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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
SPENCER – The first two plays of the game couldn’t have gone any more wrong for the Spencer/Columbus Catholic football team in its Cloverbelt Conference game against Neillsville.
After that, however, the Rockets were in control.
Neillsville scored on its first offensive play, but didn’t muster much of an offensive attack after that and the Rockets ran to a 21-7 victory on Friday at Ted Fritsch Field at Spencer High School.
The win is the first of the season for Spencer/Columbus and evens its record at 1-1 overall and in the Cloverbelt. Neillsville falls to 0-2 and 0-1 in the conference.
Spencer’s opening kickoff went out of bounds and on Neillsville’s first play, the Warriors perfectly executed a fumblerooski. The quarterback took the snap, quickly placed the ball on the ground, and receiver Nate McDonald picked up the ball and ran 65 yards untouched for a touchdown to give Neillsville the early 7-0 lead.
“They got us on a trick play, so give credit to them early in the game, but we were very tough on defense all night long,” Spencer/Columbus coach Jason Gorst said.
Spencer quickly responded driving 70 yards in 11 plays on its first possession. Tyler Voda ran six times for 24 yards on the drive and capped the possession with a 4-yard touchdown run to even the score.
Joe Meyers scored on a 24-yard run on the first play of the second quarter to put Spencer up 14-0 and the Rockets ended the first half with a 3-yard touchdown run by Voda to take a 21-7 lead into the break.
“Run the ball, eat the clock – four yards a carry is what we’re looking for,” Gorst said. “We were able to do that enough times to win the game.”
After Neillsville’s opening scoring play, the Warriors mustered just 6 yards the rest of the first half.
Both teams were stopped inside the red zone going in for scores in the second half. Meyers fumbled on the Neillsville 6 late in the third quarter and Neillsville turned the ball over on downs at the 10-yard line early in the fourth.
The Warriors’ drive was set up by a 75-yard pass from Sam Neville to McDonald. McDonald finished with 142 of Neillsville’s 167 total yards.
“I thought our defensive line was really solid, I thought Tyler Voda had a great game at middle linebacker and the linebackers in general were pretty good,” Gorst said. “We are just pretty tough up front right now.”
Rockets 21, Warriors 7
Neillsville 7 0 0 0 – 7
Spencer/Columbus 7 14 0 0 – 21
First Quarter
N – Nate McDonald 65 run (McDonald kick), 11:48.
S – Tyler Voda 4 run (Alex Brostowitz kick), 8:11.
Second Quarter
S – Joe Meyers 24 run (Brostowitz kick), 11:51.
S – Voda 3 run (Brostowitz kick), 1:52.
Team Statistics
First downs: Neillsville 5; Spencer/Columbus 13
Rushing (att-yards): Neillsville 28-65; Spencer/Columbus 48-169.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Neillsville 8-15-102-2; Spencer/Columbus 3-7-58-0.
Penalties (no.-yards): Neillsville 3-13; Spencer/Columbus 3-30.
Fumbles (total-lost): Neillsville 5-1; Spencer/Columbus 2-1.
Punting (no.-avg.): Neillsville 5-35.0; Spencer/Columbus 6-32.0.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: N, Nate McDonald 3-68, Derek Krejci 6-22, Sam Neville 10-12, Nick May 2-minus 3, Nolan Matson 2-minus 8, Jacob Kunze 4-minus 10, Team 1-minus 16. S/C, Tyler Voda 22-91, Joe Meyers 13-52, Mitch Susa 6-24, Elijah Welsh 2-6, Calvin Lenz 5-minus 4.
Passing: N, Neville 7-12-100-2, Kunze 1-3-2-0. S/C, Lenz 3-7-58-0.
Receiving: N, Matson 3-11, McDonald 2-78, Devon Opelt 2-10, Ben Anding 1-3. S/C, Derrick Green 1-32, Bryce DeSmet 1-15, M. Susa 1-11.
Fumble recoveries (defense): N, Tristan Yellowcloud. S/C, Spencer Susa.
Interceptions: S/C, Meyers, Green.
Records: Neillsville 0-2, 0-1 Cloverbelt; Spencer/Columbus 1-1, 1-1 Cloverbelt.