Local varsity football roundup
By Greg Seubert
A high-scoring offense and a stingy defense added up to another win for the Clintonville football team.
The Truckers held Northwoods Conference opponent Tomahawk to less than 100 yards of offense Oct. 14 in a 46-0 win over the Hatchets.
While the Truckers are heading to the WIAA playoffs, three other area teams wrapped up their season with a loss. Kingdom Prep Lutheran topped Iola-Scandinavia 30-24, Marshfield handed Hortonville a 35-22 loss and Xavier shut out New London 45-0.
Clintonville 46, Tomahawk 0
The Truckers found the end zone at least once in each quarter.
Zach Spaulding’s 37-yard run and Kade Rosenow’s 11-yard pass to Jordan Wegener gave the home team a 12-0 lead into the second quarter.
Clintonville added three more touchdowns before halftime, as Spaulding scored on a 60-yard run and Rosenow had scoring passes of 57 yards to Sam Wegener and 9 yards to Drake Lorge. The Truckers also picked up a safety on a blocked put.
Spaulding scored his third touchdown on a 1-yard run in the third quarter and Rosenow connected with Kolton Barkow for a 12-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.
Spaulding led all rushers with 223 yards, while Rosenow completed 11 of 25 passes for 195 yards. Jordan and Sam Wegener combined for eight catches for 160 yards.
Clintonville’s defense held the Hatches to minus-1 rushing yard and 98 yards through the air.
The Truckers improved to 6-3 on the season and finished fourth in the Northwoods standings behind Coleman, Crivitz and Crandon.
The Truckers will host Chilton at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, for a Level 1 playoff game. Clintonville is a No. 4 seed in Division 5, while Chilton is a No. 5 seed.
Kingdom Prep Lutheran 30, I-S 24
Iola-Scandinavia’s touchdowns came on Parker Gullixon’s 1-yard run and his 6-yard pass to Mason Kraemer in the second quarter and Jayden Singh’s 3-yard run and Jackson Fredy’s 25-yard field goal in the third quarter.
Kingdom Prep Lutheran’s touchdowns included a 9-yard run and John Davis III’s 53-yard interception return in the second quarter.
Fredy’s field goal gave the Thunderbirds a 24-12 lead, but Kingdom Prep tied the game with a 60-yard run in the third quarter and a 23-yard run in the fourth quarter in the fourth. London Francois broke the tie with a 4-yard run.
Gullixon led the T-Birds with 90 rushing yards.
Marshfield 35, Hortonville 22
The Tigers finished in a three-way tie for the Valley Football Association championship with Wausau West and Wisconsin Rapids with a win over the Polar Bears.
Nick Spencer recovered a fumble to set up Marshfield’s first score at the Hortonville 31-yard line early in the second quarter. Trevor Foemmel broke a scoreless tie with an 8-yard pass to Evan Jakobi.
Seth Valeri returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards that tied the game at 7-7, but Marshfield scored on its next drive on Foemmel’s 3-yard pass to Sam Meverden.
Hortonville drove to the Marshfield 1-yard line with time running out in the first half, but the Polar Bears ran out of time trying to kick a field goal after a pair of incomplete passes and a running play kept them out of the end zone.
Vaughn Kolbeck’s 44-yard interception return in the third quarter set up Marshfield’s first score of the second half. The Tigers took over on the Hortonville 21-yard line and scored on the next play on Foemmel’s pass to Brooks Hinson.
Foemmel added a 7-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the third quarter to give the Tigers a 28-7 lead.
Valeri caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Broden Butzin early in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers answered with Foemmel’s 23-yard pass to Hinson that gave Marshfield a 35-15 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Hortonville’s final score came on Butzin’s 64-yard pass to Colin Wendt.
The Polar Bears outgained the Tigers 395-357.
Xavier 45, New London 0
Reed Hietpas scored three touchdowns in the first half to help lead the Hawks over the Bulldogs.
Hietpas scored on 4- and 8-yard runs in the first quarter and added a 22-yard interception return in the second quarter.
Xavier held New London to 49 rushing yards and 23 yards through the air.
New London finished the season 1-8, while Xavier won the Bay Conference championship.