Eagles rained on in season-opening rout
Photo by Dan Larson / Sauk Prairie Eagle
Eagles' head coach Scott Schutt looks on as Zach Fiene drops back for a second-quarter pass. Fiene went 8-for-17 for 43 yards and 2 interceptions.
By Dan Larson, Sauk Prairie Eagle
A 33-yard drive into Madison Edgewood territory, two first downs and a 32-yard punt that pinned the Crusaders on their own 9-yard line.
Those were the lone highlights of Sauk Prairie's season-opening football game Aug. 28, and they all came on the Eagles' first drive.
And the Crusaders took full advantage of Sauk Prairie's struggles, capitalizing on five turnovers en route to handing the Eagles a 35-0 defeat at Otto Breitenbach Field in Middleton.
"When you don't handle adversity well," head coach Scott Schutt said, "everything gets worse.
"You have less energy, you give up more big plays (and) you make more mental mistakes. There's just such a fine line between that attitude and confidence and we just didn't have it."
No, the Eagles (0-1) didn't have it. After punter Chad Pings handed Edgewood what seemed to be scoring-prohibitive field position to start their second possession of the game, the Crusaders got started.
Mario Minnaert connected with tight end Joe Kurtin, who made a diving effort to catch the slightly overthrown ball, on second-and-12 from the seven to take Edgewood to its 43.
Four plays later, Minnaert connected again for a big gain — this time with Tyler Krohn — to take Edgewood to the Eagles 12.
Tim Longo ran six yards for a touchdown on third-and-three with two minutes, 47 seconds remaining in the first quarter to cap a nine-play, 91-yard scoring drive and give the Crusaders an early 7-0 lead.
"I think the big difference was getting on top," Edgewood head coach Al Minnaert said of the drive that tilted the game in Edgewood's favor. "It's a lot easier to play when you're ahead.
Added Schutt: "If we had scored first, it's a completely different game."
After that, it was as much Eagles' miscues as it was Crusader efficiency that led to the lopsided affair.
Sauk Prairie punted on the ensuing possession — the Eagles managed just 34 yards of first-half offense after their first drive — and after forcing a three-and-out, quarterback Zach Fiene fumbled a hand-off exchange with Tyler Halverson on the first play of its next possession.
Edgewood (1-0) recovered on its own 40, and promptly moved into Eagles' territory before Minnaert connected with Kyle Haen for a 20-yard touchdown to give the Crusaders a 14-0 lead.
Fiene was intercepted by Connor Balczewski on the Eagles' next possession, but it looked as though they were going to stop Edgewood from capitalizing. Sauk Prairie forced a Crusader fourth-and-one from the Eagles' 38, but Mario Minnaert drew the Eagles offsides with a hard-count to give Edgewood a first down.
And it took advantage three plays later when Christiaan Wabers scampered to his left for a 15-yard-touchdown to make it 21-0 with 4:18 left in the half.
"We should be tough defensively, but we got tired and we got frustrated," Schutt said of the second quarter lapse.
Despite falling behind 21-0, the Eagles run-defense looked good at times. But that may have been a bad omen.
Al Minnaert said it forced the Crusaders to look to pass more, and Mario Minnaert's efficiency — the senior and three-year starter completed his first six passes and finished 8-for-10 for 229 yard and 3 touchdowns — made that a good thing for Edgewood.
Schutt agreed.
"We did a much better job of stopping some of the run things they (did) early on, and then they started throwing it and realized they could. And we didn't adjust well enough to that," Schutt said.
Even off-and-on torrential rain in the second half couldn't slow Edgewood's offense. Minnaert connected with Krohn for a 32-yard touchdown to make it 28-0 midway through the third quarter, and after an Eagles' turnover — Sauk Prairie drove 52 yards to the Edgewood two before Fiene got sacked and fumbled — found Haen three plays later for a 93-yard touchdown to punctuate Edgewood's scoring.
Despite the loss, Schutt thought the offense — the Eagles are in their first year running the triple-option — looked all right at times but couldn't establish a rhythm.
"I think we did a lot of good things on offense, but we turned it over (too much) and we lost our zip," he said.
Edgewood finished 9-3 last season before losing in Level III of the WIAA Division 3 playoffs, and tied with Monona Grove for second in the Badger South.
With last year's conference champion Verona now in the Big 8, Monona Grove and Edgewood figure to be the front runners in the Badger South again this year, and Schutt knows playing the Crusaders in the season-opener was a challenge. He said he thinks his team can rebound.
"I told them everything that went wrong can be fixed," he said. "We still can have a very good season, but only if we pull together."
An opinion shared by Al Minnaert.
"They still have a good football team and they're going to be in the hunt," he said.
Sauk Prairie 0 0 0 0 — 0
Madison Edgewood 7 14 7 7 — 35
Madison Edgewood — Longo 6 run (Minnaert kick)
Madison Edgewood — Haen 20 pass from Minnaert (Minnaert kick)
Madison Edgewood — Wabers 15 run (Minnaert kick)
Madison Edgewood — Krohn 31 pass from Minnaert (Minnaert kick)
Madison Edgewood — Haen 93 pass from Minnaert (Minnaert kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs — SP 8, ME 14. Rushing (Att.-Yds.) — SP 27-108, ME 33-124. Passing yards — SP 43, ME 229. Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int) — SP 8-17-2, ME 8-10-0. Penalties-yards — SP 4-25, ME 4-25. Fumbles-lost — SP 5-3, ME 2-0.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SP — Halverson 11-63. ME — Wabers 5-51. Passing: SP — Fiene 8-17-2-43. ME — Minnaert 8-10-0-228. Receiving: SP — Pings 2-16. ME — Haen 3-122.