Hawks put it all together in finale to earn convincing win
RIB LAKE-PRENTICE 35, LADYSMITH 7
It wasn’t enough to get them into the WIAA’s post-season tournament, but a convincing 35-7 win over Ladysmith Friday night gave the Rib Lake-Prentice football team a boost going into the offseason and provided the program’s 10 seniors with a happy send-off.
Of the varsity unit’s six offensive drives, five resulted in touchdowns during the first three quarters, while the defense shut out the Lumberjacks through three quarters, putting the Hawks on the right side of a running clock for the first time since the 2018 season finale against Chequamegon.
“It was pretty noticeable that we were able to keep some momentum this game,” Rib Lake-Prentice co-head coach Jonah Campbell said. “When the offense went down and scored, the defense was energetic, came out and made a stop. We just kind of rolled all game. There were no real momentum killers, no drive killers. It just continued all game for us.”
Offensively, the Hawks averaged 6.4 yards per rushing attempt while gaining 250 yards on 39 attempts. Senior Sam Gumz, after missing almost two full games with an injury, returned to the lineup and finished with one of his best games. He rushed for 179 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns. Senior Jordan Yanko added 50 yards on 10 carries and junior quarterback Michael Borchardt returned after a two-week absence and was efficient, completing five of six passes for 92 yards and a score.
“Overall the execution offensively was good,” Campbell said. “We didn’t have as many missed blocks. Michael threw the ball really well. Overall looking at the stats and the game film, it was pretty well executed all game long and it was the first time we’ve really done that. We had three fumble recoveries, and we never turned over the ball, so those are two pretty big stats right there.”
The Hawks methodically drove into Ladysmith territory and scored the game’s first points on a possession that lasted nearly five minutes. Yanko got the game’s first touchdown on a 3-yard score with 7:08 remaining in the opening quarter. Gumz ran in the two-pointer to give Rib Lake-Prentice an 8-0 lead. It marked just the second time all year the Hawks held a lead. The other was 6-0 against Webster back on Sept. 3, a game the Tigers won 8-6.
Rib Lake-Prentice forced a punt and got the ball back late in the quarter. The ensuing drive again was methodical and carried into the second quarter, when Gumz finished it off with a 1-yard score. Borchardt hit Michael Quednow with the two-point conversion pass to open up a 16-0 lead with 9:15 left in the first half.
A Ladysmith fumble gave the ball back to the Hawks and, this time, Rib Lake-Prentice went for the quick strike and got it with Borchardt finding Trey Klemann for a 43-yard touchdown on a play-action pass on the first play of the possession, making it 22-0.
The Hawks got the ball back at the end of the half, but that drive stalled after a pair of penalties. That, however, was the only the hiccup for the first-team offense.
Ladysmith fumbled away the opening kickoff of the second half, and Rib Lake-Prentice pounced on that opportunity. Gumz got his second score of night on a 5-yard touchdown run. Damien Peterson kicked the extra point to widen the lead to 29-0.
After another Lumberjack punt, Rib Lake-Prentice got another 5-yard touchdown run from Gumz with 16 seconds left in the third quarter.
Overall, the Hawks finished with 342 yards of total offense, a season-high.
On the defensive side of the ball, Campbell said the Hawks’ focus was to contain Ladysmith’s top offensive threats Brady Ingersoll and Grant Rydlund, which they did.
“The key was to take away Ingersoll,” Campbell said. “They ran some traps, some things we’ve seen all year. They did a little jet toss to Brady. We knew they had some bubbles they’d try to run on the outside to get the ball into Brady’s hands. Most of their yards came on a trap/counter type play. But for the most part we were able to shut it down and didn’t give them much momentum to ride off of.” Along with Gumz, Yanko, Quednow, Peterson and Klemann, the seniors playing their last games included linemen Grant Cravaack, Ty Annala, Brandon Heiser and Johnathan Konrad and receiver Alex Schantner.
Officially the Hawks went 3-4 in the Lakeland Conference while receiving forfeits for games originally scheduled with Flambeau and Lake Holcombe-Cornell before they made decisions to go to eight-player football. The Hawks were 1-7 in games actually played on the field.
“It would’ve been nice to play more games like this earlier in the year,” Campbell said. “I think we definitely had the potential this year to extend the season and have some post-season play. Unfortunately that didn’t work out. I think we can build on some of this momentum.”
Borchardt should be back as a veteran quarterback and Rib Lake-Prentice could have some key skill-position players back like Ty Heikkinen. Campbell said the key will be developing some of the young linemen, especially those who saw some varsity time this fall, even if it was limited.
“We’re going to have some younger guys there,” Campbell said. “If we can get off the ball and work in the off-season to get them strong enough and prepared, they can make the leap from sophomore to junior year and play well up front. Hopefully next year we can put this type of game together multiple times as far as execution goes and being able to move the ball and not making turnovers or getting behind the chains or the score too much.”
Running back Sam Gumz maintains possession for Rib Lake-Prentice by recovering this fumble before Ladysmith’s Aiden Wilson (3) or Grant Rydlund can get to it. Brandon Heiser blocks for the Hawks on the play.EMILY GOJMERAC/THE STAR NEWS
