Minnetrista, MN – The Westonka defense shut out the visiting Lions in the second half enroute to a 16-10 victory over Providence Academy on Friday night, securing their first win of the season. Senior QB Cade Newell led the White Hawks offense throwing for 110 yards and rushing for another 131 yards and a touchdown. Senior safety Brandt Tebbs and linebackers Andrew Hoisington and Anders Mjelstad led the Red and White on the defensive side of the ball holding the Lions to just 69 yards their last five meaningful possessions. “The defense came up big during big moments all night long. The defense played on a short field most of the game but just continued to go to work and got the job done all night long,” said an emphatic Nick David, the head coach of the White Hawks.
Westonka got the ball first, and after a facemask penalty on the Lions during the kickoff return gave the White Hawks great field position, Newell would run up the middle for a big gain but fumbled on the play giving Providence Academy the ball. The Lions took advantage, converting two fourth downs, including a 38-yard pass on 4th and 8 from the Westonka 44-yard line. On the very next play, Dae Dae McCrimmon rushed off right tackle, untouched, for the 6-yard score. The extra point made it 7-0 in favor of the Lions.
But, Newell came right back on the next drive as he was able to hook up with senior wide receiver John Seckinger down the left sideline for 44 yards. But a false start penalty pushed Westonka back forcing a 3rd and 13 from the Providence 28-yard line. However, Newell would look for Seckinger again, and this time he was tripped up on a post pattern by the Lions defender giving Westonka the ball at the Lions 14-yard line. A holding penalty would once again move the ball backwards to the 24. White Hawks’ sophomore running back, Wyatt Stepanek, got his first significant varsity snaps, including a tough 10-yard run back to the original line-of-scrimmage. Newell would keep the ball on the next play, running up the middle for another 10 yards picking up the first down. He would then take it in for the 4-yard touchdown behind a great block from receiver Gavin Ruegemer. Newell then threw to Ruegemer for the two-point conversion giving the White Hawks their first lead of the season at 8-7. “It was so fun to see Cade have a big night! He has put in so much work over the years and to see him have success in both the run and the pass game was really gratifying,” stated David.
Providence would get a big throw and catch on their next drive, but a taunting call on the receiver pushed the ball back near the original line-of-scrimmage. Daniel Fahnlander rumbled all 210 pounds of his through a huge hole up the middle netting 19 yards and a first down. The Lions would get another first down on a 3rd and 1 run, but the White Hawks defense held behind a Hoisington tackle on second down and a coverage sack by Mjelstad on 3rd and 8. Noah Bora, Providence’s kicker, would knock it through the uprights for a 37-yard field goal, retaking the lead, 10-8 with 7:11 remaining in the first half.
Westonka would come out throwing on the next possession, with Newell hitting sophomore receiver Will Pioske across the middle for a gain of 13 yards. Newell would keep the ball on the next three plays picking up 20 yards while crossing midfield. However, the Lions called a linebacker blitz on the very next play, causing Newell to make a poor throw down the left side, which was intercepted by safety Isaiah Coyle. Coyle would return the interception almost to midfield. Junior defensive lineman, Owen Dillon, would force an incompletion as he pressured Providence QB J.J. Rooney on 1st down. McCrimmon would get eight yards on second down, but junior Carter Holappa would pressure Rooney again and get the sack for a 9-yard loss forcing a punt.
Westonka would take possession at their own 28-yard line with just 2:38 remaining in the 1st half. After three runs picked up 16 yards, a sliding catch by Tebbs pushed the White Hawks into the Lions side of the field with 38 seconds left. Seckinger would then haul in the catch of the year down the White Hawks sideline. On the play, Newell rolled to his right and lofted a pass that was virtually out of bounds, but Seckinger stretched his 6’5 frame over the sideline while keeping at least one foot in bounds. After an incompletion in the end zone, Tebbs took the ball down to the 2-yard line on a well designed reverse, but most importantly got out of bounds with just 17 seconds left. On the very next play, Newell had to jump for a high snap from center but corralled the ball enough to hand it off to Stepanek, who promptly fumbled the ball forward, but the ball bounced once right into his hands allowing him to regain his momentum and plow into the end zone. Right guard Emmitt Johnson, right tackle Phil Pisarchuk, and Tebbs and Holappa made great blocks on the play to carve out just enough space on the run. Newell took a direct snap on the two-point try and ran in untouched for the 16-10 halftime lead.
The White Hawks defense held the Lions to just 70 yards in the second half. Tebbs broke up a Providence pass on a 4th and 9 from the Westonka 39-yard line early in the third quarter. Then, Mjelstad knocked down a pass near the line-of-scrimmage on 3rd and 16 from the 27-yard line forcing a 43-yard field goal try that was missed to the right. Westonka’s bend but don’t break defense stood firm once again with 11 minutes to play in the 4th quarter when safety Ethan Keller’s tight coverage forced an incompletion on 4th and 5 from the White Hawks 26-yard line. Providence got the ball back with just over 7 minutes remaining in the game but a sack by Dawson Leinfelder, and an almost interception by Keller caused by Leinfelder and sophomore Dane Sewell’s pressure on Rooney and then sophomore cornerback Max French stayed stride-for-stride with Lions receiver Nolan Schneider forcing a punt. “I could not have been more proud of the way we finished the game in all three phases. We truly wanted this game more and it showed at the end,” noted David.
The Westonka offense would hold onto the ball the final 4:41 to run out the clock, but not before Newell faked a punt on 4th and 4 from the Providence 42-yard line with 1:46 left to play. Newell tucked the ball and took off right up the middle for a 25-yard game sealing run.
Though the offense was missing starting running back Blake Reinbold due to injury, they were able to plug-and-play as Newell took on most of the carries finishing with 131 yards on the ground. Stepanek had 36 yards on 10 carries. Newell connected on 6 of his 12 attempts for 110 yards, finding Seckinger twice for 73 yards. Tebbs had two catches and finished with 21 total yards.
Defensively, Westonka only allowed 193 total yards (73 rushing yards) as Mjelstad had his best game of the season totaling eight tackles (6 solo), including two behind the line-of-scrimmage. He also added a sack and pass defended. Tebbs had a game-high 12 tackles with a TFL and a pass breakup. Hoisington contributed with 10 tackles (9 solo) and two TFL’s. Leinfelder had five tackles and a sack but pressured Rooney all night long. Pisarchuk (3 TFL’s) and Johnson (TFL) each had four tackles.
The White Hawks (1-2, 1-0) will face archrival Orono (2-1, 1-0) this Friday night in the “War on the Shore” for the right to hoist The Anchor. Gametime is slated for 7pm at Pesonen Stadium on the campus of Orono High School.
