SHULLSBURG — Randolph coach Pat Winch called Saturday’s Division 7 Level 2 football clash at Shullsburg a prize fight.
It certainly packed plenty of physicality and suspense like a good 10-rounder. With just five active seniors on the roster, Randolph can look forward to more prize fights in the future but learned a painful lesson with a 13-12 loss.
If you knock the opponent down when he’s on the ropes, you don’t have to worry about losing by decision later.
Randolph (8-3) wasted a golden opportunity to bury the Miners (8-3) early.
Then the Rockets turned the ball over twice in Shullsburg territory after halftime as the hosts rallied from a 12-point hole.
“They stayed focused and didn’t get rattled,” Shullsburg coach Scott Mayte said of his players. “We felt 12-0 was a good score for us at halftime for all the things that went wrong for us.”
Randolph did plenty of things right early. Brian Kampstra hammered a 66-yard punt with the wind to his back that pinned the Miners at their own 1 to start their second drive of the game.
That set up the first score of the game when Trevor Waterworth and two other Rockets collapsed the pocket to sack Kyle Lyne for a safety. On the ensuing free kick, Kampstra’s 58-yard return to the Miner 9 set up an eventual 4th-and-goal from inside the 1.
The left side of the Rocket line, a pair of underclassmen, false-started. Randolph settled for a 21-yard field goal from freshman Thomas VanderGalien and a 5-0 lead.
“We were going on set and we had a freshman and sophomore over there,” Winch said. “We went with them all year and they’ve played well for us.”
Randolph was able to stop Shullsburg on downs at its own 19 before facing a 1st-and-25 from its own 25. T.J. Huizenga’s leaping grab on the next play went for 33 yards to convert the first down.
A middle screen to Kampstra picked up 17 more. Then Jon Roberts took a trap 25 yards down the right sideline after shedding a tackler to give Randolph a 12-0 edge.
Shullsburg scored on its opening drive of the second half when Nate Carrier scored off tackle from 25 yards out. The Miners ran 40 plays to the Rockets’ 13 before halftime and would finish with 32 more offensive plays than the Rockets.
“In the first half, we were outstanding defensively,” Winch said. “Then (Trevor) Milestone came out just pounding and defensively, we just wore down.”
Randolph got to the Miner 33 with its next possession but stalled on downs. After forcing a punt, the Rockets again marched into Shullsburg territory but Tylor Grant fumbled at the end of a long run with Jacob Holland recovering.
On the next play, Holland caught a short curl route and lateraled to a streaking Carrier for a pickup of 42 yards. That set up a 1-yard TD run from Milestone, who finished with 110 yards on 28 carries, and gave Shullsburg a 13-12 lead with 9:43 to play.
Kampstra struck again with a 51-yard return to the Miner 38. That drive died when Ben Syvertson threw behind Brandon Zimmerman and was picked off by Milestone.
“Our defense played very well,” Mayte said. “All of their points were on short fields and our kickoff team didn’t do us any favors.”
With Randolph’s defense gassed, the Miners were able to chew up the final 6:38. Despite enduring a painful loss that was squandered, Winch enjoyed his — and the Rockets’ — return to the postseason after a five-year absence with a league title to boot.
“I can’t thank our seniors enough,” Winch said. “They got an old man out of his rocking chair and in less than a year, they rebuilt the program.
“For our younger guys, the sky’s the limit. We only started four seniors on both sides of the ball but they worked together great. We’re set. We have to get stronger and faster.”
SHULLSBURG 13, RANDOLPH 12
Randolph 5 7 0 0 - 12
Shullsburg 0 0 7 6 - 13
R - Safety, Kyne sacked in end zone, 6:26
R - FG VanderGalien 22, 3:40
R - Roberts 25 run (VanderGalien Kick) 8:54
S - Carrier 25 run (Holland kick) 8:03
S - Milestone 1 run (pass failed) 9:43
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs - R 7, S 17. Rushing (Att.-Yds.) - R 31-123, S 50-235. Passing yards - R 58, S 76. Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) - R 3-8-1, S 8-19-0. Penalties-yards - R 7-55, S 4-40. Fumbles-lost - R 1-1, S 0-0.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: R - Roberts 6-37; S - Milestone 28-110. PASSING: R - Syvertson 3-7-1, 58; S - Lyne 8-19-0, 76. RECEIVING: R - Huizenga 2-42; S - Holland 5-42.