More pictures can be found here! https://www.smugmug.com/app/or...
The Wakefield Trojan football team kicked off its season with a road game against the Plainview Pirates, and came up just two points short of a victory, 28-30, after the final whistle called the game.
The Trojans were within two, and leading the game at the end of the third quarter, before a 14-6 fourth quarter flop to the Pirates, which gave the home team the lead, and the win over the Trojans.
“It was just a really good, exciting high school football game and unfortunately we came out on the short end. In the end Plainview made a few more plays than us,” said Coach Mike Hassler. “They had a veteran squad returning and I was proud of our boys for standing toe to toe with them for four quarters. We had a lot of boys stepping out on the varsity field for their first starts and playing time, and I was proud of the way we fought and held the lead right up until the final seconds. We need to move forward from here and play better football. This is a hungry group of young men and I have no doubt that our best football still lies ahead of us.”
The Trojans points came from a first quarter 15-yard run by Cade Johnson, and a two-point conversion from Johnson as well, for the first eight of the game. The Trojans added another touchdown, on a five-yard pass from Cade Johnson to Caleb Chase for another six, two-point conversion no good.
A third-quarter touchdown was run in 19 yards by Cade Johnson, with Mason Lamprecht posting the extra two, and Wakefield’s team had one final score on a long 56-yard run by Cade Johnson, with the conversion no good.
“Penalties and turnovers are definitely something we need to get cleaned up, but are something you usually see coming out of the gate,” said Coach Hassler. “We did a lot of good things in the run game. I definitely want to see more balance in our run game in the weeks to come. Cade did an outstanding job of running the ball, but we need some other threats to emerge to take some of the work load off of him. We’ll see if we can get some things ironed out this week. I definitely want us to get more consistency in our pass game. Everything can be fixed, I’m excited to see this offense grow in the weeks to come.”
The Trojans marked 361 total yards in the game, topping the Pirate total by five yards; on 62 plays for an average 5.8 yards per play. The Trojans gained most of their yards on the ground, with 323 total rushing yards and 38 through the air, but on those 11 attempts threw four interceptions away to the Pirates.
Johnson had 36 rushing attempts and 274 total yards with three touchdowns to lead the Trojan offense. Tim Kaufman had 42 yards and Mason Lamprecht punched forward seven.
Hunter Schultz was Johnson’s favorite target for two throws and 31 total yards. Caleb Chase pulled down his five yard touchdown pass and Mason Lamprecht had one reception for two yards.
“I thought we took some really big strides on this side of the ball from the previous season. I thought we had eight guys trying to play together,” said Coach Hassler. “With more snaps, we’ll gain a better understanding of our jobs and where we need to be. I’m anxious to get back to work with this group, we have the potential to be a solid defensive squad.”
Leading tacklers were Cade Johnson (11 solo/3 assisted/TFL/Forced Fumble); Hunter Schultz (7 solo/6 assisted); Caleb Chase (7 solo/5 assisted); Jacob Borg (5 solo/4 assisted/INT) and Anthony Valenzuela (6 solo/2 assisted/Fumble Recovery).
The Trojans will be hosting Bancroft-Rosalie this Friday, Sept. 2 for some big events – the first game on the new turf field and in Gardner Stadium, their first home came, and the evening is also the Homecoming game.
“It’s homecoming week and the first ever game game in the new stadium, the boys have been looking forward to this for awhile,” said Coach Hassler. “I have no doubt in my mind we’ll be ready to roll. We’ll definitely need to keep our emotions in check and be dialed in mentally, emotionally, and physically. It’ll be a pretty electric night. B-R will be a solid team and a good match-up for us.”