Quick-strike Edgar moves on to state semis

LOYAL - Mistakes are magnified in the playoffs, especially against a team like Edgar.

Loyal had six turnovers, two muffed punts, two interceptions and a pair of fumbles.

The Wildcats scored 28 points off turnovers as they dispatched the Greyhounds 33-7 during a WIAA Division 7 state quarterfinal game Friday.

Edgar, 9-3, will play Bangor, a 54-21 winner over Pepin/Alma, in the state semifinals next Friday or Saturday at a site to be determined.

Edgar's biggest weapon in the game was senior running back Alec Hafferman who scored five touchdowns and had two interceptions. He finished with 23 carries for 119 yards.

"I do everything for my teammates and they do everything for me," Hafferman said. "We're a family here at Edgar. We're getting better at every position every week and that's really cool to see. We're just trying to live up to our expectations and make our community proud."

Hafferman's first touchdown came less than three minutes into the game. The touchdown was set up by a 48-yard pass from Karson Butt to Joshua Burish that got Edgar to the 5-yard line. Hafferman scored two plays later.

"That was planned," Edgar coach Jerry Sinz said. "We thought they would be tough to run against, so we wanted to pass even a little more than we ended up doing."

Edgar recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and made it 12-0 with 5:13 still to play in the first quarter.

"You can't have one turnover, much less six," Loyal coach Chris Lindner said. "Hat's off to Edgar, they're a very good team. Our kids played hard, but it was too much to overcome."

Loyal (10-2), was the runner-up in the CloverWood Conference and reached the third round of the playoffs for the first time in school history.

"I can't thank our seniors enough for their leadership from the summer through the season," Lindner said. "It was a really good season for us."

Edgar scored one more time in the first quarter to lead 18-0.

"We've been fortunate the last couple weeks," Sinz said. "We came out fired up and played well. I hoped it would be 21 or 22-0, but 18-0 is nice. They're a good team."

Loyal's lone score came in the second quarter on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Riley Geiger.

Edgar scored twice in third quarter on Hafferman runs of 1 and 20 yards and with 6:03 left in the game, Hafferman grabbed his second interception.

"Every week we're laser focused from the top down," Hafferman said. "It's great to see high school kids focused on the same goal."

Edgar was last in the state semifinals in 2014, losing to Darlington.

"The kids are excited to be moving on and have a goal to get back to Madison," Sinz said. "Hopefully, they can pull it off."

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