This story is sponsored by: Wisconsin Homes of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – What started out as a matchup of unstoppable offenses turned into a defensive battle in the second half.
Auburndale was able to make the necessary stops and tacked on a time-consuming touchdown drive late in the contest for an insurance score on its way to a 33-22 win over Coleman in a WIAA Division 6 Level 2 football playoff game Friday night at Thorpe Field at Auburndale High School.
The Eagles (10-1) move into a Level 3 contest against defending Division 6 state champion Stratford (10-1) next Friday, Nov. 3, at Auburndale High School. View the statewide Level 2 scoreboard here
Coleman racked up 332 yards rushing on 55 carries as it attempted only two passes. Using misdirection, inside traps and solid fakes, the Cougars were tough to stop at times, but Auburndale did enough in the end to hold on to its halftime lead and finish off the victory.
“We tried to get a little bit more movement on our line and made some adjustments with our alignment,” Auburndale coach Jay Anderson said. “They (Coleman) do such a nice job countering and adjust to whatever the defensive movement is. I think a lot of it just comes down to our guys making plays at crunch-time. You see it time and again.”
Auburndale had its ground game rolling on the opening drive, running 11 consecutive times to reach the 2. On fourth down, Kaden Anderson hit Evan Scholl for a touchdown pass to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
Coleman needed no time to respond, going 80 yards on four rushing plays. A 48-yard run by quarterback Micah Kuchta and a two-point conversion run from Brady Gross put the Cougars up 8-0.
Auburndale was a bit more diverse on its next possession and again found the end zone. Anderson completed four passes on a 72-yard scoring drive, including a 12-yarder to Nathan Richardson on fourth-and 11, and three plays into the second quarter Anderson ran in from the 3 to make it 14-8.
The Eagles got the first stop of the game when Blake Raab recovered a fumble at the 35 and seven plays later Anderson connected with Scholl again for a 20-yard touchdown. Scholl took the screen pass on the right side of the line and cut all the way across the field, racing to the left pylon for the score.
Coleman was able to regroup after the turnover and went 59 yards in 13 plays, all on the ground, to make it a one-score game again. Kuchta ran in from the 1 on fourth down and it was 21-14 with just 1:17 to go before halftime.
The Eagles weren’t content to sit on the ball and run out the clock as Anderson ran 24 and 31 yards on consecutive plays to reach the 7. Two plays later, Anderson scored from the 5 with 33 seconds to go in the half, and Auburndale took a 27-14 lead into halftime.
Coleman put together another long drive to start the second half and quickly made it close again. Consuming the first 6:10 of the third quarter, Kuchta scored his third touchdown, this time from the 3, and another two-point run by Gross closed the gap to 27-22.
That would be all the Cougars would muster, however, as the Auburndale defense stepped up with the game in doubt.
After a punt by Auburndale, Coleman chewed up seven more minutes on the clock and reached the 30 before the drive stalled after an illegal shift penalty on third-and-5.
Auburndale lost a fumble near midfield with 6:29 to go, so the defense went back out there again, needing a stop to save the game.
Wyatt Malsin, who had a key interception in the Eagles’ comeback win over Marathon last week, made a huge play on third-and-5 to wrap up Kuchta for a 5-yard loss. Auburndale held on fourth down to get the ball back with 4:35 to go.
“Mason (Meissner) really stands out with a lot of plays that he made, and that play Wyatt made was big,” Jay Anderson said of the Eagles’ defense. “He learned from the play earlier when he really sucked in on a bootleg that was a touchdown. (Kuchta) is their big play guy and that was a huge play to make it fourth-and-long and get us the ball back.”
Anderson did the rest, running seven times on a nine-play drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run by the Auburndale senior quarterback and left Coleman down 11 with only 1:15 remaining. The Cougars were unable to do anything before time ran out, sending the Eagles into Level 3 of the playoffs.
Anderson finished with 196 yards rushing on 21 carries, and Scholl added 55 yards on the ground for Auburndale.
Gross had 163 yards to lead the Coleman rushing attack.
Now a matchup with Stratford is next in line for Auburndale. The two schools play each other in the Marawood Conference for every other sport, but since realignment in 2020 they haven’t met on the football field in more than four years.
“They are going to be fired up about the computer putting us as the 1 (seed) and them as the 2 – not like the computer has feelings or anything, but they are going to be using that,” Jay Anderson said. “We have to use our homefield advantage. They’re solid at everything they do. They are athletic and strong, so we’re going to prepare and we’re happy we have another week of football.
“What we have here, we seem to find a way, and we’re going to have to again because obviously they are defending state champions and I’m sure they have no lesser expectations from themselves this year.”
Eagles 33, Cougars 22
Coleman 8 6 8 0 – 22
Auburndale 7 20 0 6 – 33
First Quarter
A – Evan Scholl 2 pass from Kaden Anderson (Aden Cherney kick), 6:16.
C – Micah Kuchta 48 run (Brady Gross run), 4:35.
Second Quarter
A – Anderson 3 run (Cherney kick), 10:44.
A – Scholl 20 pass from Anderson (Cherney kick), 6:51.
C – Kuchta 1 run (run failed), 1:17.
A – Anderson 5 run (kick missed), 0:33.
Third Quarter
C – Kuchta 3 run (Gross run), 5:50.
Fourth Quarter
A – Anderson 4 run (kick blocked), 1:15.
Team Statistics
First downs: C 15; A 19.
Rushing (att-yards): C 55-332; A 36-251.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): C 0-2-0-0; A 8-12-78-0.
Total yards: C 332; A 329.
Fumbles (total-lost): C 3-1; A 1-1.
Penalties (no.-yards): C 7-30; A 3-19.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: C, Brady Gross 24-163, Cole Berth 16-87, Micah Kuchta 13-78. A, Kaden Anderson 21-196, Evan Scholl 15-55.
Passing: C, Kuchta 0-2-0-0. A, Anderson 8-12-78-0.
Receiving: C, none. A, Evan Scholl 3-33, Nathan Richardson 2-20, Blake Raab 2-16, Aden Cherney 1-9.
Fumble recoveries (defense): C, No. 60 (name not listed on roster). A, Raab.
Records: Coleman 8-3; Auburndale 10-1.