SOUTH WAYNE — Despite three turnovers, Black Hawk-Warren defeated Seneca-Wauzeka-Stueben 26-0 in a WIAA Division 7 Level 1 playoff game on Friday, Oct. 20. After each turnover, the Warrior defense came up clutch, forcing a Blue-Gold turnover.
“There’s a lot of trust in the defense that we will make up for our offensive mistakes,” senior defensive back Andrew Figi said. “We just need to stay calm. It’s a little bit of pressure, but nothing we can’t handle.”
The defense was put to the test right away on SWS’s opening drive. The Blue-Golds marched down to the Warrior 36-yard line on four carries by Lucius Cooley. On second down, Figi tackled Cooley for a 3-yard loss. Owen Seffrood didn’t allow quarterback Owen Oppriecht a single yard on the next play, and Brady Stietz forced a turnover on downs with his tackle.
Two plays later, Lane Marty ran 74 yards down the field to put BHW on the board 6-0 with 6:45 left in the first quarter.
“It starts up front with the line,” BHW head coach Desmond Breadon said. “If they don’t open up those holes, it doesn’t matter who you have back there. The line has done a great job all year.”
The Warriors turned the ball over for the first time to start the second quarter. Piercen Mahoney fumbled on the punt, and SWS recovered at BHW’s 30-yard line. The Blue-Golds entered the red zone on a 7-yard carry from Cohen Redman, but the Warriors kept the shutout entact.
Two holding penalties on SWS set up second-and-20. Oppriecht’s pass to Dawson Davidson fell incomplete, and, on the next play, Oppriecht got tripped up at the line of scrimmage. Although Oppriecht completed a pass to Cooley, Seffrood tackled him before the first-down marker, forcing a turnover on downs.
BHW began at its own 27-yard line, where Eli Schliem completed a 30-yard pass to Figi. With the help of a Blue-Gold penalty, the Warriors got a fresh set of downs. Two plays later, Marty completed the drive with a 24-yard TD run. Seffrood’s 2-point run failed, but BHW took a 12-0 lead with 4:37 left in the second quarter.
The Warrior defense put up another stop, giving its offense just over a minute left to work with in the first half. SWS’s punt pinned BHW on its own 4-yard line, but Marty brought it out to the 21 with a first-down run. Schliem then connected with Figi for a 32-yard pass. After a spike to stop the clock with 16 seconds left, Figi caught another deep pass and ran it down to the Blue-Gold 10-yard line. A spike and two incomplete passes later, the Warriors ran out of time in the half.
“I just trust my boys that we are going to execute,” Figi said. “It helps that we all trust each other. We would have had a lot more momentum (going into halftime with a touchdown), but we knew we were the better team all along.”
BHW received the ball to begin the third quarter, where Seffrood ran for back-to-back first downs. Following two tackles for losses and a short run, the Warriors faced fourth-and-5. Schliem found his favorite target, Figi, for the first down. After short runs from Marty and Seffrood, Schliem finished the drive with a 2-yard TD run and 2-point conversion.The possession took up nearly half of the third quarter.
“Those are critical eight minutes — the last four of the first half and the first four of the second half,” Breadon said. “We’ve got to take advantage of that.”
Three minutes later, the Warriors found the end zone again. The drive began at SWS’s 35-yard line, as Seffrood’s pressure led to a shanked punt. Bryce VanRaalte then caught a 21-yard pass. Two plays later, Marty ran 12 yards to the end zone.
For the final three minutes of the third quarter and the entirety of the fourth, BHW kept SWS from scoring. Key interceptions from Seffrood and Mahoney killed Blue-Gold drives.
“It sends a message to the next team we are playing,” Stietz said of the shutout. “They will be scared to play us, that’s for sure.”
Schliem finished 5-for-10 passing for 136 yards. Figi accounted for 115 receiving yards with four catches. On the ground, Marty led with 13 carries for 169 yards and three TDs.
No. 3 BHW advances to Level 2 against No. 2 Johnson Creek. The Bluejays beat Ithaca 36-30 in the final 16 seconds to keep home-field advantage.
