NEW GLARUS - New Glarus-Monticello junior Lukas Kolasch believes in the age-old adage that defense wins championships.
If that holds true, New Glarus-Monticello is in good hands after its defense forced four turnovers and the Knights rolled to a 35-6 homecoming win over Belleville-Albany Friday night.
"It's the key to championships," said Kolasch, who ran for two fourth quarter touchdowns as the Knights scored 21 fourth quarter points. "Our goal was to shut down (Donovan) Woods and their quarterback."
Woods rushed for 93 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown. Belleville-Albany quarterback Collin Adams completed 3 of 12 passes for 79 yards and the Knights intercepted him twice. Kolasch, Corey McGowan and Tyler Dorn each had interceptions for the Knights. Dorn rushed for 155 yards on 13 carries and had a 55-yard TD run at the end of the third quarter that broke the game open. McGowan rushed for 107 yards on 13 carries, scored a touchdown and had a sack.
"Our defense really stepped up," New Glarus-Monticello senior Dallas Boley said. "As long as we are turning the ball over, we are getting better field position every play."
For most of three quarters, the Belleville-Albany defense bent, but didn't break. The first half was marred by penalties and missed scoring opportunities for the Knights. The Wildcats (0-5, 0-1 Capitol South) forced the Knights (5-0, 1-0) into two turnovers on downs on their first two drives.
New Glarus-Monticello senior Mason Lockard's 16-yard TD run in the first quarter was wiped out by a false start penalty. The 10-play, 59-yard drive was thwarted when Belleville-Albany stuffed the Knights on 4th-and-1 from the 6-yard line.
The Knights had an 11-play drive come up short when Kolasch's 3-yard run on 4th-and-6 from the Wildcats' 9-yard line was short of the first down marker.
The Knights cashed in on great field position on their second drive in Wildcats' territory. Kolasch ran an option and pitched to McGowan on a 22-yard TD run at 8 minutes, 13 seconds in the second quarter.
"They never really stopped us. We stopped ourselves," New Glarus-Monticello coach Jeff Eichelkraut said. "In the second quarter, we pressed a little bit because we didn't get a score in the first quarter."
The Wildcats had the makings of a scoring drive to open the third quarter when Woods ripped off a 46-yard run. One play later, Lockard recovered a Wildcats' fumble.
Dorn raced for a 55-yard TD run with 2:57 left in the third quarter to give the Knights a 14-7 lead. The Knights' offense then got rolling in the fourth quarter by getting outside. Kolasch capped an eight-play, 50-yard drive when he scored a 5-yard TD run to give the Knights a 21-6 lead. The Knights racked up 387 total rushing yards, but many players believe they left more points out on the field.
"We were able to move the ball," Dorn said. "Once we got down to the red zone, we couldn't punch it in. It's the same as last week against Poynette. It could have been 14-0. It's just the penalties."
McGowan's interception in the fourth quarter set up the Knights' next scoring opportunity. Five plays later, Kolasch scored on a 9-yard TD run on the option to give the Knights a 28-6 lead with 4:55 to go.
"We expected that," Belleville-Albany coach Barry Lengfeld said of the Knights' option. "We had it schemed on defense. We just had guys out of position. Our defense played well in the first half. You can't win a game with that many turnovers."
New Glarus-Monticello sophomore Spencer Jones capped the fourth quarter scoring barrage with a 3-yard TD run.
"Lukas is getting more comfortable with that (triple option) and he made some good reads," Eichelkraut said. "We just had to finish drives and in the second half we started doing that. Once, we started doing that it was pretty much game over."
If that holds true, New Glarus-Monticello is in good hands after its defense forced four turnovers and the Knights rolled to a 35-6 homecoming win over Belleville-Albany Friday night.
"It's the key to championships," said Kolasch, who ran for two fourth quarter touchdowns as the Knights scored 21 fourth quarter points. "Our goal was to shut down (Donovan) Woods and their quarterback."
Woods rushed for 93 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown. Belleville-Albany quarterback Collin Adams completed 3 of 12 passes for 79 yards and the Knights intercepted him twice. Kolasch, Corey McGowan and Tyler Dorn each had interceptions for the Knights. Dorn rushed for 155 yards on 13 carries and had a 55-yard TD run at the end of the third quarter that broke the game open. McGowan rushed for 107 yards on 13 carries, scored a touchdown and had a sack.
"Our defense really stepped up," New Glarus-Monticello senior Dallas Boley said. "As long as we are turning the ball over, we are getting better field position every play."
For most of three quarters, the Belleville-Albany defense bent, but didn't break. The first half was marred by penalties and missed scoring opportunities for the Knights. The Wildcats (0-5, 0-1 Capitol South) forced the Knights (5-0, 1-0) into two turnovers on downs on their first two drives.
New Glarus-Monticello senior Mason Lockard's 16-yard TD run in the first quarter was wiped out by a false start penalty. The 10-play, 59-yard drive was thwarted when Belleville-Albany stuffed the Knights on 4th-and-1 from the 6-yard line.
The Knights had an 11-play drive come up short when Kolasch's 3-yard run on 4th-and-6 from the Wildcats' 9-yard line was short of the first down marker.
The Knights cashed in on great field position on their second drive in Wildcats' territory. Kolasch ran an option and pitched to McGowan on a 22-yard TD run at 8 minutes, 13 seconds in the second quarter.
"They never really stopped us. We stopped ourselves," New Glarus-Monticello coach Jeff Eichelkraut said. "In the second quarter, we pressed a little bit because we didn't get a score in the first quarter."
The Wildcats had the makings of a scoring drive to open the third quarter when Woods ripped off a 46-yard run. One play later, Lockard recovered a Wildcats' fumble.
Dorn raced for a 55-yard TD run with 2:57 left in the third quarter to give the Knights a 14-7 lead. The Knights' offense then got rolling in the fourth quarter by getting outside. Kolasch capped an eight-play, 50-yard drive when he scored a 5-yard TD run to give the Knights a 21-6 lead. The Knights racked up 387 total rushing yards, but many players believe they left more points out on the field.
"We were able to move the ball," Dorn said. "Once we got down to the red zone, we couldn't punch it in. It's the same as last week against Poynette. It could have been 14-0. It's just the penalties."
McGowan's interception in the fourth quarter set up the Knights' next scoring opportunity. Five plays later, Kolasch scored on a 9-yard TD run on the option to give the Knights a 28-6 lead with 4:55 to go.
"We expected that," Belleville-Albany coach Barry Lengfeld said of the Knights' option. "We had it schemed on defense. We just had guys out of position. Our defense played well in the first half. You can't win a game with that many turnovers."
New Glarus-Monticello sophomore Spencer Jones capped the fourth quarter scoring barrage with a 3-yard TD run.
"Lukas is getting more comfortable with that (triple option) and he made some good reads," Eichelkraut said. "We just had to finish drives and in the second half we started doing that. Once, we started doing that it was pretty much game over."
