Jeremy Ratliff
Reporter
In the wake of a pair of heartbreakers to Marathon last week (50-14) and Stratford (14-7) the week before, the Tomahawk varsity football squad hosted bout #3 with the Marawood ‘Big Three’ Friday night versus Edgar.
Although the Hatchets managed to hang with the Wildcats in total yardage (180-220), the kitties still managed to maintain their reputation of finding a way to put points on the board, en route to a 29-0 rout of the Hatchets.
Edgar got rolling early as quarterback Matt Urmanski connected with running back Alec Hafferman on a 39-yard aerial strike for the first score of the game.
After stifling the Hatchets, the Wildcats came back with another solid drive and closed the deal with a 5-yard scoring scamper from Hafferman in the 2nd.
Hafferman and fellow back Travis Witt combined for another pair of scores in the fourth to put it away for good.
On the bright side, senior quarterback Kaleb Kaminski managed to put up solid numbers through the air, connecting 13-of-24 for 158 yards.
“Coming off of a football game a week ago where we did not play well in any phase of the game, the score against Edgar does not indicate how much better we played especially on the defensive side of the ball,” said coach John Larsen.
“Defensively, the play of our defensive line was much improved. The play of those guys up front allowed our linebackers to make plays all night long, they could make their reads and react so much faster. Our tackling was much better, and other than a few big plays, our improvement was outstanding!
“What was disappointing is that we talked about Edgar’s punt return all week knowing they were going to set a wall, practiced defending it and we didn’t get it done! They had a big return, which gave them a short field and an eventual score.
“Offensively we did not take advantage of a turnover and 3 red zone opportunities. We had the ball inside the 15 yard line three times and each time found a way to shoot ourselves in the foot. Against good football teams you have to finish and we didn’t do that.
“At times we threw the ball very well, but overall we did not handle Edgar’s blitz very well. We took a positive step forward even with this loss! The next three weeks provides us with opportunities to have success and build momentum for a run at the post season.”
EGR: 8 7 14 0- 29
THK: 0 0 0 0- 0
Passing: Kaleb Kaminski 13/24, 158 yds, INT. Rushing: Dane Borchardt (13/40); Brandon Vecchio (1/4). Receiving: Easton Phalin (4/69); Brian Vecchio (5/56); Branden Vecchio (3/25).