SOUTH WAYNE — The Warriors showed up from the get go and eliminated Highland from the postseason with an emphatic 56-20 victory Oct. 28 in Level 1 of the WIAA Division 7 playoffs.

“I’m very pleased with the way the boys played,” Black Hawk-Warren coach Desie Breadon said. “We played well on both sides of the ball. They played with a swagger and a chip on their shoulder.”

Senior QB/DB Reed McNutt had a career game, and made it known from the start it was his moment to shine.

On the first play of the game, he took an interception back for a 47-yard touchdown. He went on to finished the night with two INTs on defense, and on offense went 3-for-4 passing for 70 yards with a TD and an INT, plus another 183 yards rushing with two TDs on just five attempts.

“Reed was on another level last night. He had 300 total yards and four touchdowns,” Breadon said.

 Highland countered with a 68-yard pitch and catch from Cohen Healy to John Dreischmeier, but the 2-point conversion pass failed. Just 18 seconds later, the Warriors scored on an 89-yard TD run by McNutt to make it 16-6, and the game was never within one score again.

Black Hawk-Warren closed out the first quarter with a 24-6 advantage thanks to a 68-yard touchdown by Landen Mahoney. In the second, the Warriors scored twice more with a McNutt run of 49 yards and then an 18-yard pass play from McNutt to Lucas Milz. Highland scored just before the end of the half on a 32-yard pass to bring it to 40-14 at the break.

In the third quarter, the Warriors made it a 34-point lead with a 2-yard TD run by Milz, and then a 16-yard TD carry by Mahoney. Highland scored once more on a 55-yard pass from Healy to Michael Esser, but the running clock had started and never stopped again.

Mahoney had 138 yards on eight carries with two scores. Milz had a TD and 68 yards rushing, and Owen Seffrood gained 67 yards late in the game.

In all, the Warriors had 492 rushing yards and 562 yards of offense in the game. Healy had 274 yards passing for Highland with three TDs and four INTs — two each by Andrew Figi and McNutt. The Cardinals finished with just 61 yards rushing on 20 attempts.

“The O-Line played great. The DB’s continued to improve against a very good QB. Healy came in with about 1,500 yds passing and had only thrown four picks all year — our defense came up with four picks,” Breadon said.

Up next for BHW is Assumption, which ended the regular season as the state’s second leading rushing team. Monroe was No. 1.

Through Level 1 of the playoffs, Monroe is still No. 1 with 4,160 yards — an average of 10.0 yards per carry and 416 per game. Coleman (3,517) is now No. 2; Mayville (3,489) No. 3; Black Hawk-Warren (3,476) No. 4 and Assumption (3,460) fifth.

Assumption is a run-first team offensively, with 91% of all snaps ending in a rush. The Royals average 7.6 yards per carry and have 54 rushing touchdowns with zero fumbles on the year. In fact, with seven passing TDs and just one interception, the Royals have a 61:1 turnover margin.

Leading the way is Nick Leberg, who has gained 1,342 yards and 22 scores this season. Cade Statz has 766 yards (9.1 ypc) and 11 scores, while Manny Schultz has 549 yards (8.2 ypc) and seven scores. Quarterback Jack Klatt has 488 yards on 59% passing with six scores, and has gained another 372 yards and seven TDs on the ground.

Black Hawk-Warren has outscored opponents 380-205 this season, and also has less than 500 yards of passing (468). However, the Warriors have gained 3,476 on the ground with 44 TDs.

“The boys are peaking at the right time and playing up to their potential.  The last 3 weeks we have outscored our opponents 156-28 and out rushed them 1,208 yards to 224 yards,” Breadon said. “This next game is going to be very tough, but being able to play at home helps a lot.  Assumption is a big, physical team that likes to run the ball.  It should be another physical smash mouth type of game.”

Milz leads the way with 1,112 (8.2 ypc) rushing yards and 11 TDs, while Mahoney has 1,084 (9.3) and 17 TDs. McNutt has gained 835 yards (9.8 ypc) with 14 TDs and has all passing yardage for the Warriors.

“Lucas Milz and Landen Mahoney are both over 1,000 yards rushing on the season and Reed McNutt is closing in on 1,000 with 835 rushing yards. I can’t remember seeing a team with three 1,000-yard rushers,” Breadon said.