BRODHEAD — In Level 1 of the WIAA Division 5 football playoffs, the Cardinals emphatically took care of business in defeating Watertown Luther Prep 48-7.
“I was happy with how we came out,” Brodhead-Juda coach Jim Matthys said. “I thought we got a little lax there on that (second) defensive drive, but then we stiffened up. I think we played a little bit more physical after that and executed.”
Brodhead-Juda (8-2) will host Laconia (6-4) in Level 2, with the game set for 7 p.m. on Oct. 29.
On just the second play of the game, WLP (4-6) tried to pull off some early trickery, hoping to catch the Cardinals off guard. Running back Calvin Burow took a pitch to the right side, but then pulled up to throw. A receiver was open down the field, but the heavy Cardinals rush forced Burow to pull the ball back in and cut back to the center of the field and reset to throw. He lost the handle when getting hit, and Brodhead senior lineman Austin Moe was Johnny-on-the-spot and intercepted the pass.
“I haven’t had that happen in my four years of high school,” Moe said. “It was a pretty cool experience to get that. Getting that stop and then scoring again — that’s a big momentum breaker.”
Brodhead-Juda took over at the WLP 40-yard-line, and just four plays later were on the board thanks to a 33-yard TD run by Aidyn Vondra. The Phoenix answered right back with a 10-play, 80-yard drive that took more than five minutes off the game clock.
“We just had to bounce back. It was one play that got us,” Moe said, referencing a 38-yard run by Arthur Robinson that set up a short score three plays later. “After that one play, we got it back together. We rely on our defense a lot. Defense wins championships.”
Needing to respond themselves, the Cardinals answered the call. On just the third play of their next possession, quarterback Gabe Bockhop went through his progressions on a roll out and found Gunner Boegli in stride down the field for a 56-yard score.
“Coach always tells me to go through my reads, and I either see Gunner or Von. If you just throw it somewhat their way, they’ll catch it,” Bockhop said. “The amount of trust I have in them is just amazing. We put a lot of time together in the offseason. We’ve thought all offseason that we have so much potential and we could go to state.”
It wasn’t the only time the two connected in the game, either. The pair had another 50-yard completion on the first play of their next drive, then added a 45-yard jump ball catch later in the second. Mixed with the steady rushing attack, the quick hits were too much for the Phoenix defense as the Cardinals went up 35-7 by halftime.
“Anybody that’s playing us is going to try and stop the run. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve been able to get guys open in the passing game, which I think has diversified our offense a little bit more than where we were in the first half of the year,” Jim Matthys said. “There’s going to be games down the road where we will probably need that passing game, so it’s nice to know that we can count on it.”
Defensively, the 80-yard drive was just one of two first half WLP drives that netted positive yards. The other drive had a 2-yard carry on first down, and then Boegli intercepted a pass on the outside on the very next snap. The Cardinals had a third interception the possession before, as Vondra tipped a pass across the middle that floated into the arms of Joe Lohmar, who then dashed 40 yards to the WLP 6, setting up a quick 1-play score by Blake Matthys.
By halftime, Brodhead-Juda had out-gained WLP on offense 270 yards to just 58. In the second half, the defense stayed firm. By the time the regulation clock ran out, the Cardinals had gained 359 yards of offense on 43 snaps (8.3 yards per play) while allowing just 157 yards on 41 plays (3.8 ypp).
“Obviously, they (WLP) are a good football team. Everybody that’s still alive at this point is good, and you certainly can’t go into any playoff game thinking you’re going to shut somebody out,” Jim Matthys said.
Vondra had a 67-yard punt return for a score in the third quarter and finished with 64 yards rushing and two scores on just five carries. Isaac Saunders had 10 totes for 46 yards, and Blake Matthys added 76 yards and a score on 12 rushes, and Sean Huffman had two touchdown runs. Bockhop was 4 of 6 passing for 145 yards, with 151 to Boegli.
Up next for second-seeded Brodhead-Juda is No. 3-seed Laconia, which blanked Wautoma 42-0 in Level 1. The Spartans were outscored this year 228-216, as well as out-gained. Laconia has over 2,000 rushing yards as a team, but under 600 through the air. Meanwhile, the Cardinals now have more than 1,000 yards passing and 2,300 rushing, all while outscoring their opponents 324-105 and allowing 2,100 total yards on defense.
“Our line is making holes for the backs and giving me time on passes. We put in plenty of plays, like rollouts to look for other guys. We have such a great offense going right now,” Bockhop said. “Our defense has been making big plays that have helped get us the momentum. It’s all going great.”
Blake Matthys is the Cardinals’ leading runner with nearly 700 yards on the ground this season, while Saunders and Vondra both have more than 400 yards rushing. Bockhop has just under 1,000 yards passing with 11 TDs to just one pick.
Laconia’s Keeton Grade is the only player on the roster to have completed a pass this year, completing 45.3% of his attempts for three TDs and 11 INTs. Ashton Pike and Wyatt Schaefer handle much of the running attack, with Pike gaining 908 yards and nine scores this year, and Schaefer gaining 684 yards and 12 TDs. Grade and Jack Rens have each carried 63 times, with 240 and 192 yards gained.
“The road keeps getting harder. It’s ride or die. We need four good days of practice and hustle, and if we do that, we’ll let Friday do the talking,” Moe said.
And the Cardinals get to play at home, which will be highly beneficial, as the Spartans will have to travel about two hours on the bus from Rosendale.
“Anytime you can play at home it’s huge — especially for us with as far as we have to travel in our conference. The difference is jumping on a bus to being here ready to go,” Jim Matthys said.