Citizen Staff
Cambria-Friesland's Manny Ramirez (30) gets knocked out of bounds by Shullsburg's Levi Curran (43) during Level 1 playoff action Tuesday.
CAMBRIA — Shullsburg sophomore Nate Carrier rushed for 206 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Miners to a 49-8 rout of Cambria-Friesland in a Division 7 Level 1 playoff contest on Tuesday.
“We knew coming in that they were bigger, faster and stronger than us,” said Cambria-Friesland coach Jim Bylsma.
The Miners (7-3) did nothing to dissuade that scouting report.
They scored on their first four possessions of the first half to take a 29-0 halftime lead. On the other side of the ball, they proved mighty stingy to earn a second round match-up with Randolph on Saturday.
Carrier opened the game with a 14-yard TD run and before he took a seat late in the third quarter, he added scoring runs of 65, 59 and 46 yards.
“He was hard to defend,” Bylsma said.
While the Miners were amassing 318 yards on the ground, they also showed that they could attack through the air. Junior quarterback Kyle Lyne found junior end Jacob Holland twice in the first half for scores.
Holland took a pass over the middle and raced 65 yards for a first quarter touchdown.
On the Miners’ first possession of the second quarter, Holland capped a four-play, 83-yard drive by hauling in a 59-yard pass from Lyne, running untouched down the right sideline.
Lyne was 3-for-3 — all first half completions to Holland — for 136 yards.
Shullsburg was leading 35-0 late in the third quarter when the Hilltoppers (6-4) finally found the end zone. Senior Sam Wiersma scored from 8 yards out and Nathan Weyh pulled in a two-point conversion pass from Jordan Prochnow to make it 35-8 with 3:18 left.
Carrier, however, took away any momentum C-F had by answering the score with a 46-yard TD run on Shullsburg’s first play from scrimmage after the Hilltopper score.
The Miners’ final touchdown came on a 1-yard plunge by senior Levi Curran with 9:47 to play in the game.
Wiersma closed out his career by rushing for 84 yards on 15 carries and also hauling in one pass for 12 yards.
SHULLSBURG 49, C-F 8
Shullsburg 15 14 13 7 - 49
Cambria-Friesland 0 0 8 0 - 8
S – Carrier 14 run (Holland kick)
S – Holland 65 from Lyne (Carrier run)
S – Holland 59 from Lyne (Holland kick)
S – Carrier 64 run (Holland kick)
S – Carrier 33 run (kick failed)
CF – Wiersma 8 run (Weyh from Prochnow)
S – Carrier 46 run (Holland kick)
S – Curran 1 run (Holland kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs – S 10, CF 12. Rushing (Att.-Yds.) – S 4-318, CF 43-192. Passing yards – S 136, CF 26. Passes (Comp.-Att.Int.) – S 3-3-0, CF 3-11-1. Penalties-yards – S 2-25, CF 1-10. Fumbles-lost – S 2-1, CF 2-2.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Passing: S – Lyne 3-3-136-0-2; CF – Prochnow 3-11-26-1-0. Rushing: S - Carrier 12-206-4; CF – Wiersma 15-84-1. Receiving: S – Holland 3-136-2; CF - Wiersma 1-12.