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W-WG bests H-BC-E in clash of ranked teams

By John Rittenhouse
Two of the state’s best nine-man football teams squared off in Hills Friday.
Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth, the state’s seventh-ranked team in last week’s nine-man football poll, was pitted against No. 2 Westbrook-Walnut Grove in a game with Southwest Ridge Conference and state poll implications at stake.
Not only would the winner of the game gain extra consideration in the polls, the victor would take the outright lead in the SRC.
Unfortunately for the Patriots, who were playing their homecoming game, W-WG’s lofty standing in the polls was solidified during the battle. Although the Chargers were playing without their top running back (senior Darren Tietz), a deep pool helped W-WG prevail 31-13.
"They are a good team, there’s no doubt about that," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "They gave us some opportunities. We just didn’t capitalize on them."
H-BC-E lost a pair of golden scoring opportunities in the game’s early stages that may have influenced the way the game panned out.
After a 52-yard kick return by Chris Reid to the W-WG 32-yard line to start the game, the H-BC-E offense had excellent field position.
The Patriots, however, squandered the opportunity when they lost the ball on downs.
H-BC-E’s offense received a second chance when W-WG fumbled the ball on its own 18 on the first play from scrimmage and Patriot Brant Deutsch recovered.
H-BC-E moved the ball from the 18 to the six, but a fourth-down pass was intercepted by W-WG to thwart the scoring threat.
The teams ended up playing a scoreless first quarter before erupting for a combined 25 points in the second stanza.
Isaiah Wahl led a W-WG rushing-attack that compiled 272 yards in the game with a 149-yard performance. He gave the Chargers a 6-0 lead when he scored on a four-yard run with 9:05 remaining in the first half. A failed conversion pass kept the score at 6-0.
H-BC-E finally broke through with a big offensive play during its next possession.
Facing a third-and-long situation on the H-BC-E 22, Patriot quarterback David Top tossed a screen pass to Reid. With some outstanding blocks down field, Reid turned the play into a 78-yard touchdown reception. When Eric Joens added the extra point, the Patriots had a 7-6 edge at the 7:58 mark of the second quarter.
H-BC-E’s lead didn’t last long.
W-WG scored 12 points before the second quarter was complete to start what ended up being a 25-0 surge that put the game out of reach for the hosts.
The Chargers responded to Reid’s big play by mounting a long drive that ended with Wahl hauling in a seven-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Baker with 4:38 remaining in the second quarter. Another failed two-point conversion attempt kept the difference at 12-7.
After forcing the Patriots to punt as the W-WG quarter progressed, they used the remaining time well to put together another scoring drive capped by a one-yard plunge by Wahl with 1:04 left to play in the first half. A failed conversion attempt followed, leaving the Chargers with an 18-7 lead.
W-WG extended its scoring run with a quick strike in the third quarter.
Wahl dashed into the end zone at the end of a 27-yard run with 3:37 left to play in the stanza. A failed conversion pass left the Chargers with a 24-7 cushion.
W-WG ended its 25-0 run with a touchdown at the 4:21 mark of the fourth quarter.
Alex Ourada, who ran the ball for 105 yards in the game, found pay dirt from two yards out before adding a successful extra point to make it a 31-7 game.
H-BC-E capped the scoring 2:06 later.
Top, who completed six passes for 145 yards during the clash, hit Chris Willers for a 27-yard score with 2:15 left to play. A two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful after the touchdown.
When the game was over, Ellingson was left to ponder what the game would have been like if the Patriots would have converted their first-quarter opportunities.
"If we could have gotten one of those two possessions in (the end zone), it might have been a different game," he said. "We had them on their heels in the first quarter, but we didn’t take advantage of it. You’ve got to take advantage of those situations against a good team because they don’t come too often."
H-BC-E will face another stiff test when it travels to Ivanhoe tomorrow to take on Lincoln HI. The Rebels and Patriots are tied for second place in the SRC with 3-1 records.

Team statistics
H-BC-E: 49 rushing yards, 145 passing yards, 194 total yards, eight first downs, four penalties for 37 yards, three turnovers.
W-WG: 272 rushing yards, 138 passing yards, 410 total yards, 23 first downs, five penalties for 58 yards, two turnovers.

Individual statistics
Rushing: Lyle DeBoer 16-28, Reid 9-31, Willers 1-minus three, Top 2-minus seven.
Passing: Top 6-16 for 145 yards.
Receiving: Willers 2-28, Lance Crawford 2-24, Reid 1-78, Brad Haak 1-15.
Defense: Crawford 12 tackles and one sack; DeBoer 10 tackles, Haak one fumble recovery, Deutsch one fumble recovery.

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