It took no time at all for the bottom to drop out of Tomahawk’s football game in Nekoosa on Friday night.
The Papermakers jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, then added solo touchdowns in the next two quarters to stake a 35-0 triumph.
“We seemed to come out flat,” THS coach John Larson said. “Everything that could go wrong in the first quarter, did, and for Nekoosa, everything went right.
“Nekoosa’s offensive and defensive lines dominated ours. The second quarter was better, but we still struggled on both sides of the ball. Games like this you just need to forget. All of or focus will turn to Medford.”
Nekoosa forced the Hatchets into three consecutive three-and-out possessions to start the game and recovered a fumble on the fourth. In the meantime the Papremakers scored on runs of 14, 52 and 27 yards, then completed a 36-yard TD pass for a 28-0 lead. The THS boys finally came up with two stops to end the half, and John Eccels forced a fumble that Clay Borchardt recovered to start the second half. But a THS fumble gave it back for Nekoosa’s 68-yard drive capped by a 44-yard scamper.
Jared Hansen (13-54) and Jakob Swenty (8-16) led THS rushers, and Austin Bellile completed 2-12 passes for 45 yards, including a 37-yarder to Mitch McAllister. Nekoosa finished with a 349-126 yards advantage, with 282 rushing (Austin Kukulka had 130 on 9 carries) and 67 passing.
The Hatchet ‘D’ was paced by Payton DuPlayee (4 s, 6 A), Eccels (1 s, 2 a, 1 fc, 1 fr), Borchardt (2 s, 2 a, 1 fr), Nate Erickson (5 a, 1 sa), Eddie Yirsa (3 s, 1 a) and McAllister (2 s, 3 a).