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MarshfieldAreaSports.com
STRATFORD – For the second straight week, Stratford faced Auburndale, and for the second straight week the Tigers prevailed.
The Tigers again owned the second half and cruised to a 42-7 win in a WIAA Division 5 Level 1 playoff game Friday night at Tiger Stadium.
Stratford (7-2) will face former Marawood Conference rival Spencer/Columbus Catholic (7-2) in a Level 2 game next Friday at Spencer at 7 p.m.
Auburndale ends its season with a 5-4 record after qualifying for the WIAA playoffs for the second time in the last three years.
The score was tied 7-7 late the second quarter before Eli Temanson hauled in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Drew Spaeth to give Stratford a 14-7 lead going into the break.
Just like in last week’s regular-season finale, the Tigers owned the second half.
Stratford ripped off 28 unanswered points, scoring two touchdowns on punt returns in the third quarter and another in the fourth on an interception return.
Temanson returned a punt 63 yards for a score with 8:25 to go in the third quarter and after forcing Auburndale to punt again just 2 minutes later, Jake Reif brought the punt back 42 yards for a touchdown to put Stratford up 29-7.
Travis Urlaub ran 25 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter and less than a minute later Greg Belter returned an interception 39 yards for the game’s final TD.
Urlaub ran for a game-high 90 yards on 12 carries and Spaeth threw for 61 yards for the Tigers.
Auburndale quarterback Blake Anderson threw for 167 yards, but was picked off three times in the loss.
Tigers 42, Apaches 7
Auburndale 0 7 0 0 – 7
Stratford 7 7 15 13 – 42
First Quarter
S – Eli Temanson 11 pass from Drew Spaeth (Jake Zuelke kick), 5:05.
Second Quarter
A – Austin Hawkins 12 pass from Blake Anderson (Trevin Oertel kick), 8:00.
S – Temanson 32 pass from Spaeth (Zuelke kick), 2:19.
Third Quarter
S – Temanson 63 punt return (Zuelke kick), 8:25.
S – Jake Reif 42 punt return (Urlaub pass from Temanson), 6:17.
Fourth Quarter
S – Travis Urlaub 25 run (Zuelke kick missed), 9:54.
S – Greg Belter 39 interception return (Zuelke kick), 9:00.
Team Statistics
First downs: Auburndale 16; Stratford 11.
Rushing (att-yards): Auburndale 36-21; Stratford 33-158.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Auburndale 17-31-167-3; Stratford 4-11-61-0.
Penalties (No.-yards): Auburndale 2-25; Stratford 5-40.
Punting (No.-avg.): Auburndale 5-33.0; Stratford 3-37.0.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: A, Canyon Weiler 15-41, Jake Lewis 4-16, Wyatt Weiler 7-minus 4, Blake Anderson 10-minus 32. S, Travis Urlaub 12-90, Eli Temanson 9-53, Jake Reif 6-39, Drew Spaeth 2-minus 4, Bryce Reif 1-minus 4, Michael Bargender 1-minus 8, Kellen Bornbach 2-minus 18.
Passing: A, Anderson 15-28-167-3, W. Weiler 2-3-minus 1-0. S, Spaeth 4-10-61-0, M. Bargender 0-1-0-0.
Receiving: A, C. Weiler 6-36, Austin Hawkins 3-43, Isaac Castellano 3-53, Matthew Nikolay 2-33, W. Weiler 2-2, Zach Staats 1-minus 1.
Records: Auburndale 5-4; Stratford 7-2.