This story is sponsored by: Wisconsin Homes of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
ABBOTSFORD – Auburndale coach Jay Anderson knew his Eagles’ defense would have their hands full again a talented Abbotsford rushing attack in their Central Wisconsin Conference Small Division football matchup Friday night.
Auburndale bent but did not break on the opening drive, stopping the Falcons inside the 30, and used that momentum to limit the big play and pull away for a 28-7 victory at Abbotsford High School.
Abbotsford, which came into the game undefeated and averaging more than 400 yards per game offensively, was held to just 224 by a stingy Auburndale defense. Both teams are now 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the CWC Small, and Auburndale clinches a WIAA postseason berth for the eighth-straight season with the victory. Click here to view the Central Wisconsin Conference Small Division football standings
“We went from 4-man to a 5-man front and getting some of their cadence, doing some defensive movements, to try to mess with their blocking a little bit,” Anderson said. “We felt it was our best chance. It was a problem early this year was getting our linemen to play lower, and I think they did. We had some guys holding their ground. We had to keep them from getting that big play.”
The opening drive was key for the Eagles. Abbotsford used eight-straight rushing plays to reach the Auburndale 29 before a pair of incomplete passes ended the drive on downs.
The teams flopped field position with punts on the next two possessions before Auburndale began to find a rhythm on offense. An 11-play, 76-yard drive that bridged the end of the first quarter and the first 4 minutes of the second ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Blake Raab, who then kicked the extra point and Auburndale led 700.
A big defensive play handed Auburndale great field position as the Eagles’ pass rush forced a tipped pass that was intercepted by defensive lineman Logan Nagel at the Abby 40.
Six plays later, the Eagles deposited the ball in the end zone again as Colton Weiler ran in from the 11 to give them a 14-0 lead with 3:15 to go before halftime.
“You will see that in a lot of sports, but especially football, where that one play, one drive, can change momentum,” Anderson said. “It gave our guys a lot of confidence. Last year we didn’t stop them much and that did give us some confidence that we could.
“Then we got a heck of a pass rush, got the hit from behind, got the interception and scored again. Huge plays for us.”
The lead held until late in the third quarter when Auburndale scored again. Nine rushing plays in a row garnered 70 yards and Weiler scored from the 10 for his second TD and the Eagles led 21-0 with just more than one minute to go in the quarter. Weiler finished with 119 of Auburndale’s 231 yards on the ground.
Abbotsford crept closer on its next possession, finally cracking the Eagles’ defense for a touchdown on a 13-yard swing pass from Irvin Aguilera-Lozoya to Irvin Davila Moreno, but that would be all Auburndale’s defense would surrender.
The Eagles tacked on another score after taking over the Falcons’ 29 on downs and Raab ran in his second score from the 14 with 2:37 left to finish the scoring and a 28-7 win.
“This is the most complete game we’ve had,” Anderson said. “We’ve been challenging them. We haven’t been very good starters (of games) and that’s been very frustrating. There are things for us to improve on and we got to Week 7 and I feel this is the first time we put everything together. I think they were honest with themselves this week that we need to be better to stick with this team (Abbotsford).”
Auburndale will play at winless Wisconsin Rapids Assumption next Friday, Oct. 11, before wrapping up the regular season at home against Iola-Scandinavia on Oct. 18.
Eagles 28, Falcons 7
Auburndale 0 14 7 7 – 28
Abbotsford 0 0 0 7 – 7
Second Quarter
AUB – Blake Raab 1 run (Raab kick), 7:51.
AUB – Colton Weiler 11 run (Raab kick), 3:15.
Third Quarter
AUB – Weiler 10 run (Raab kick), 1:22.
Fourth Quarter
AB – Irvin Davila Moreno 13 pass from Irvin Aguilera-Lozoya (Fernando Perez kick), 9:03.
AUB – Raab 14 run (Raab kick), 2:37.
Team Statistics
First downs: AUB 17; ABBY 11.
Rushing (att-yards): AUB 43-231; ABBY 40-211.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): AUB 5-10-55-1; ABBY 1-9-13-1.
Total yards: AUB 286; ABBY 224.
Penalties (no.-yards): AUB 6-38; ABBY 9-73.
Fumbles (total-lost): AUB 1-1; ABBY 1-0.
Punting (no.-avg.): AUB 2-43.5; ABBY 2-47.0.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: AUB, Colton Weiler 24-119, Blake Raab 13-87, Nathan Van Wyhe 6-25. ABBY, Irvin Aguilera-Lozoya 17-88, Chase Boller 11-51, Emilo Escalera 8-48, Christian Fuentes Rivera 3-13, Jesus Reyes Amador 1-11.
Passing: AUB, Raab 4-9-50-1, Weiler 1-1-5-0. ABBY, Aguilera-Lozoya 1-4-13-1.
Receiving: AUB, Nathan Richardson 2-30, Trevor Trowbridge 1-10, Tanner Wargowsky 1-10, Peyton Weinfurter 1-5. ABBY, Irvin Davila Moreno 1-13.
Interceptions (defense): AUB, Logan Nagel. ABBY, Boller.
Records: Auburndale 6-1, 4-1 Central Wisconsin Conference Small Division; Abbotsford 6-1, 4-1 Central Wisconsin Conference Small Division.