Following a 21-7 nonconference loss to Rhinelander last Friday, the Hayward-LCO Hurricanes football team will play its Heart O’ North Conference opener against the Barron Golden Bears this Friday at Rod Lundberg Field.
“The boys battled” against Rhinelander, said Coach Noah LeBlanc. “‘They played a super hard-fought game for four quarters, probably the most physical game we’ve seen in a couple years. We made some mistakes in the second half that let it slip away from us.”
Looking ahead to the Canes’ game against Barron, LeBlanc noted that the Bears have won two games so far, over Cameron and Turtle Lake, after going winless last year. ““Watching film on them, they will be physical and like to run the ball,” he said. “They will have two wings and tight ends, and then suddenly switch to a full spread. We will prepare for them all week and try to take care of business and get on the board.”
Barron has a new coach “and he’s doing a tremendous job,” LeBlanc added. “They were in the same 7 on 7 summer league as us and had great numbers” of players.
Game story
Hayward took the opening kickoff rom Rhinelander and reached their 49 yard line before punting. The Hodags received the ball on their 17 and drove 83 yards in 11 plays, capped by a 5-yard touchdown run from Sam Zwaard. The extra point kick was good and the Hodags led 7-0.
In the second quarter, the Hodags started from their 23, but fumbled on the 44 and the Hurricanes recovered. to the Hayward 44, where they fumbled and the Canes recovered. The Canes drove 44 yards in seven plays, as quarterback Keegan Walsh completed two passes to Cade Schlapper ad two passes to Preston Sullivan. Walsh tossed a 14-yard aerial to Sullivan down the left side for a touchdown with 3:57 left in the first half. Charles Egger kicked the ext4ra point and the game went into halftime tied at 7-7.
The second half featured three interceptions by the Hodags and one by the Hurricanes. The first interception was on a deflected pass which the Hodags’ Dolan O’Malley picked off and ran 45 yards for a touchdown. The Hodags converted an extra-points run and led 15-7.
The teams then exchanged interceptions. The Hodags intercepted the ball at the Hayward 35 and converted it into points in seven plays. Sam Schoppe ran the final three yards into the end zone with 35 seconds left in the third quarter. The extra points run was fumbled and the Hodags led 21-7.
The Canes had a chance to score in the fourth quarter after recovering a high snap on a Rhinelander punt attempt at the Hodags 30. They advanced to the 15, but the Hodags intercepted a pass at their 7 yard line to end the Hayward drive.
Game stats
Hayward-LCO 0 7 0 0 — 7
Rhinelander 7 0 14 0 — 21
Total yards: Rhinelander 171 rush, 31 pass; Hayward-LCO, 94 rush, 72 pass.
Passes completed-attempted-yards-TD: Keegan Walsh, 10-22-72-1TD; passes caught-yards-TD: Preston Sullivan, 3-32-1TD; Cade Schlapper, 4-24; Kyle Gajewski, 1-9; Xzavier Stojek, 2-7.
Rushes-yards: Brock Chucka, 13-31; Anthony Aranda, 4-25; Keegan Walsh, 7-27; Alex DePew, 1-8; Xzavier Stojek, 1-3.
Tackles: Kaydon Kennell, 17; Darren Clifford, 9; Anthony Aranda, 7; Deangelo Sardina, 4; Kyle Gajewski, 3; Jacob Schuck, 3; Alex DePew, 3; Eric Fish, 3; Brock Chucka, 3; Preston Sullivan, 2; Jeremiah Kuehlman, 1.
Interception: Eric Fish. Kick returns-yards: Darren Clifford 1-12; Cade Schlapper, 1-12; Viktor Enk, 1-0; Ethan Even, 1-0. Punts-yards: Charles Egger, 4-130. Extra point kicked: Charles Egger, 1.
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