WD humbled by Crestwood 24-8

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On the opening Cadet drive, they marched down the field scoring a touchdown on a 25 yard run from their quarterback Mark Lueschow. With the extra point kick the Cadets were on top 0-7.
The next possession for the Hawks started on their own 25 yard line. The Hawk offense seemed to be somewhat deflated after failing to score on the last possession. It was a quick series of plays resulting in 3 unsuccessful attempts to gain a first down.
After the punt, the Cadets took over in good field position, starting at their own 45. The running attack of the Cadets again was marching down the field very methodically. On a 3rd down and 3 from the Hawks 9, the Cadets went with a pass play which resulted in a sack by Justin Wenger. With the 4th and 14 play coming up, the end of the first quarter arrived. When the 2nd quarter began the Cadets’ Curtis Murphy kicked a 37 yard field goal making the score 0-10.
With the Hawks defense trying to get a rest, the offense came back onto the field after the kick-off. The rest wouldn’t prove to be very long, however. Another 3 plays and a punt, gave the ball back to the Cadet offense on their own 33 yard line. The running game express of Crestwoods, continued driving down to the WD 12 yard line facing a 4th and 1. The Hawks again couldn’t stop them. On first and goal from the 4 yard line the Cadets’ David Hoehne scored another touchdown for the team. The extra point attempt was good making the score 0-17.
On the ensuing kick-off Seth Engelken set the Hawks up with good field position on the WD 48. With the crowd trying to fire them up, the Hawks appeared to be ready to get back into the game. This, however, changed rather quickly with a catch and fumble by Lechtenberg which was recovered by the Cadets on their own 22 yard line. Lost fumbles really can deflate a team but the Hawks didn’t let up.
With the Cadets taking over on their own 22 yard line, the Hawk defense stepped up. With the help of an illegal motion call they stopped the Cadets on 4 straight plays sending the game into halftime with a score of 0-17. The story of the half was the Cadets ball control and time of possession. The Hawks defense was on the field approximately 3 times as long as the offense. About 18 minutes to 6 minutes. The Hawks only had 1 first down in the half versus 11 for the Cadets. Other than the 51 yard pass play the Hawks could only muster up 23 yards of offense compared to the 206 yards for the Cadets.
After making adjustments at halftime the Hawks came out and did a better job of stopping Crestwood. The opening possession for the Cadets went nowhere and after the punt, the Hawks started on their own 37. Ben McDonald came out fired up and ready to take matters into his own hands. With runs of 26 and 17 yards McDonald gave everyone hope that they could mount a comeback. With a 1st and 10 on the Cadet 20 the Hawks went to a reverse play. The second handoff was botched and fumbled. Marshall, however, was able to recover for the Hawks. On the very next play, Marshall fumbled the snap out of the shotgun. This time it was recovered by the Cadets, resulting in another failed drive by the Hawks.
The Cadets then took over at their own 32 yard line. Whatever adjustments the Hawks made defensively must have been working. The Cadets were held in check for the most part, only making 1 firstdown. On a 4th and 8 play the Hawks held forcing an incomplete pass.
Taking over on their own 40, the Hawks fell apart again. After a 22 yard gain by McDonald was brought back by holding, a sack, another holding, an illegal procedure call and an illegal block it was 4th and 42. The Hawks punted the ball away to the Cadets starting what would be their final scoring drive. Again the defense was better but just couldn’t quite get it done. The Cadets were facing a 4th and 2 and ran the ball for 4 yards and the 1st down. The final play was a 23 yard touchdown run by Truman Novak with an extra point kick making it 0-24 with 10:13 left in the game.
The Hawks showed that they are very capable of moving the ball on the next possession. With a couple nice runs of 17 and 16 yard by McDonald and a catch by Devon Alber of 27 yards from Marshall, the offense moved to the 4 yard line of the Cadets. On 4th down, McDonald ran to the left where he’s had good success all year, scoring a touchdown. With Marshall throwing to Lechtenberg for a 2 point conversion the Hawks were on the board, behind 8-24.
After an unsuccessful onside kick, the scoring action subsided. The remainder of the game was all defense. Crestwood had 2 punts and the Hawks had a punt and a turnover on downs with .26 seconds remaining in the game. After taking a knee the Cadets walked away with an 8-24 win.
The Hawks second half play against the tough and physical Crestwood team should have them looking forward to the challenges which lie ahead. This week the Hawks take on a New Hampton team which has an identical record to the Hawks, 2-2 in the district and 3-3 overall. Both teams have lost to the same district teams and both teams will be looking at this game as a must win to earn playoff bids. Come out and watch Friday night at Brown Field the JV game starts at 5:00 and Varsity game follows.


GAME STATS
West Delaware vs Crestwood
First Downs: WD 8, C 16
Rushing: WD 23 for 39, C 55 for 231
Passing: WD 11 of 21 for 148, C 5 of 10 for 61
Total Yards: WD 187, C 292

INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS
Rushing: McDonald 15 for 90, Marshall 7 for -39, Alber 1 for -12
Passing: Marshall 11 of 21 for 148
Receiving: Engelken 6 for 96, Alber 2 for 29, McDonald 2 for 20, Jordan Mangold 1 for 3
Tackling: Wenger 8 & 1 sack; Nick Trenkamp and Matt Hermsen 7 each; Carl Broghammer 6; Nate Neuhaus and Mangold 5 each; Alber and Billy Connor 4 each; Billy Domeyer and Brett Yonkovic 2 each; McDonald, Alber, Derek Weber, Jacob Thomas and Ethan Saunders 1 each.