Cadott falls to Colby in buzz bowl battle

By Ross Pattermann

It was Hornet vs. Hornet, as Cadott traveled down State Hwy. 29 to take on the Colby Hornets Oct. 11, in their final Cloverbelt Conference clash. Each team will find themselves in different conferences when the WIAA’s footballonly realignment plan comes into effect next year.

Both teams gave fans something to talk about in their possibly last ever meeting, as conditions more befitting winter, ripped through the field.

With winds howling, and snow flurries falling intermittently, Brady Spaeth and a stingy Cadott defense, held firm through one quarter, keeping the Hornets’ high powered offense scoreless. Two touchdowns in the second quarter and one in the third from Colby, gave them a 20-0 victory over their rivals, as Cadott drops to 3-5 on the year, and 3-5 overall, effectively eliminating them from the playoffs.

Not even another big night from Spaeth, who finished with 118 yards on 23 carries, could break past Colby’s defense. On eight separate occasions, Colby forced Cadott to turn the ball over on downs. Spaeth would go over the 1,000yard mark and Nelson Wahl would add 87 yards on 14 carries.

Cadott’s defense came up with several big plays, forcing fumbles and sacks, and intercepting Colby’s Roman Schmitt once.

“Spaeth has been running the ball hard and our offensive line has done a great job blocking for him, and once we got that outside corner, we were able to pound the ball up the middle,” said Wahl. “I doubt Colby expected it to be this kind of game, and I think a game like this shows if we just trust each other and keep working hard, we can compete with anybody.”

After the scoreless first quarter, Colby’s Schmitt found Harley Schmelzer for a 16-yard touchdown reception. Cadott stopped the point after and the game stayed close, but with just over 90 seconds left in the first half, Colby’s Gavino Lopez broke containment and sprinted away from Cadott defenders, for a 73-yard touchdown run.

The two-point conversion was stopped, but Cadott was behind, 12-0, at the break.

Each team failed to generate much offense in the second half, as temperatures plummeted. A big punt return from Noah Robida gave Colby excellent field position in the third quarter and on the second play of the drive, Lopez scored from eight yards out. A successful two-point conversion made it 20-0, with just under four minutes remaining in the third.

Each team struggled for the remainder of the game, with Colby coming up with five consecutive stops on fourth down, and even with Spaeth and Wahl, along with Gavin Tegels and Ethan Tegels bulling their way forward on the line, Cadott could not punch the ball into the endzone. Both teams struggled to move the ball, which was a testament to Cadott’s growth throughout the season.

The Hornets limited senior Colby tailback Tyler Klement to just 62 yards and the entire Colby offense to 252 yards, but Colby returned the favor, holding Cadott to 223 yards, with 178 yards rushing.

Tristan Drier added two passes for 45 yards, with Wahl hauling in both receptions.

“It didn’t come out how we wanted to, but we played hard and still played a really good game,” said Wahl. “Ethan Tegels came back from injury, so that was fun to see.”

Cadott looks to regroup, as they host the Boyceville Bulldogs in the final game of the regular season, which double as the 20th anniversary celebration of the 1999 football championship.