https://paperandink.smugmug.co...
Wakefield’s Trojan football team traveled just down the road to Emerson for a local contest against Tri-County Northeast, taking a win over the Wolfpack, 34-26 at the final whistle.
“Tri-County Northeast gave us everything we could handle the entire night,” said Coach Mike Hassler. “I thought we came out flat, lacked emotion, were inconsistent with our physicality, and made way too many mental mistakes. With that being said I've got a bunch of fighters on this team. No matter what has happened this season this group of young men just keep swinging for the entire four quarters and have given themselves a chance to win every week. As a coach it's my job to see what we need to fix every week, but one thing I know for certain is this group knows how to keep battling no matter the outcome of each play.”
The Trojans posted 13 points on the first quarter, put another 15 on the board in the second and allowed 14 before the half to lead the game 28-14 at the break. The Wolfpack added six unanswered points in the third, and the teams went even, 6-6, in the fourth, which gave the game to the Trojans on the eight point lead.
Points came to the Trojans off five touchdowns from Cade Johnson, and two-point conversions from Jose Rodriguez twice and Hunter Schultz.
“We found a little more balance this week with the passing game,” said Hassler. “I thought we spread the ball around effectively. The two turnovers were a definite negative and I felt we had some untimely penalties. We just need to continue to take positive steps forward every week. We are a long way from playing our best game and will definitely look to get a lot of things cleaned up this week.”
The Trojans pushed yardage of a total of 396, off 49 plays and 8.1 yards per play. 125 of those yards were through the air and 271 were on the rushing game.
The Wolfpack held their own with 270 total yards, mainly from a 262 rushing game.
The teams were even on first downs, 23 to the Trojans and 21 to the Wolfpack.
Johnson had 22 attempts on the ground with 148 total yards, and Tim Kaufman handled the rest of the team’s rushing yards with 123 total.
Johnson’s favored targets were Hunter Schultz and Isaac Walsh – Schultz with 92 yards and Walsh pulling in 33.
Defensively the Trojans were led in tackling by: Cade Johnson (14 solo/3 assist/INT); Cael Johnson (13 solo/2 assist); Tim Kaufman (5 solo/5 assist); Walker Lundahl (8 solo/1 assist).
“I thought we did a better job of stopping the big play this week and really battled to make Tri-County earn it. The negative was we allowed them to keep several drives alive with busted assignments, poor tackling, and some inopportune penalties,” said Coach Hassler. “I was impressed with the physical play of Tri-County and they really ground clock on us and made us dig our heels in. We came up with just enough stops in the end to come out on top.”
This Friday the Trojans will take on Hartington-Newcastle at Gardner Stadium in Wakefield. The game will double for parents night as well.
“Don't let Hartington-Newcastle’s record deceive you, they have played a tough schedule and are a quality football team. We will have our hands full and will need to put together another solid four quarter football game. I like the progress we have made up to this point, but I think our best football is still to come.”