BLANCHARDVILLE - It's a game-winning play many prep quarterbacks, like Black Hawk senior Michael Flanagan, dream about.
Flanagan threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Jason Treuthardt to take a six-point lead over Pecatonica-Argyle with 1 minute, 23 seconds to go in the Six Rivers Conference showdown Friday. Flanagan then hooked up with senior Brody Milz on a two-point conversion pass to lead the fourth-ranked Warriors past the 10th-ranked Vikings, 22-20.
Flanagan's dream pass became reality when he hit a leaping Treuthardt, who was being covered by Pecatonica-Argyle's Mitch Flannery on the play. Flannery slipped and Treuthardt raced to the touchdown.
Flanagan then tossed the two-point conversion pass to Milz to put the Warriors up for good.
"It was a two-and-one play," said Flanagan, who completed 7 of 14 passes for 198 yards, in the game. "We had two (receivers go inside and one go outside. I just threw it up there and he (Treuthardt) made a great play. It was just a player making a play. That's just football." Despite Flanagan and Treuthardt's heroics, the game was far from over. The slogan on the bumper sticker of Pecatonica-Argyle junior quarterback Colton Schraepfer's car should read, "Never say die."
Schraepfer, who had 289 total yards including 175 rushing yards on 27 carries and scored three touchdowns (two running and one passing), had the magic touch in the fourth quarter. Both teams combined for three touchdowns in the final 2 minutes highlighted by Schraepfer leading two comebacks. Schraepfer connected with Cory Swenson on an 8-yard TD pass with four seconds to go to cut the Warriors' lead to two points. Schraepfer's two-point conversion run was stuffed by Black Hawk and the Warriors survived escaping with a critical win to improve to 4-0, 2-0 Six Rivers.
"He (Scraepfer) in my opinion is the best player on their team," Milz said. "I have a lot of respect for him. He's fast and quick. He was our key. We were just overpursuing because we are so quick and he was cutting it back. In the end, we were able to stuff that run."
"He (Schraepfer) plays his best when the lights are the brightest," Pecatonica-ARgyle coach Blake Bukowski said. "It took a while to get going, but when he did he was dynamic. If he can play fourth quarters like that the rest of the year we will be fine."
Early on, the showdown between two of the state's top-10, small-school ranked teams, looked like it would be a defensive battle. The Warriors' 11-play, 92-yard drive, on their first possession, culminated in Milz's 1-yard TD plunge. The big plays of the drive were Flanagan's 33-yard fade pass to senior Jett Rufenacht on a third-and-24 play from the Vikings' 33-yard line. Flanagan ran in the two-point conversion to give the Warriors an 8-0 lead. However, after that the game was a defensive battle.
Black Hawk's defense had three sacks. Black Hawk junior linebacker Mitchell Quinn had 1 ½ sacks. Rufenacht had one sack and senior Noah Metz had ½ sack.
Schraepfer had an 80-yard TD run early in the third quarter to cut the Warriors' lead to 8-6. That set the stages for a wild finish in the fourth quarter.
Pecatonica-Argyle senior Evan Prust had one interception and the Vikings also had one fumble recovery. After fumbling late in the third quarter, Milz redeemed himself by intercepting a pass by Schraepfer and returning it 14 yards to the Vikings' 1-yard line. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Milz rammed in a 1-yard TD run.
"They came in hard on the mesh (handoff between quarterback and Milz) and kind of tackled it," Milz said. "We had to keep playing and keep our heads up. It was nice to come back and have the offensive line mesh and get that touchdown."
Black Hawk coach Cory Milz was excited to get the win, but not satisfied.
"We did just enough on offense," he said. "We have a lot to work on. We will make some big improvements from this game. We have a lot of film. That kid (Schraepfer) is an outstanding athlete. We played without a starting offensive linemen (Avery Baumgartner) and we had a new guard in there get his first start."
Schraepfer completed 6 of 12 passes for 114 yards with one touchdown.
"This team is full of incredible athletes," Bukowski said of Pecatonica-Argyle. "I wished I would have put them in better situations, so we could have got it going earlier. When they play loose, they are fast and we can put up some points."
Flanagan threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Jason Treuthardt to take a six-point lead over Pecatonica-Argyle with 1 minute, 23 seconds to go in the Six Rivers Conference showdown Friday. Flanagan then hooked up with senior Brody Milz on a two-point conversion pass to lead the fourth-ranked Warriors past the 10th-ranked Vikings, 22-20.
Flanagan's dream pass became reality when he hit a leaping Treuthardt, who was being covered by Pecatonica-Argyle's Mitch Flannery on the play. Flannery slipped and Treuthardt raced to the touchdown.
Flanagan then tossed the two-point conversion pass to Milz to put the Warriors up for good.
"It was a two-and-one play," said Flanagan, who completed 7 of 14 passes for 198 yards, in the game. "We had two (receivers go inside and one go outside. I just threw it up there and he (Treuthardt) made a great play. It was just a player making a play. That's just football." Despite Flanagan and Treuthardt's heroics, the game was far from over. The slogan on the bumper sticker of Pecatonica-Argyle junior quarterback Colton Schraepfer's car should read, "Never say die."
Schraepfer, who had 289 total yards including 175 rushing yards on 27 carries and scored three touchdowns (two running and one passing), had the magic touch in the fourth quarter. Both teams combined for three touchdowns in the final 2 minutes highlighted by Schraepfer leading two comebacks. Schraepfer connected with Cory Swenson on an 8-yard TD pass with four seconds to go to cut the Warriors' lead to two points. Schraepfer's two-point conversion run was stuffed by Black Hawk and the Warriors survived escaping with a critical win to improve to 4-0, 2-0 Six Rivers.
"He (Scraepfer) in my opinion is the best player on their team," Milz said. "I have a lot of respect for him. He's fast and quick. He was our key. We were just overpursuing because we are so quick and he was cutting it back. In the end, we were able to stuff that run."
"He (Schraepfer) plays his best when the lights are the brightest," Pecatonica-ARgyle coach Blake Bukowski said. "It took a while to get going, but when he did he was dynamic. If he can play fourth quarters like that the rest of the year we will be fine."
Early on, the showdown between two of the state's top-10, small-school ranked teams, looked like it would be a defensive battle. The Warriors' 11-play, 92-yard drive, on their first possession, culminated in Milz's 1-yard TD plunge. The big plays of the drive were Flanagan's 33-yard fade pass to senior Jett Rufenacht on a third-and-24 play from the Vikings' 33-yard line. Flanagan ran in the two-point conversion to give the Warriors an 8-0 lead. However, after that the game was a defensive battle.
Black Hawk's defense had three sacks. Black Hawk junior linebacker Mitchell Quinn had 1 ½ sacks. Rufenacht had one sack and senior Noah Metz had ½ sack.
Schraepfer had an 80-yard TD run early in the third quarter to cut the Warriors' lead to 8-6. That set the stages for a wild finish in the fourth quarter.
Pecatonica-Argyle senior Evan Prust had one interception and the Vikings also had one fumble recovery. After fumbling late in the third quarter, Milz redeemed himself by intercepting a pass by Schraepfer and returning it 14 yards to the Vikings' 1-yard line. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Milz rammed in a 1-yard TD run.
"They came in hard on the mesh (handoff between quarterback and Milz) and kind of tackled it," Milz said. "We had to keep playing and keep our heads up. It was nice to come back and have the offensive line mesh and get that touchdown."
Black Hawk coach Cory Milz was excited to get the win, but not satisfied.
"We did just enough on offense," he said. "We have a lot to work on. We will make some big improvements from this game. We have a lot of film. That kid (Schraepfer) is an outstanding athlete. We played without a starting offensive linemen (Avery Baumgartner) and we had a new guard in there get his first start."
Schraepfer completed 6 of 12 passes for 114 yards with one touchdown.
"This team is full of incredible athletes," Bukowski said of Pecatonica-Argyle. "I wished I would have put them in better situations, so we could have got it going earlier. When they play loose, they are fast and we can put up some points."
