SOUTH WAYNE — River Ridge gave No. 1-ranked Black Hawk/Warren its closest game during the regular season. The Warriors made darn sure it wasn’t going to be so close the second time around.
The top-seeded Warriors rushed for a season-high 430 yards and six touchdowns to go along with a dominating defensive performance as they throttled the third-seeded Timberwolves 49-7 in a WIAA Division 7 Level 3 playoff game held at Murphy Field Nov. 8.
“It was a great game. Our kids were excited to play River Ridge again to say the least,” said Warriors’ head coach Cory Milz after guiding his team to its 25th consecutive victory. “I think they were a little embarrassed that first game, and I think they wanted to send a message. Our kids did a great job of preparing this week. They looked at the film from the first game and learned from their mistakes. Boy, I tell you what, they played one heck of a game. I’m proud of them.”
The Warriors (12-0 overall) pulled out a 22-20 victory over the Timberwolves (8-4) in their conference clash on Sept. 27, when senior Jaylen Rufenacht knocked down a game-tying two-point conversion pass with 28 seconds remaining.
Rufenacht came up with a big play again for the Warriors in the playoff game — this time at the start of the game — by taking a handoff on the team’s first play from scrimmage and weaving between numerous River Ridge defenders to score a 91-yard touchdown that put the hosts ahead to stay. Senior Cayden Milz ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead at the 9:02 mark of the first quarter.
Milz ripped off a 15-yard TD run early and Rufenacht punched in the conversion to make it 16-0 in the second quarter, while senior Lucas Flanagan scored on a 6-yard sweep midway through the stanza to extend the lead to 22-0.
“I think they were a little embarrassed that first game, and I think they wanted to send a message. Our kids did a great job of preparing this week. They looked at the film from the first game and learned from their mistakes. Boy, I tell you what, they played one heck of a game. I’m proud of them.Black Hawk-Warren coach Cory Milz
Milz tacked on TD dashes of 5 and 4 yards in the second half to put complete the hat-trick and put the Warriors ahead 36-0 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Then Flanagan got the Warriors’ defense into the scoring act with a 49-yard pick-6 with 7:30 to play to make it 42-0.
River Ridge senior Brayan Barrita returned the ensuing kickoff 71 yards to the Warriors 13, and fellow senior Archie Cooley scored from 10 yards out two plays later to put the T’Wolves on the scoreboard. Kaine Baus added the extra point to make the score 42-7.
Rufenacht put the finishing touches on his huge night by racing 69 yards for his second TD of the game, and Bruno Sole Manor booted the point after to cap the scoring at 49-7.
“River Ridge is a very good football team who was playing with a lot of confidence. For our kids to play this way, I’m so proud of how we played tonight,” said Coach Milz.
Rufenacht, who also had two TD runs in the first meeting with the ‘Wolves, finished with 234 rushing yards to join Milz — who added 132 yards and three TDs in the game — over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Milz has rushed for 1,498 yards and 21 TDs so far this season, while Rufenacht has tallied 1,047 yards and 16 TDs on the ground.
After being held to a season-low 209 yards in their first meeting, the Warriors ran for a season-high 430 yards against the T‘Wolves on Friday night behind the line of seniors Nick Hull, Gunner Foecking, Ried Raisbeck, Avery Baumgartner, Nick Whitcomb and junior Skylar Neff.
“They have been doing that all year. They did an outstanding job of blocking and running. We wanted to be physical because River Ridge is a very physical football team that plays hard. I thought we did a great job of matching that physicality tonight,” said Coach Milz.
Flanagan rushed for 22 yards and a TD on two totes, and he added two catches for 20 yards to guide the Warriors’ aerial attack as well.
Defensively, the Warriors limited River Ridge to just 141 total yards on the night after allowing more than double that total in the first meeting. The T’Wolves torched them for over 200 yards in that first meeting, but could only manage 35 yards on seven completions the second time around.
“Our defense has been really good against the run all year. Our kids did a nice job of understandings where the mistakes were made in the first game and they really slowed them down. (River Ridge) has a good offense with a lot of speed, but tonight, for the most part, we were where we needed to be to make plays,” Coach Milz said.
River Ridge senior Will Esser carried it 15 times for 79 yards to lead the ground game. Senior Cole Crubel finished 7-of-13 passing from 35 yards with an interception, while senior Connor Mumm led the team with three catches for 28 yards.
The Warriors will head to Middleton High School on Nov. 15 to face off against Oshkosh Lourdes Academy (12-0) in a D7 state semifinal contest at Otto Brietenbach Stadium.
Lourdes defeated Hilbert 14-7 to earn its first state semifinal berth in 15 WIAA playoff appearances. Dual-threat junior quarterback Joshua Bauer has thrown for 1,984 yards and 29 TDs this season and has rushed for 987 yards and 17 TDs for the undefeated Knights.
“It’s exciting. At Level 4, you know you’re going to get a heck of an opponent. We’re happy to continue the season and get back to work to try and achieve the goal we set for ourselves this season,” Coach Milz said.
