Decorah’s William Hahn (77) and Brady Benzing (2) team up to sack the Waverly-Shell Rock quarterback during the Vikings’ 35-20 win Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Amy Averhoff)
A surge of scoring, combined with unyielding defense, pushed the Decorah football team (5-1, 2-0) over Waverly-Shell Rock (0-5, 0-2) on the road Friday night, 35-20.
“We are proud of this rivalry win and the fact that our seniors had not been part of a win over Waverly-Shell Rock in their high school careers makes it very sweet. It was also a very big district win in the team’s goal to make the playoffs,” said Coach Pat Trewin. “We started slowly. Their size was giving us some trouble and their quarterback was incredibly accurate in the first half. Our offensive line was finally able to create a couple of creases for Dakota who was able to break two big runs. This was definitely a team effort. You can look at so many of the different people who contributed anywhere from one to several big plays.”
What a game
The Go-Hawks got on the board first. After stopping Decorah on its first drive, W-SR used the passing game to move the ball and score, going up 7-0 in the first. A Viking fumble in the second gave the home team the opportunity to lead 14-0. With time ticking, Decorah needed to find a spark and that came in the form of Trevor Kuennen when he picked up a fumble and ran it back 24 yards for the Vikings for the score. A next-to-last play of the half was a 29-yard field goal by the Go-Hawks to take a 17-7 lead into halftime.
“Trevor’s fumble return was a big spark for the turn around and the goal-line stand to give them only three points before halftime was also key to stopping their first half momentum,” noted Coach Trewin.
In the second play of the second half, Dakota Johnson broke loose from the Go-Hawks defense, sprinting 78 yards to the house, narrowing the W-SR advantage to 17-14. W-SR would add another 26-yard field goal to its tally in the third, but the second half belonged to the Vikings, as Johnson scampered into the end zone three more times in the fourth including 74-yard, 45-yard and 4-yard runs.
Final thoughts
The two squads were a balanced attack with Decorah garnering 323 total yards of offense to Waverly-Shell Rock’s 324.
Louis Bucksa completed 5-for-13 passes with Noah Milburn pulling down three and Gavin Groux grabbing two. Johnson led the rushing attacking with 16 carries for 243 yards, while Tommy Sexton picked up 33 yards on 12 rushes.
It was an all-out effort on defense. T. Kuennen led the way with five solo and five assisted tackles to go with his fumble recovery for a touchdown, while Kaiden Quandahl had six solo stop and three assisted tackles.
Back home
Decorah is back at home for a district contest against Marion Friday, Oct. 6, with kick-off at 7:30 p.m.
“We hope to have nice weather and a big crowd. The weather for homecoming kept some people away and this team is really fun to watch. It is a critical game in the district race,” concluded Coach Trewin.
Game stats
Total yards: Decorah 323; Waverly-Shell Rock 324
Passing (comp/att/yds): Louis Bucksa (5-13, 47 yds.)
Rushing (att/yds): Dakota Johnson (16-243, 4 TD); Tommy Sexton (12-33); Bucksa (4-0)
Receiving (att/yds/TD): Noah Milburn (3-50); Gavin Groux (2-(-3)
Tackles (total): Kaiden Quandahl (7.5); Trevor Kuennen (7.5); Brady Benzing (5.0); Kelley Gates (5.); Andrew Rhodes (4.5); Gatlin Dahlberg (4.0); Jeron Feuerhelm (3.5); Brady Bohner (3.5); Keaton Orris (3.5); William Hahn (3.0); Sexton (1.0); Johnson (0.5); Carter Dlhy (0.5)
Interceptions (no/return yds): Johnson 1
Fumble recoveries: T. Kuennen (1-76, 1 TD)
Punts (att/yds): Milburn (5-146)
Punt returns (att/yds): Groux (3-(-1))
Kick-offs (att/yds): Brayden Wemark (6-296, 1 TB)
Kick-off returns (att/yds): Johnson (1-24)
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