick from Jack Schroeder.

The Orioles weren’t quite done yet, though, either, as another TD, followed by a successful kick through the uprights, made it 28-25, Regis, with 6:58 left in the game.

A Ramblers’ holding penalty on a first-down conversion play halted Regis’ attempt to perhaps seal the win and, instead, eventually allowed the Orioles a chance to either tie — or even win — the game with just under five minutes left in the contest.

The Orioles couldn’t gain any traction — or not enough at least — to get more points on the scoreboard and eventually turned the ball over on downs. That eventually set up a 41-yard TD run from Tait that nailed the win for the Ramblers.

Saying that “this is one of the best wins ever at Carson Park,” Regis head football coach was elated at the rivalry win and heaped praise on his entire team for its resilience in rebounding from that early 12-point deficit.

“We knew it was going to be hard to keep them off of the scoreboard, so we knew we were going to have to score,” Brenner told members of the media following the 10-point win.

Giving kudos to his defense for not giving up the deep ball, something that he said was one of the keys to the win, Brenner credited his players with both not giving up when they were down, but also focusing on a strong work ethic in the off season that has reaped this team dividends during the regular season.

“Big credit to our kids for getting the work done in the off season to get to the point to how they played (Saturday),” Brenner noted.

Adding that he feels that the Cloverbelt Conference “is as good this year as it has been in 17 years,” Brenner just has one wish for his team.

“I hope their best football is yet to come,” the Ramblers head coach said.

In an exclusive sit down interview following the game, Brenner noted that when the team was down by 10 points, “we talked about refocusing.” To do that, he had his players get one first down at a time and then those positives begat strong runs and throws from the players that eventually allowed the Ramblers to not only take the lead, but to keep it.

“I think that our quarterback, Owen, is one of the most underrated around, He makes some clutch, clutch throws,” Brenner said. “He deserves some credit in helping our offense score 35 points.”

As for Haas’ contributions to the win, Brenner couldn’t have been more complimentary toward the senior running back and defensive back, saying that “he is as smart of a player as we’ve ever had.”

Next up for the Ramblers is a trip to Neillsville High School next Friday to take on the Warriors, while the Orioles host Elk Mound. Kickoff for both games is set for 7 p.m. Friday.