WIAA football pairings delayed
In a press release sent out late Friday, the WIAA announced a litigation suit was filed against them, which will slow the process of determining the postseason pairings. The full brackets, along with the 224 teams in the field, will be announced Monday by 5 p.m., instead of the initial timeframe of noon today.
BLANCHARDVILLE - It's not often that a football team headed for the playoffs changes its identity.
Black Hawk coach Cory Milz has wanted to see his team turn into a power running team. He got his wish Friday night as the Warriors rolled to a 44-27 win over Pecatonica-Argyle to put the Vikings on the playoff bubble. With Black Hawk junior quarterback Merik Meythaler out for the year with a broken plate in his tibia, the Warriors turned to the ground game. Black Hawk sophomore Jayden Rufenacht rushed for 216 yards and scored three touchdowns on 70-, 19- and 49-yard runs. Black Hawk senior Jace Johnsrud scored three touchdowns on 1-, 39- and 51-yard runs.
With Meythaler out for the year, Milz said it does change the focus of the offense. With Black Hawk's offensive line paving the way, the Warriors racked up close to 300 rushing yards.
"You have to do what you can with the personnel you have," Milz said. "We are not going to expect Kyle Walters to make split second decisions passing the ball. We have to run the football to take some pressure off of him. He is a capable passer. We will loosen the reins as we go on. He does a nice job of running the football. He's a quarterback who gives us that ability to run."
Rufenacht said he had to give kudos to the offensive line for opening up the holes.
"We just wanted to get a win going into the playoffs, beat our rivals and end their hopes," Rufenacht said. "I was confident in the line."
Highland stunned Potosi to earn a share of the Six Rivers title.
"It's a long season," Milz said. "It just goes to show you what can happen when you are lucky. I feel like we are as good of a team as Highland and Potosi. We weren't lucky. It just didn't go our way. We are a good football team. Hopefully, in the playoffs we get a little luck come our way."
Black Hawk did find some good fortune Friday,scoring 24 points off of five Vikings' turnovers. With Pecatonica-Argyle trailing 12-7 to start the third quarter, disaster struck with back-to-back turnovers that were back breakers for the Vikings.
Pecatonica-Argyle senior Jared Johnson fumbled and the Warriors recovered it at the Vikings' 43-yard line. One play later, Johnsrud bolted 39-yards for a touchdown. Black Hawk freshman Shawn Woodruff intercepted a Jon Hendrickson pass on the next possession and ran it back to the Vikings' 20-yard line. Walters capitalized on the short field tossing a 6-yard TD pass to Dejay Warrell to give the Warriors a 24-7 lead with 7 minutes, 12 seconds left in the third quarter. Rufenacht later added a 19-yard TD run to extend the Warriors' lead to 30-7.
"Any time you play a good team and give up that many turnovers you are not going to win the football game," Pecatonica-Argyle coach Larry Green said.
The Vikings (4-5, 4-4 Six Rivers) will now have to wait until Monday to find out whether they made the playoffs.
"In the past 4-4 has been good enough to get in," Green said. "We just have to be patient. We will have to come to practice Monday and see what happens."
The Vikings attempted to rally from a 23-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Hendrickson had 83 total yards and scored two touchdowns. He rushed for 60 yards and completed 5 of 17 passes for 23 yards. The Warriors committed two of their four turnovers in the fourth quarter.
Pecatonica-Argyle sophomore Alec Treuthardt scored on a 10-yard TD run and Hendrickson scored on a 6-yard run. Sophomore Christopher Severson threw a hook and lateral pass to Dillon Conwell, who flipped it to Johnson for a 14-yard TD that sliced the Warriors' lead to 36-27 with 42 seconds left. However, the Vikings missed a chance to cut it to a one possession game after missing the extra point.
Hendrickson threw two perfect passes to Kyle Zwicker in the fourth quarter, but he was unable to haul them in for what could have been two long touchdowns. Rufenacht put the game away with a 49-yard TD run.
"We just have to do a better job of coaching our kids in those hurry-up and two-minute situations," Milz said.
Black Hawk coach Cory Milz has wanted to see his team turn into a power running team. He got his wish Friday night as the Warriors rolled to a 44-27 win over Pecatonica-Argyle to put the Vikings on the playoff bubble. With Black Hawk junior quarterback Merik Meythaler out for the year with a broken plate in his tibia, the Warriors turned to the ground game. Black Hawk sophomore Jayden Rufenacht rushed for 216 yards and scored three touchdowns on 70-, 19- and 49-yard runs. Black Hawk senior Jace Johnsrud scored three touchdowns on 1-, 39- and 51-yard runs.
With Meythaler out for the year, Milz said it does change the focus of the offense. With Black Hawk's offensive line paving the way, the Warriors racked up close to 300 rushing yards.
"You have to do what you can with the personnel you have," Milz said. "We are not going to expect Kyle Walters to make split second decisions passing the ball. We have to run the football to take some pressure off of him. He is a capable passer. We will loosen the reins as we go on. He does a nice job of running the football. He's a quarterback who gives us that ability to run."
Rufenacht said he had to give kudos to the offensive line for opening up the holes.
"We just wanted to get a win going into the playoffs, beat our rivals and end their hopes," Rufenacht said. "I was confident in the line."
Highland stunned Potosi to earn a share of the Six Rivers title.
"It's a long season," Milz said. "It just goes to show you what can happen when you are lucky. I feel like we are as good of a team as Highland and Potosi. We weren't lucky. It just didn't go our way. We are a good football team. Hopefully, in the playoffs we get a little luck come our way."
Black Hawk did find some good fortune Friday,scoring 24 points off of five Vikings' turnovers. With Pecatonica-Argyle trailing 12-7 to start the third quarter, disaster struck with back-to-back turnovers that were back breakers for the Vikings.
Pecatonica-Argyle senior Jared Johnson fumbled and the Warriors recovered it at the Vikings' 43-yard line. One play later, Johnsrud bolted 39-yards for a touchdown. Black Hawk freshman Shawn Woodruff intercepted a Jon Hendrickson pass on the next possession and ran it back to the Vikings' 20-yard line. Walters capitalized on the short field tossing a 6-yard TD pass to Dejay Warrell to give the Warriors a 24-7 lead with 7 minutes, 12 seconds left in the third quarter. Rufenacht later added a 19-yard TD run to extend the Warriors' lead to 30-7.
"Any time you play a good team and give up that many turnovers you are not going to win the football game," Pecatonica-Argyle coach Larry Green said.
The Vikings (4-5, 4-4 Six Rivers) will now have to wait until Monday to find out whether they made the playoffs.
"In the past 4-4 has been good enough to get in," Green said. "We just have to be patient. We will have to come to practice Monday and see what happens."
The Vikings attempted to rally from a 23-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Hendrickson had 83 total yards and scored two touchdowns. He rushed for 60 yards and completed 5 of 17 passes for 23 yards. The Warriors committed two of their four turnovers in the fourth quarter.
Pecatonica-Argyle sophomore Alec Treuthardt scored on a 10-yard TD run and Hendrickson scored on a 6-yard run. Sophomore Christopher Severson threw a hook and lateral pass to Dillon Conwell, who flipped it to Johnson for a 14-yard TD that sliced the Warriors' lead to 36-27 with 42 seconds left. However, the Vikings missed a chance to cut it to a one possession game after missing the extra point.
Hendrickson threw two perfect passes to Kyle Zwicker in the fourth quarter, but he was unable to haul them in for what could have been two long touchdowns. Rufenacht put the game away with a 49-yard TD run.
"We just have to do a better job of coaching our kids in those hurry-up and two-minute situations," Milz said.
