By Paul Lecker
For Wausau Pilot & Review
WISCONSIN RAPIDS – A storm blew through South Wood County Stadium during the WIAA 8-Player Football Championship game on Saturday afternoon, and it wasn’t just weather related.
Snow and wind pelted the players during pregame warm-ups and much of the first quarter, and Wausau Newman Catholic continued with a tsunami of its own.
Four first-quarter fumbles led to three Newman Catholic touchdowns and the Cardinals went on to crush Belmont 54-0 to claim their second-straight 8-player state title.
“Sometimes you say people love football and love playing the game of football – these guys really do love playing the game and they love being around each other,” Newman Catholic coach Paul Michlig said. “They love playing Xbox before practice in the locker room, they love coming together to watch film, that’s what part of the dominance is.
“To go through a whole season and have a running clock every game, it’s surreal. It’s all about execution. It’s not by luck that these guys play good football. They play good football because they work at it.”
Belmont fumbled on the first offensive play of the game with Newman’s Eli Gustafson recovering. Quarterback Conner Krach then ran through the Braves’ defense untouched for a 31-yard touchdown and the Cardinals were off and running, leading 7-0 just 19 seconds into the game.
With the wind and snow blowing hard in its face, Newman kicked the ball hard into the front line of the Belmont kickoff team and Gustafson snagged the bounding ball at the 46. The Cardinals needed just three more plays to score again as Krach cruised in from 41 yards out.
On the ensuing kickoff, Newman did the same thing, with Wyatt Gasper recovering the kick that bounced off a Belmont player’s foot. The drive stalled and ended in a punt, but it didn’t much matter.
The Cardinals’ defense was dominant, allowing just 13 total yards in the game and only two first downs. The offense did the rest to finish off the huge victory.
After a botched snap on a punt attempt set up the Cardinals at the 7, Thomas Bates finished it off with a 5-yard TD run to give Newman Catholic a 21-0 lead after the first quarter.
Krach hit Bates for a 25-yard touchdown pass, ran in from the 1 following another Belmont fumble, and threw a 45-yard scoring pass to Bates. Bates added another 2-yard touchdown run just before halftime and the Cardinals led 47-0 at the break.
“They were focused from Day 1, focused during the offseason, this wasn’t by accident that these guys did what they did,” Michlig said. “They came out and played loose today, and it helps when you get three or four turnovers right away to start the game on kickoffs.”
With a running clock in the second half, due to a lead of more than 35 points, both teams only had the ball twice until Newman’s final possession that ended with three kneel downs. The Cardinals added their final score on a 13-yard touchdown run by reserve quarterback Tyler Ackermann.
Bates finished with 108 yards rushing and Krach added 101 as the Cardinals finished with 320 total yards in the victory.
“It takes hard work to be this consistent,” Bates said. “A lot of the credit goes to our coaches. They’re working us day in, day out, scouting for us. It’s incredible the job they do.”
Cardinals 54, Braves 0
Belmont 0 0 0 0 – 0
Newman Catholic 21 26 0 7 – 54
First Quarter
NC – Conner Krach 31 run (Matthew Hamilton kick), 11:41.
NC – Krach 41 run (Hamilton kick), 9:52.
NC – Thomas Bates 5 run (Hamilton kick), 5:23.
Second Quarter
NC – Bates 25 pass from Krach (Hamilton kick), 11:53.
NC – Krach 1 run (Hamilton kick), 9:58.
NC – Bates 45 pass from Krach (kick missed), 5:18.
NC – Bates 2 run (kick missed), 0:14.
Fourth Quarter
NC – Tyler Ackermann 13 run (Hamilton kick), 5:01.
Team Statistics
First downs: Belmont 2; Newman Catholic 14.
Rushing (att-yards): B 23-2; NC 39-234.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): B 2-7-11-1; NC 4-6-86-0.
Total yards: B 13; NC 320.
Fumbles (total-lost): B 7-4; NC 3-0.
Penalties (no.-yards): B 3-34; NC 6-50.
Punting (no.-avg.): B 3-19.7; NC 3-34.7.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: B, Noah Fritz 10-25, Konner Lancaster 1-1, Kolby Lancaster 11-minus 4, Team 1-minus 20. NC, Thomas Bates 16-108, Conner Krach 14-101, Matthew Meyer 3-16, Tyler Ackermann 2-10, Ben Hardety 1-2, Team 3-minus 3.
Passing: B, Kol. Lancaster 2-6-11-0, Fritz 0-1-0-1. NC, Krach 4-6-86-0.
Receiving: B, Bradley Reichers 1-9, Kon. Lancaster 1-2. NC, Bates 3-81, Hardesty 1-5.
Interceptions (defense): NC, Krach.
Fumble recoveries (defense): NC, Eli Gustafson 2, Wyatt Gasper, Matthew Hamilton.
Records: Belmont 10-2; Newman Catholic 12-0.
