The Springlake-Earth Wolverines’ varsity football team earned their first Six-Man play-off victory on Thursday, as they took down the White Deer Bucks, 56-36, to earn the Bi-district trophy.
With the win, the Wolverines improve to 7-3 overall on the season.
White Deer won the toss and elected to defer to the second half, giving the Wolverines the ball to begin the contest.
The onside kick by Christian Nunez-Oseguera was recovered by Timothy Tanaro, giving the Wolverines the ball at their own 37-yard line to begin their first drive.
Junior, Evan DeLeon, overthrew junior, Trace Goodman, on first down and sophomore, Braxton Ethridge’s pass on second down was incomplete, looking for Roel Fuentes, but on third and long DeLeon dropped back and hit Ethridge on the near sideline, who cut it up field for a huge gain, making it first and goal from the Bucks’ seven-yard line. Ethridge carried it around the left side for a few yards and on the next play, junior fullback, Keshan Holmes, punched it in for the three-yard score with 9:10 remaining in the opening quarter. The kick by Holmes was good, making the score, 8-0.
White Deer took over at their own 31-yard line, after the onside kick was recovered by Mason Mooney. Hunter Warminski carried the ball on first down, picking up nine yards before being brought down by Holmes. Karson Ketchum carried it across midfield for the Bucks on their next play, making it third and two just inside Wolverine territory.
Warminski picked up the first down for the Bucks on the next play and followed it up with a pass over the middle on first down to Mooney, who took it down to the Wolverines’ four-yard line to make it first and goal. The drive was derailed, as the Wolverines were able to strip the ball and recovered it at the line of scrimmage with just under seven minutes to play in the first quarter.
Ethridge carried the ball on back-to-back downs to begin the drive and a facemask penalty on the Bucks moved the ball up to the Wolverines’ 19-yard line with a fresh set of downs. Fuentes carried the ball for no gain on first down, as he was brought down by Kaydon Johnson, but on the next play, DeLeon hit a shot down the field to Cain Tovar, making it first and 15 from the White Deer 16-yard line.
However, the drive would stall out and on fourth and goal from the eight-yard line, Goodman was stopped short of the sticks for a turnover on downs with 4:17 remaining in the quarter.
The Bucks took over at their own six-yard line, as Warminski carried it up the middle for a yard to begin the drive. He got the carry again on the next play, breaking free for a first down, up to their 29-yard line. On first and 15, Graysen Freeman connected with Warminski for a bit chunk of yards to make it first and goal from the Wolverines’ 15-yard line.
The Wolverine defense, again, would stiffen in the redzone, and on fourth and goal from the 11-yard line, Warminski’s pass was dropped by Jayden Mynear for a turnover on downs with under one minute remaining in the quarter.
The Wolverines took over deep in their own territory and were able to move it up to their 25-yard line on a run by Ethridge up the middle, as the first quarter came to a close. Facing a fourth down to open the second quarter, Holmes took it on the dive up the middle, moving the ball up to the 35-yard line for a first down.
Ethridge picked up four yards on a carry on first down and connected with sophomore, Jerry Gallegos on the next play for a big gain down the right side, making it first and goal from the nine-yard line. Holmes picked up four yards on first down and Ethridge hit Tanaro in the endzone for the fiveyard score. The kick by Holmes was good, extending their lead to, 16-0.
The Wolverine defense forced a turnover on downs on White Deer’s next possession, as Warminski’s pass on fourth down fell incomplete, as he was pressured by Fuentes, giving the Wolverines the ball with 7:40 to play in the first half.
Fuentes carried the ball on a dive up the middle on first down and on the next play, Ethridge connected with DeLeon for a 26-yard touchdown pass with just over seven minutes to play in the half. Holmes’ kick was good, pushing their lead out to, 24-0.
The Wolverine’s defense came back out on to the field fired up and was able to make quick work of the Buck’s offense, forcing another four-and-out, getting the offense the ball back with 5:36 to play in the half.
DeLeon kept it himself up the middle for 10 yards and Ethridge picked up a yard on the next play to make it third and four from the Buck’s 18-yard line. DeLeon’s pass on third down was dropped in the endzone by Goodman, but on the next play, he connected with Dereck Rosalez for the 18-yard score with 4:20 remaining in the half. The kick by Holmes was blocked, leaving the score, 30-0.
White Deer would get on the board, as they drove down the field, capping on the drive with a seven yard touchdown scramble by Warminski with 2:23 to play in the half. The kick by Nunez-Oseguera was blocked, leaving the score, 30-6.
Each team turned it over on downs to close out the first half with the Wolverines in front, 30-6.
The Bucks received to open the second half, and wasted no time finding the endzone, as Warminski broke loose for a big run to the left side on their first play from scrimmage. Goodman was able to run him down and make a touchdown saving tackle. But, they would punch it in on the next play, as Freeman connected with Mooney for a four-yard touchdown to trim the lead to, 30-12, after the kick was blocked by the Wolverines with 9:12 to play in the third quarter.
The Wolverines took over at their own 25-yard line after the touchback. Fuentes picked up two yards on a dive up the middle on first down, and on the next play, Goodman, broke loose around the left side for a 53-yard touchdown run to extend their lead to, 36-12, after the missed kick by Holmes.
White Deer got the ball back after the kick-off at their own 36-yard line, as Warminski picked up eight yards on a first-down carry. He took the carry again on second down, but was stopped for a loss by Holmes, bringing up third and 10. The Bucks were flagged for back-to-back illegal procedure penalties, and on third and long a Warminski dump off pass to Dusty Matlock that went for a touchdown was called back for a block in the back penalty on the Bucks, making it third and 15 from their own 35-yard line.
However, on the next play, Warminski connected with Johnson for a 45-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to, 36-20, after the made kick by Nunez-Oseguera with 5:41 remaining in the quarter.
The Wolverine’s offense came back out on to the field looking to continue to roll, but on first down, DeLeon just missed a wide open Goodman. Ethridge picked up five yards on the second-down carry and on third and 10, Ethridge’s pass was tipped, but found the waiting arms of Fuentes for a first down up to the Buck’s 39-yard line.
On first down, Holmes took a run around the right side, stiff arming a defender on his way to a 39-yard touchdown run with 4:26 to play in the quarter. The kick by Holmes was blocked, making the score, 42-20.
White Deer would punch it in again with under one minute to play in the quarter, as Warminski scored on a one-yard run to make the score, 42-28, after the kick by Nunez-Oseguera.
The Wolverines got the ball back and fed the ball to Holmes on a dive up the middle, as the third quarter came to a close.
Holmes carried the ball on back-to-back plays to open the final frame, picking up a first down for the Wolverines at the Buck’s 28-yard line. Springlake-Earth was flagged for illegal procedure, backing them up to, first and 20, but Fuentes picked up seven yards on the dive up the middle to make it second and 13. On the next play, Ethridge carried it around the left side for a 26-yard touchdown run to make it, 48-28, with 7:40 to play in the game.
White Deer took over after the kick-off at their own 38-yard line, and they were able to hit a big play on first down, as Warminski took a carry around the left side for the 42-yard touchdown run with 7:30 to play in the game. The kick after was good, making the score, 48-36.
Goodman recovered the onside kick try by White Deer, giving them the ball at their own 34-yard line. Holmes was stopped for no gain on first down, but Gallegos, was able to take it around the left side for a big gain to move the sticks for the Wolverines.
Fuentes took a hand-off up the middle, but was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, and Ethridge picked up five yards on second down to bringing up third and long. Fuentes was stopped for no gain on third down, as the Wolverines took a time out with 5:08 remaining and out of the break, they elected to go for it, as DeLeon hit Ethridge for a big play, as he took the catch down to the one-yard line to set up first and goal for Springlake-Earth.
Two plays later, Holmes punched it in for the score to make it a twenty-point game, 56-36, with 3:37 to play in the game.
The Bucks got the ball back, looking to inch closer to a comeback, but the Wolverine defense slammed the door, forcing a four-and-out for a turnover on downs.
Springlake-Earth was able to kill the remaining two and a half minutes to take the Bi-district championship, 56-36.
The Wolverines will play Borden County next week in the Six-Man Division I Regional Round of the play-offs. Game info is TBA.