LANCASTER - The Redbirds strong season is over after a hard fought 35-19 loss Saturday in the third round of the WIAA Division 5 football playoffs.
Alex Erickson lit up the Flying Arrows defense by running for 250 yards on 20 carries, including touchdowns runs of 99 and 75 yards, but the highlight-reel plays were not enough against the No. 3 ranked team in the state.
"We played hard and gave it everything we could. We gave it 110 percent, and that's all you can ask for," Erickson said.
In 2008, Lancaster upended the Redbirds 49-0 in the playoff opener, and Darlington was looking to keep the score much closer.
Darlington (10-2) tried some trickery early as Jason Boll converted a fake punt for a first down on the game's opening possession. A punt three plays later gave Lancaster the ball at its own 31.
Running a high-powered option attack, Lancaster balances the speed of running backs Tyler Whitish, David Koeller and quarterback Nathan Budack with the power to run inside with fullback Trevor Landon.
"They are not ungodly. They are just fast off the ball and they're well organized," Darlington linebacker Aaron Stauffacher said. "It's quick hitting but it can be stopped. You just need to execute."
The Flying Arrows (12-0) soon worked their way down the field, but a fumble by Landon near the goal line gave Darlington the ball back just four feet from the end zone.
A delay of game penalty pushed the Redbirds back to within two feet of the goal line, but that didn't stop Erickson. The junior quarterback took a shotgun sweep to the right side, broke a pair of arm tackles at the 5-yard line, then cut back to the left, and went untouched the rest of the way on the 99-yard scamper.
"I was just looking to give us some breathing room so we could go back to our base offense and get something going," Erickson said. "I just saw a seem, cut it back and it was off to the races."
The score with 2 minutes, 27 seconds remaining in the first quarter put Darlington, ranked seventh in the WisSports.net Coaches Poll, up on heavily favored Lancaster.
Lancaster got its offense moving again quickly by punching the ball in after a six-play, 67-yard drive with 11:16 left in the second.
Darlington regained the lead with 3:36 left in the half on a 4-yard dive by Dan Hammer. The Redbirds' drive looked stalled early on, but Erickson converted a 15-yard sweep on third-and-14 to continue the drive. Erickson had six runs for more than 10 yards in the game. Boll missed the extra point, making the score 13-7.
Lancaster scored with 26 seconds left to take the lead at the break.
"We told our guys that we were right in this. We just needed to make a few more plays and we thought we could do some things. We ran the ball pretty effective today," Darlington Head Coach Scott Zywicki said.
To open the third, the Flying Arrows came out sailing. On three consecutive option runs, Whitish and Budack went 72 yards combined for a score, just 51 seconds in to the third. In the game, Lancaster racked up over 450 yards on the ground.
"They came out explosive and we weren't ready for it," Stauffacher said of Lancaster's rushing attack.
Later, Whitish scored on runs of 75 and 14 yards to put Lancaster up for good.
"They're really good and physical. They came out and hit us. They played better than we did," defensive lineman Mark Brugger said. "We were really confident after the first half. But the second half we just kind of fell apart."
After Whitish's final score, Erickson took the first snap of the Redbirds' last possession 75 yards to the house with 1:40 left in the game on a play that looked nearly the same as the 99-yard run in the first half.
"We really thought we w.ere in this game. This team has so much pride," Tanner Andrews said. "They are a good team, a solid team. But so are we. It just hurts to lose."
After the Flying Arrows recovered an onside kick, many Darlington players might have known the game was out of reach.
"We were in it right until we didn't recover the onside kick. We came back against Palmyra-Eagle and we've come back against a lot of different teams in the past so we had a chance if we had gotten it," Stauffacher said.
Tucker Wiegel had 64 yards rushing and added a 14 yard reception. Hammer gained 33 yards total on the ground and sophomore fullback Seth Rowe had 20 yards.
For those coming back, the game also works as a lesson.
"It's an experience. Hopefully next year we can build on this and get better," Wiegel said.
As far as those leaving, Zywicki said that he and his team will miss this class more than any other.
"They've been nothing but classy. They were right there in the weight room and doing the running work outs. They led by example in every sense of the word - from their vocabulary and telling the younger kids what to do to all the way to how they played on the field. This will truly be the first time that I can honestly say that the group next year will sorely miss their leadership and their toughness," he said.
Alex Erickson lit up the Flying Arrows defense by running for 250 yards on 20 carries, including touchdowns runs of 99 and 75 yards, but the highlight-reel plays were not enough against the No. 3 ranked team in the state.
"We played hard and gave it everything we could. We gave it 110 percent, and that's all you can ask for," Erickson said.
In 2008, Lancaster upended the Redbirds 49-0 in the playoff opener, and Darlington was looking to keep the score much closer.
Darlington (10-2) tried some trickery early as Jason Boll converted a fake punt for a first down on the game's opening possession. A punt three plays later gave Lancaster the ball at its own 31.
Running a high-powered option attack, Lancaster balances the speed of running backs Tyler Whitish, David Koeller and quarterback Nathan Budack with the power to run inside with fullback Trevor Landon.
"They are not ungodly. They are just fast off the ball and they're well organized," Darlington linebacker Aaron Stauffacher said. "It's quick hitting but it can be stopped. You just need to execute."
The Flying Arrows (12-0) soon worked their way down the field, but a fumble by Landon near the goal line gave Darlington the ball back just four feet from the end zone.
A delay of game penalty pushed the Redbirds back to within two feet of the goal line, but that didn't stop Erickson. The junior quarterback took a shotgun sweep to the right side, broke a pair of arm tackles at the 5-yard line, then cut back to the left, and went untouched the rest of the way on the 99-yard scamper.
"I was just looking to give us some breathing room so we could go back to our base offense and get something going," Erickson said. "I just saw a seem, cut it back and it was off to the races."
The score with 2 minutes, 27 seconds remaining in the first quarter put Darlington, ranked seventh in the WisSports.net Coaches Poll, up on heavily favored Lancaster.
Lancaster got its offense moving again quickly by punching the ball in after a six-play, 67-yard drive with 11:16 left in the second.
Darlington regained the lead with 3:36 left in the half on a 4-yard dive by Dan Hammer. The Redbirds' drive looked stalled early on, but Erickson converted a 15-yard sweep on third-and-14 to continue the drive. Erickson had six runs for more than 10 yards in the game. Boll missed the extra point, making the score 13-7.
Lancaster scored with 26 seconds left to take the lead at the break.
"We told our guys that we were right in this. We just needed to make a few more plays and we thought we could do some things. We ran the ball pretty effective today," Darlington Head Coach Scott Zywicki said.
To open the third, the Flying Arrows came out sailing. On three consecutive option runs, Whitish and Budack went 72 yards combined for a score, just 51 seconds in to the third. In the game, Lancaster racked up over 450 yards on the ground.
"They came out explosive and we weren't ready for it," Stauffacher said of Lancaster's rushing attack.
Later, Whitish scored on runs of 75 and 14 yards to put Lancaster up for good.
"They're really good and physical. They came out and hit us. They played better than we did," defensive lineman Mark Brugger said. "We were really confident after the first half. But the second half we just kind of fell apart."
After Whitish's final score, Erickson took the first snap of the Redbirds' last possession 75 yards to the house with 1:40 left in the game on a play that looked nearly the same as the 99-yard run in the first half.
"We really thought we w.ere in this game. This team has so much pride," Tanner Andrews said. "They are a good team, a solid team. But so are we. It just hurts to lose."
After the Flying Arrows recovered an onside kick, many Darlington players might have known the game was out of reach.
"We were in it right until we didn't recover the onside kick. We came back against Palmyra-Eagle and we've come back against a lot of different teams in the past so we had a chance if we had gotten it," Stauffacher said.
Tucker Wiegel had 64 yards rushing and added a 14 yard reception. Hammer gained 33 yards total on the ground and sophomore fullback Seth Rowe had 20 yards.
For those coming back, the game also works as a lesson.
"It's an experience. Hopefully next year we can build on this and get better," Wiegel said.
As far as those leaving, Zywicki said that he and his team will miss this class more than any other.
"They've been nothing but classy. They were right there in the weight room and doing the running work outs. They led by example in every sense of the word - from their vocabulary and telling the younger kids what to do to all the way to how they played on the field. This will truly be the first time that I can honestly say that the group next year will sorely miss their leadership and their toughness," he said.
