SPORTS

Edgar roughs up Wild Rose

Mark Massoglia
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

WILD ROSE - From the very first play from scrimmage, the Edgar football team had things rolling its way.

Will Raatz picked off Wild Rose quarterback Alec VanDeCastle's first pass of the game, then two plays later, Alec Hafferman rumbled in for his first of three touchdowns.

Edgar's first quarter momentum carried it to a dominating 50-7 WIAA Division 7 Level 2 victory over previously undefeated Wild Rose Friday at John Dopp Memorial Field.

Edger (8-3) advances the the state quarterfinals and will face Loyal, a 9-0 winner over Owen-Withee next Friday night. Wild Rose, the Central Wisconsin Conference-10 champions ended its season with a 10-1 record.

Hafferman scored on runs of 9, 5 and 5 yards and finished with 77 yards on 12 carries. Eight different players ran the ball and six rushed for double-digit totals.

"Our line has really been coming along," Hafferman said. "Our coaches stress that they could be our x-factor. They've been practicing really hard and come out with a vengeance. They think they can match up with any team's defensive line. They get better each week and each play."

Not to be outdone by his first cousin, Karson Butt scored three times as well, including a 55-yard punt return with 1:22 left in the half. That score got the running clock going for the second half for Edgar. Butt finished with 21 yards rushing but had 76 all-purpose yards with his punt return.

"We were playing team defense and everything we did was team based," Butt said. "Our guys were phenomenal on both side of the ball. I couldn't be more proud of what we did in the first quarter to set the tone for the game."

Edgar's offense was dominant enough that it only had to punt one time, on its very last possession of the game. Edgar also started drives in Wild Rose territory on every drive except one.

"I thought we got some breaks early," Edgar coach Jerry Sinz said. "They had a penalty on the opening kick and then we got a pick. We kind of steamrolled them for a while. Our kids were well prepared and played well and you have to commend them on a great season. They have have a good team with some good fast skill players."

Wild Rose scored its only touchdown of the game on a 3-yard run by fullback Jeremiah Churchville, who ran the ball six straight times on the scoring drive. His touchdown closed the gap to 22-7 with 11:51 left in the second quarter.

While Edgar started its drives in the Wild Rose end, Wild Rose usually started deep in its end of the field. Wild Rose even started on its own 27 on the scoring drive.

"I'm happy we're going on," Sinz said. "Our main goal is to win games and get our starters out so we stay healthy. We're about as healthy as we've been since the Stratford game."

"It's going to be a fun game next week. We haven't played them in a while and they're a good team with just one loss."

Edgar

22

21

7

0

50

Wild Rose

0

7

0

0

7

First quarter

E: Alec Hafferman 9 run (Hafferman pass from Tyler Engel), 11:12

E: Hafferman 5 run (Joshua Burish kick), 6:26

E: Karson Butt 1 run (Burish kick), 3:01

Second quarter

WR: Jeremiah Churchville 3 run (AlecVanDeCastle kick), 11:51

E: Hafferman 5 run (Burish kick), 9:20

E: Butt 4 run (Burish kick), 4:10

E: Butt 55 punt return (Burish kick), 1:22

Third quarter

E: Will Raatz 1 run (Burish kick), 5:53

Records: Edgar 8-3; Wild Rose 10-1.

Mark Massoglia: 715-424-7309 or mark.massoglia@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter @markmazzy.