By Becky Walz,
South Winn’s Brennan Franzen grabs hold of a Knight for a tackles as Eric Greve (left) and Kyle Kuboushek (8) come to assist. (Photo by Becky Walz)
Friday’s non-district homecoming game came down to the wire as the South Winn football team (1-3, 1-1) were looking to defeat Newman Catholic for the second year in a row. The Warriors had their hands full throughout the game, but in the end the pesky Knight defense got the stop it needed to spoil homecoming 44-42.
“Our kids executed our offensive game plan at a high level. Our offensive line played their best game, led by Tristen Bodensteiner, Ray Lienau, Adam Schmitt, Logan Tieskoetter, Aydan Polafox-Schultz and Brandon Kriener. We were able to record 29 1st downs (highest total since stat tracking has taken place) and 448 yards on the ground,” said coach Jason Ohrt. “We have things to improve on as we struggled defensively and were unable to make a play on 3rd and 4th down despite putting Newman in long yardage situations a number of times.”
Holding in check
The Warrior offense lit up the scoreboard less than two minutes into the game on a quarterback sneak by Braiden Todd. Then it was defense’s job to hold the Knights in check. However, on Newman’s first drive, they took a methodical approach to score after taking nearly four minutes off the clock. A missed PAT left the Warriors with a slim advantage that grew to 14-6 as Kyle Kuboushek drug a pair of Knight defenders over the goal line with him with 1:25 remaining in the first.
Several long passes by Newman opened the second period that landed the Knights in the end zone with only 21 seconds in. A successful two-point conversion knotted the game 14-14. Then it was back to work for the Warrior offense with Eric Greve and Kuboushek getting their names called to carry the pigskin and another South Winn score. This time the Warriors missed the PAT. Newman responded with a score in the final minute of the quarter leaving the two teams equal at 20-20.
The cat and mouse game continued in the third quarter with each squad putting up a score and two-point conversions, leaving the game deadlocked at 28 with 12 minutes to play. As the game rolled on, neither team was forced to punt the ball away, as the Knights put up two more scores. An early fourth period touchdown had the Warriors trailing by just one score late in the game, which came in the final two minutes. Looking to tie the game with a possibility of overtime, South Winn went for the two-point conversion and fell short.
Those numbers
South Winn collected 29 first downs and 448 rushing yards.
Individually, Kuboushek led the running game with 216 yards on 31 carries. Todd picked up 153 yards on 15 carries, while Greve had nine touches for 79 yards.
The defense was led by Kuboushek who had seven solo and two assisted tackles. Yahir Macario was there for five solo and four assisted stops. Brennan Franzen and Greve also had five solo tackles.
Up next
The Warriors are back in district action Friday, Sept. 27 and will travel to AGWSR (1-3, 1-2). The Cougars have lost their last two games, Nashua-Plainfield 48-7 and North Tama (38-9). AGWSR’s lone win of the season was over BCLUW 14-13.
Game stats
Total yards: SW 448; Newman 439
Passing (comp/att/yds): Braiden Todd (0-4)
Rushing (att/yds): Kyle Kuboushek (31-216, 3 TD); Todd (15-153, 2 TD); Eric Greve (9-79, 1 TD)
Tackles (total): Kuboushek (8.0); Yahir Macario (7.0); Brennan Franzen (6.0); Greve (6.0); Todd (4.5); Carson Streeter (2.5); Landon Livingood (2.0); Tristen Bodensteiner (2.0); Ayden Palafox (0.5); Ray Lienau (0.5)
Kick-offs (att/yds): Streeter (7-375, 1 TB, 2 PAT)
Kick-off returns (att/yds): Streeter (4-96); Todd (1-19); Greve (1-11)
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