This story is sponsored by: Chips Hamburgers of Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids
By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – The Auburndale Eagles football team continued with Marawood Conference play by hosting the Marathon Raiders on Friday night at Auburndale High School. Despite surrendering some rare points, the Eagles were able to rack up plenty of their own in registering their sixth-straight win with a 50-22 rout.
The Eagles have now scored 281 points while giving up just 30 as they improve to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the Marawood.
However, after the Eagles fumbled away the second play of their opening drive, Marathon (3-3, 1-1 Marawood) put together their only real sustained drive of the game, albeit on a short field.
The six-play 43-yard drive culminated in a 15-yard scoring strike from quarterback Cooper Hoeksema to receiver Daniel LaQua. The duo also hooked up for the PAT and the visitors were up 8-0.
Click here to view the Marawood Conference football standings
The Eagles quickly answered back with an 11-play, 70-yard drive with quarterback Trayton Weber crashing in from the 1. Weber hit Timothy Schmitt for the PAT and it was tied at 8-8.
Auburndale’s Alex Wilfahrt snatched a Hoeksema pass out of the air and returned it for an apparent score but it was called back due to a penalty.
Auburndale had to punt, but four plays later Wilfahrt picked off another pass. The Eagles didn’t squander that opportunity as Weber scored from the 1 again five plays later.
Weber added his third TD, also from 1-yard out, with 8:51 left in the half as the Eagles began to roll.
Showing their versatility, Weber hit halfback Evan Scholl with a seemingly pedestrian middle screen – 61 yards later Scholl deposited the ball in the end zone making it 28-8 in favor of the Eagles.
About six minutes later, Weber hit Wilfahrt in what can only be described as a bomb down the right sideline for 59 yards and a 36-8 halftime lead.
“We had some turnovers,” said Auburndale coach Jay Anderson, “but I know the individual (Weber) that had three of them and he’s going to clean it up. He knows how to put himself in positions of success. We’ll clean it up. He’s going to lead the offense and give us balance.
“And the same thing defensively. We didn’t get the shutout but we played some good ‘D’ today.”
Scholl ran for a 13-yard touchdown at the 6:01 mark of the third quarter and Colton Weiler rammed one in from the 1 with four minutes left in the game for Auburndale’s final two scores.
Hoeksema hit Matt Annis on a 27-yard scoring strike to close out the third quarter for the Raiders and back-up Blake Kraft hit True Thurs for a score just before the game ended to provide the final score.
Auburndale held Marathon to just one rushing yard and outgained the Raiders 443-194.
“This was a nice, big step forward I think,” concluded Anderson. “We’re playing well, we just have to keep moving forward with the understanding that it keeps getting tougher.”
Auburndale will play at Abbotsford next Friday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m.
Eagles 50, Raiders 22
Marathon 8 0 8 6 – 22
Auburndale 15 21 7 7 – 50
First Quarter
M – Daniel LaQua 15 from Cooper Hoeksema (LaQua pass from Hoeksema), 9:03.
A – Trayton Weber 1 run (Timothy Schmitt pass from Weber), 5:41.
A – Weber 1 run (Aden Cherney kick), 1:10.
Second Quarter
A – Weber 1 run (Cherney kick), 8:51.
A – Evan Scholl 61 pass from Weber (Cherney kick), 7:02.
A – Alex Wilfahrt 59 pass from Weber (Cherney kick), 0:55.
Third Quarter
A – Scholl 13 run (Cherney kick), 6:01.
M – Matt Annis 27 pass from Hoeksema (Tyler Underwood pass from Hoeksema), :00
Fourth Quarter
A – Colton Weiler 1 run (Cherney kick), 4:10.
M – True Thurs 2 pass from Blake Kraft (pass failed), :09.
Team Statistics
First downs: M 9; A 18.
Rushing (att.-yards): M 27-1; A 45-206.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): M 17-26-193-3; A 12-17-237-0.
Total yards: M 194; A 443.
Fumbles (total-lost): N 2-0; A 3-3.
Penalties (no.-yards): M 3-20; A 5-40.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: M, Thurs 4-16, Mason Seehafer 3-6, Kraft 3-5, Hecktor Pintor 7-0, Annis 7-mius2, Hoeksema 3-minus 25. A, Weber 22-88, Scholl 14-56, Kaden Anderson 6-34, Cherney 2-16, Schmitt 1-12.
Passing: M, Hoeksema 15-24-160-3, Kraft 2-2-33-0. A, Weber 12-17-237-0.
Receiving: M, Annis 4-53, Seehafer 3-13, Griffin Treankler 2-58, LaQua 2-22, Cody Radtke 1-32, Parker Mathwich 1-7, Thurs 1-6, Pintor 1-minus 4. A, Schmitt 4-47, Cherney 4-46, Wilfahrt 2-83, Scholl 1-61.
Records: Marathon 3-3, 1-1 Marawood Conference; Auburndale 6-0, 2-0 Marawood Conference.