Willmar, MN – Four long touchdowns in the second quarter sealed Westonka’s fate in a 45-14 road loss on Friday night at Hodapp Field. Willmar quarterback Jordan Ellingson found Aidan Paulson on two of the scores, while Ellingson scampered 39 yards for another touchdown.
The Cardinals opened the scoring in the first quarter when Ellingson hit Cooper Schnichels on a short comeback route, but he eluded the tackle and ran down the Westonka sideline for the 35-yard TD. Luis Gomez made the first of his six PAT’s to make it 7-0 just four minutes into the game. Willmar converted a 4th and 14 from midfield on a fake punt pass when backup QB Briar Schuett saw an uncovered Hudson Sjoberg, who made a leaping catch just beyond the first down marker.
On the White Hawks first possession, senior Gavin Ruegemer mishandled a pitch from quarterback Cade Newell and the Cardinals recovered the fumble at the Westonka 22-yard line. The White Hawks defense held following an initial 15-yard gain, holding the Cardinals to a Gomez 27-yard field goal extending the lead to 10-0. Westonka was held to a three-and-out on their next possession, but the defense followed with one of their own. The White Hawks special teams stepped up as senior linebacker, Andrew Hoisington, slipped through the line and blocked the Willmar punt while also recovering it at the Cardinals 10-yard line.
Westonka junior running back, Blake Reinbold, then took the ball down to the 1-yard line on 3rd and goal. Then, on the first play of the second quarter, Reinbold plowed in over the left side on fourth down for the touchdown cutting the deficit to 10-7. Senior tackle Phil Pisarchuk and senior guard Dawson Leinfelder paved the way on the TD run. “We finally were able to get a few things going on offense on Friday. With that, we need to be more consistent and continue to work on cleaning up our mistakes,” said head coach Nick David.
A short pooch kick on the ensuing kickoff gave Willmar great field position at their own 43-yard line. Two plays later, Ellingson threw to Paulson down the right sideline for a 59-yard TD catch and a 17-7 lead. Senior Brandt Tebbs set up the White Hawks in good field position of their own after a 30-yard kickoff return to the Cardinals 43-yard line. However, another three-and-out by the offense forced a Newell punt that went for a touchback. Three plays later, Willmar’s Hudson Sjoberg went off right tackle and broke four tackles along the right sideline, before settling for a 71-yard touchdown and a 24-7 advantage with 6:59 to play in the first half.
The White Hawks would pick up a first down on their next drive as Newell scrambled for 9 yards, and then Newell hit Tebbs on a short toss for three yards. Tebbs then scampered around the left side for a gain of 12 and another first down, setting up Westonka in Cardinals territory at the 47-yard line. However, a holding call pushed the White Hawks back on first down. On 2nd and 20, Newell found sophomore tight end Carter Holappa for a three yard gain, but he was stripped of the ball by Sjoberg allowing Willmar’s Thomas Quinn to fall on the ball. “We need to do a better job protecting the ball. We have just had too many turnovers these first couple of games,” noted David.
On the next possession, the Cardinal’s Ellingson pushed the lead to 31-7 when he scrambled for a 39-yard touchdown. On the play, Westonka had tight coverage on the receivers, but they allowed Ellingson to escape out the right side and down the sideline before he cut across the entire field and scored in the left end zone. Ellingson would find Paulson once again for another 39-yard pitch-and-catch TD and a 38-7 halftime lead.
The only score in the 3rd quarter was an Ellingson to Max Garberding 7-yard touchdown pass giving Willmar a commanding 45-7 advantage, which per MSHSL rules led to a running clock the last 17:34 of game time. Reinbold would tack on a 15-yard TD run early in the 4th quarter and a final margin of 45-14. Westonka’s German exchange student, Bruno Pomsel, made both of his PAT’s in his first ever American football game.
Westonka’s Reinbold (113 all-purpose yards) finished with 91 yards on 16 carries, while Newell (3-9-34 yards, INT) added 30 yards on the ground on 7 totes of the ball. Ruegemer had one catch for 25 yards which led to Reinbold’s last TD run. Tebbs (2 carries, 15 yards) finished with 94 all-purpose yards, which included 79 yards on 4 kick returns. Holappa and Mason Merritt each had one reception.
Defensively, the White Hawks got an outstanding game from Hoisington, who finished with a game-high 8 tackles (6 solo), a forced fumble and fumble recovery, a pass defended, and the punt block. Tebbs added 7 tackles (6 solo) and a tackle-for-loss. Junior linebacker Anders Mjelstad and Pisarchuk each had four tackles. Senior middle linebacker Mason Merritt finished with 3 tackles respectively.
The White Hawks return to the friendly confines of Haddorff Field to face Providence Academy in a Skyway Green Subdistrict game this Friday night at 7pm. The theme of the game is Tackle Cancer. Westonka will also celebrate the Youth Football teams at halftime of the game.
