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SPENCER – The Spencer/Columbus Catholic football team is heading to the WIAA playoffs again after securing a spot with a resounding 49-12 win over Altoona in its Cloverbelt Conference and regular-season finale on Friday night at Spencer High School.
The Rockets finish the regular season with a 5-4 record and a 5-3 mark in the Cloverbelt Conference, and will head into the playoffs for the sixth-straight season and eighth time in the past nine years.
The WIAA will release its football postseason brackets on Saturday.
“I was proud of our effort,” Spencer/Columbus coach Jason Gorst said. “We made some pretty big plays on our returns that gave us a short field on offense. We were efficient and did not make big mistakes.”
Eden Jacobson ran for 126 yards and three touchdowns, and Austin Bacon added 61 yards rushing and two scores for the Rockets.
Jacobson had a 9-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and Bacon had TD runs of 1 and 20 yards in the second quarter as Spencer/Columbus built a 24-6 lead by halftime.
The Rockets scored three times in the third quarter on touchdown runs of 10 yards from Hayden Bauman, and 3 and 56 yards from Jacobson, to blow open the game.
Max McGiveron added a 33-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.
Paxton Gluch had 174 yards rushing and a touchdown to lead Altoona (2-7, 2-6 Cloverbelt Conference).
Rockets 49, Railroaders 12
Altoona 0 6 6 0 – 12
Spencer/Columbus 8 16 18 7 – 49
First Quarter
SC – Eden Jacobson 9 run (Jacobson run), 10:10.
Second Quarter
SC – Austin Bacon 1 run (Bacon run), 10:43.
A – Paxton Gluch 5 run (pass failed), 7:10.
SC – Bacon 20 run (Jacobson run), 0:47.
Third Quarter
SC – Hayden Bauman 10 run (kick missed), 10:22.
A – Donovan Adrian 4 run (pass failed), 6:37.
SC – Jacobson 3 run (kick missed), 6:37.
SC – Jacobson 56 run (kick missed), 1:53.
Fourth Quarter
SC – Max McGiverson 33 run (Zach Dunbar kick), 5:24.
Team Statistics
First downs: Altoona 15; Spencer/Columbus 26.
Rushing (att-yards): A 40-172; SC 41-323.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): A 5-11-77-0; SC 7-13-61-0.
Total yards: A 249; SC 384.
Penalties (no.-yards): A 7-65; SC 4-35.
Fumbles (total-lost): A 1-1; SC 1-0.
Punting (no.-avg.): A 3-46.3; SC 1-60.0.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: A, Paxton Gluch 30-174, Nathan McMahon 4-5, Donovan Adrian 2-2, Connor Mattison 1-0, Keshawn 1-minsu 1, Tanner Kircher 1-minus 4, Team 1-minus 4. SC, Eden Jacobson 12-126, Hayden Bauman 8-67, Austin Bacon 12-61, Max McGiveron 3-44, Dominic Post 2-15, Gage Stratman 2-7, Will Gorst 2-3.
Passing: A, Gluch 1-1-44-0, McMahon 4-10-33-0. SC, Stratman 7-13-61-0.
Receiving: A, Jakob Varsho 1-44, Matt Hanson 1-17, Gluch 1-16, Adrian 1-5, Harris 1-minus 5. SC, Bacon 4-48, Brett Kasch 1-6, Bauman 1-5, Jacobson 1-2.
Records: Altoona 2-7, 2-6 Cloverbelt Conference; Spencer/Columbus 5-4, 5-3 Cloverbelt Conference.