Waubonsie Valley rolls over Bartlett
After both teams traded touchdowns on their opening possessions of Friday night's football game, the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division contest between host Bartlett and Waubonsie Valley looked like it might be a barnburner.
The Warriors used just 5 plays and capped a 60-yard drive with a QB keeper from Zach Bennema for a 7-0 lead. The Hawks then marched 71 yards on 12 plays, converted on three third down plays and tied the game on Travious Brown-Utley's 9-yard run.
However, from there it was all Warriors as they scored on all but 2 of their 9 possessions, and the Waubonsie Valley defense pitched a shutout from there in a 49-7 win at Millennium Field to spoil the Hawks' (2-2, 1-1 UEC Valley) homecoming game.
“We were expecting it to be back and forth all game,” said Warriors coach Paul Murphy. “(Bartlett's) been playing great defense the first three weeks, but we were able to move the ball well and we really had great field position throughout the second half.”
Waubonsie Valley (4-0, 2-0) took the lead for good on its second possession of the game with a 49-yard TD run for Tony Durns resulting in a 14-7 lead. The Warriors led 21-7 at halftime as Bennema threw a 25-yard TD pass to Keaton Casey in the second quarter.
In the second half, the Warriors had three drives start in Bartlett territory and another that started at their own 49-yard line, and they needed just three offensive plays to score their first 2 touchdowns of the half.
Bennema ran for 105 yards on 10 carries on the night, and put his team up 35-7 with touchdown runs of 40 and 20 yards in the third quarter.
“Really, we just wanted to start with the run and hopefully that would open up the pass,” Bennema said. “That really worked out for us tonight, and I was able to run the option effectively.”
Rodney Gee and Ryan Berg added TD runs of 10 and 4 yards respectively to cap the Warriors' scoring.
Bartlett had earned 5 first downs on its opening drive but tallied just 3 more the rest of the night. Nolan Bernat led the Hawks with 73 yards on 19 carries.
For the Bartlett defense, which allowed just 20 points through 3 games, it struggled to defend the Waubonsie Valley option. Along with Bennema, Durns finished in triple-digits for rushing with 114 yards on 10 carries.
“Waubonsie has a great offense, and they have a triple-threat offense,” Hawks' coach Tom Meaney said. “Their quarterback does a great job hiding the ball and keeping the defense guessing, and he has a great back behind him.”