This story is sponsored by Forward Bank
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – Most of the time in the game of football, the play at the line of scrimmage dictates the outcome.
That was certainly the case Friday night as Auburndale dominated up front and rolled to a 35-0 win over Westfield in a WIAA Division 6 Level 1 playoff football game at Thorpe Field at Auburndale High School.
The third-seed Auburndale (9-1) moves on to a Level 2 matchup at No. 2 seed Bonduel (9-1) on Friday, Nov. 1. Bonduel defeated Crandon 35-14 in its first-round matchup.
Auburndale racked up 396 total yards and held Westfield (5-5) to just 112, and only 6 positive yards on 27 carries rushing.
“That was a very physical team and I was impressed with their defense,” Auburndale coach Jay Anderson said. “We had to battle. I know it was a running clock (at the end), but we got dinged up good and will need some time to recover.
“We’re just glad to keep playing and have another week ahead us. I keep telling our guys that I think our best football is still ahead of us. Next week, we’re going to have to show it. I like the direction we are going.”
Auburndale took the opening kickoff and set the tone, tunning on nine of 10 plays to reach the red zone. After a pass interference penalty against, quarterback Blake Raab hooked up with Peyton Weinfurter for a 6-yard touchdown pass and the Eagles led 7-0 just 4½ minutes into the game.
The Eagles started to pour it on in the second quarter. Colton Weiler capped off a short 50-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run, and Raab and Weinfurter hooked up again for a 17-yard TD, pushing their lead to 21-0 at halftime.
Auburndale put the finishing touches on the win in the third quarter.
A blocked punt at the end of Westfield’s first possession set up Auburndale at the 28 and two plays later Weiler charged up the middle for a 22-yard touchdown.
After Westfield’s next drive stalled near midfield, the Eagles overcame two holding penalties to go 57 yards in 10 plays as Raab connected with Weinfurter yet again, this time for an 11-yard TD pass on fourth down to make it 35-0 on the final play of the quarter.
With the 35-point lead, and a running clock, only 10 plays were run in the fourth quarter as the Eagles finished off the impressive victory.
“We were scheming against their quarterback getting out in space, that’s what we were protecting against,” Anderson said. “I trusted that our front would take care of the run so our defensive backs didn’t have to fill the lanes and could focus on the pass game.
“We knocked some passes down, forced some balls out on contact, and at the end there our defensive line really started to get some pass rush.”
Weiler finished with 96 yards rushing and Raab was a crisp 15-for-21 for 160 yards passing, including the three touchdowns to Weinfurter, who caught five balls in all for 53 yards.
Eagles 35, Pioneers 0
Westfield 0 0 0 0 – 0
Auburndale 7 14 14 0 – 35
First Quarter
A – Peyton Weinfurter 6 pass from Blake Raab (Raab kick), 7:26.
Second Quarter
A – Colton Weiler 2 run (Raab kick), 7:54.
A – Weinfurter 17 pass from Raab (Raab kick), 3:03.
Third Quarter
A – Weiler 22 run (Raab kick), 9:23.
A – Weinfurter 11 pass from Raab (Raab kick), 0:00.
Team Statistics
First downs: W 8; A 19.
Rushing (att-yards): W 27-6; A 33-236.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): W 11-20-106-0; A 15-21-160-0.
Total yards: W 112; A 396.
Fumbles (total-lost): W 0-0; A 0-0.
Penalties (no.-yards): W 4-31; A 5-55.
Punting (no.-avg.): W 4-25.8; A 1-35.0.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: W, Sam Berruecos 12-19, Henry Flyte 2-minus 1, Emmitt Bouman 3-minus 12. A, Colton Weiler 19-97, Nathan Van Wyhe 7-78, Blake Raab 6-56, Raymond Teska 1-5.
Passing: W, Berruecos 11-19-106-0, Brayden Lentz 0-1-0-0. A, Raab 15-21-160-0.
Receiving: W, Bouman 4-38, Ethan Stolpa 3-12, Keegan Hockerman 2-35, Lentz 1-14, Flyte 1-7. A, Peyton Weinfurter 5-53, Trevor Trowbridge 4-52, Tanner Wargowsky 2-21, Keegan Empey 2-17, Nathan Richardson 2-17.
Records: Westfield 5-5; Auburndale 9-1.