BELLEVILLE - Playing for a lost teammate is never easy - especially when the ball doesn't bounce your way.
The Belleville-Albany Wildcats took one on the chin the same night the team was remembering Tyler Monicken, a senior lineman who died the weekend before practice started.
Wildcats' head coach Barry Lengfeld said mistakes and bad breaks led to Orfordville Parkview's 49-15 football win Friday.
"When we go home and break down film, we're going to see that 80-85 percent of the game is good, but when (Parkview) breaks one, it seems like they go all the way," Lengfeld said.
The Wildcats were looking to improve on a 39-7 loss to Edgerton in Week 1, and started by holding Parkview's impressive offense to just 10 yards and a punt on its first possession.
Then, everything started going downhill. Senior running back Nick Davis had the ball pop loose from his grip on Belleville-Albany's third play. The ball was caught in mid-air by Parkview's Jamie Wichser and returned 45 yards for a touchdown.
The Wildcats then held the ball for eight plays, but were forced to punt after a dropped pass and personal foul. The defense did its part again, though, forcing Parkview to go three-and-out.
Belleville-Albany's third possession ended with a bad snap on fourth down, and the Vikings took advantage, going 33 yards on just four plays for the score.
Parkview's third score came on a 65-yard run by Caleb Fakes, and a fourth was just a five-play, 15-yard drive that resulted in a passing score. The drive capitalized on Davis' second fumble of the night.
"I had my head down pretty good. Both of my fumbles were turned into points," said Davis, who finished with 97 yards on 16 carries.
Parkview's last score of the half came with just 39 seconds left, as Cameron Zipse dashed 66 yards on the possession's only play.
"We need to tackle better. Sometimes we wrap them up, but they break our tackles and go in and score a touchdown," Davis said.
The second half was a different story. Despite the running clock, the Wildcats outscored Parker 15-14 thanks to a 17-yard touchdown run on a draw by sophomore quarterback Collin Adams in the third, and a 10-yard touchdown pass from Adams to Mike Nolden. Nolden's grab came in the right corner of the endzone on a jump ball.
"It was great teamwork. It really picked the team up," Adams, starting in his first varsity game, said of his score.
Parkview's two scores came on a 65-yard run by Fakes and a 60-yard run by Tim Heller. Fakes' run was in the third quarter, and the Vikings' first play after Adams dashed into the endzone. Heller's run came on the second play of a Vikings possession in the fourth quarter.
"The score made it look like we got killed. But they had four or five long runs because we couldn't tackle or didn't fill in the right gap," Lengfeld said. "Learning the new defense and offense will take time.
"If you look in the second half, we outscored (Parkview). We have a lot of work to do, but we can put together a full game. Mistakes and fundamentals are crucial, and we'll fix that."
Adams completed 10 of 14 passes with an interception and touchdown. He also rushed for 47 yards on eight carries.
"He looked all right. He's got to start carrying the ball higher and going more north and south than east and west," Lengfeld said. "Going east and west you usually will lose one or two yards, and north and south you gain one or two. That's a difference of four yards and our guys haven't quite figured that out yet."
The Wildcats had seven runs for negative yards, and 12 for less than three yards.
Belleville-Albany plays at Lake Mills next week.
The Belleville-Albany Wildcats took one on the chin the same night the team was remembering Tyler Monicken, a senior lineman who died the weekend before practice started.
Wildcats' head coach Barry Lengfeld said mistakes and bad breaks led to Orfordville Parkview's 49-15 football win Friday.
"When we go home and break down film, we're going to see that 80-85 percent of the game is good, but when (Parkview) breaks one, it seems like they go all the way," Lengfeld said.
The Wildcats were looking to improve on a 39-7 loss to Edgerton in Week 1, and started by holding Parkview's impressive offense to just 10 yards and a punt on its first possession.
Then, everything started going downhill. Senior running back Nick Davis had the ball pop loose from his grip on Belleville-Albany's third play. The ball was caught in mid-air by Parkview's Jamie Wichser and returned 45 yards for a touchdown.
The Wildcats then held the ball for eight plays, but were forced to punt after a dropped pass and personal foul. The defense did its part again, though, forcing Parkview to go three-and-out.
Belleville-Albany's third possession ended with a bad snap on fourth down, and the Vikings took advantage, going 33 yards on just four plays for the score.
Parkview's third score came on a 65-yard run by Caleb Fakes, and a fourth was just a five-play, 15-yard drive that resulted in a passing score. The drive capitalized on Davis' second fumble of the night.
"I had my head down pretty good. Both of my fumbles were turned into points," said Davis, who finished with 97 yards on 16 carries.
Parkview's last score of the half came with just 39 seconds left, as Cameron Zipse dashed 66 yards on the possession's only play.
"We need to tackle better. Sometimes we wrap them up, but they break our tackles and go in and score a touchdown," Davis said.
The second half was a different story. Despite the running clock, the Wildcats outscored Parker 15-14 thanks to a 17-yard touchdown run on a draw by sophomore quarterback Collin Adams in the third, and a 10-yard touchdown pass from Adams to Mike Nolden. Nolden's grab came in the right corner of the endzone on a jump ball.
"It was great teamwork. It really picked the team up," Adams, starting in his first varsity game, said of his score.
Parkview's two scores came on a 65-yard run by Fakes and a 60-yard run by Tim Heller. Fakes' run was in the third quarter, and the Vikings' first play after Adams dashed into the endzone. Heller's run came on the second play of a Vikings possession in the fourth quarter.
"The score made it look like we got killed. But they had four or five long runs because we couldn't tackle or didn't fill in the right gap," Lengfeld said. "Learning the new defense and offense will take time.
"If you look in the second half, we outscored (Parkview). We have a lot of work to do, but we can put together a full game. Mistakes and fundamentals are crucial, and we'll fix that."
Adams completed 10 of 14 passes with an interception and touchdown. He also rushed for 47 yards on eight carries.
"He looked all right. He's got to start carrying the ball higher and going more north and south than east and west," Lengfeld said. "Going east and west you usually will lose one or two yards, and north and south you gain one or two. That's a difference of four yards and our guys haven't quite figured that out yet."
The Wildcats had seven runs for negative yards, and 12 for less than three yards.
Belleville-Albany plays at Lake Mills next week.
