Pride and honor plays big in varsity win
The varsity Badgers football team took the Lumberjacks in an exciting 32 to 31 win at St. Maries Friday. This brings their record to 1 and 3.
The Badger varsity took the field in St. Maries for the first conference game of the year.
Coming off of three stinging non-conference losses,the varsity gridders had much to prove to other teams in the conference.
The Lumberjacks score a touch down six plays in to the game. The Badgers came back strong blocking from the offensive line one-two punch ensuing by the power backs.
On the second possession Reed Bennett burst off the tackle and rambled 53 yards to the one-yard line breaking five tackles on the way.
Quarterback Christian Trocke punched the ball in from the one-yard line. The blue pride went for the two-pointer with a pass to Thomas Amoth giving the Badgers the edge with an 8 to 7 score.
The Badgers kicked off and pinned St. Maries at their own six-yard line.
The defense kept the Lumberjacks from getting into Badger turf and St. Maries were forced to punt.
Midway through the second quarter at the Jacks 14-yard line, Trocke handed the ball off to Zachary Wilson who darted off to the right tackle and into the end zone leaving two defenders in his wake. The Badgers again went for the two with Wilson plowing straight ahead for the deuce making the score 16-7 Badgers.
The Lumberjacks answered back with another touchdown and the teams went into half-time with the Badgers leading 16-13.
In the second half the Badgers had the ball to start. The ensuing drive stalled after two penalties for illegal procedure and the Badgers were forced to punt.
The Lumberjacks started their next drive but were stopped by the blue brick wall after attempting to convert on fourth and one. The Badgers took over from the Lumberjacks 41 Trocke found Thomas Osborn on an inside slant that went the distance for another touch down.
Wilson added the two point conversion. Midway through the third quarter and on their own 25, the Badgers were forced to kick the ball away. A fumble on the punt gave the ball to the Lumberjacks at the 14-yard line. It took St. Maries one play to score on a pass. The attempted two-point conversion failed.
On the Badgers’ next possession, Trocke drove the team down the field and from the 25 fired a pass down the middle to Amoth.
A defensive pass interference call was made and the ball was spotted at the 12-yard line. On the next play Matthew Henslee picked his way to the six as time expired in the third.
As the fourth quarter started, Trocke handed the ball to Bennett who broke off right tackle and onto the end zone for the touch down. With the two-pointer the blue pride pulled ahead with a score of 32-19.
Late in the game, the Lumberjacks answered again with a middle screen for six points. The two-point conversion failed once again. The score now 32-25.
Four plays later the Lumberjacks quarterback launched a 35-yard pass over the Badger defender for six, bringing the score to 32-31 and giving the Badgers the win.
This was the Badgers first victory, but more than that they carried pride and honor off the field on their shoulders.
The Badgers play at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 23 at Medical Lake.