This story is sponsored by: Jake’s Quality Repair
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – Auburndale had a promising, potentially game-tying or winning drive, thwarted with a fumble inside the 10-yard line with just more than one minute remaining and Edgar held on for a 21-14 victory in a Marawood Conference football game Friday night at Auburndale High School.
The loss is the first of the season for the Eagles, who fall into a tie for second place with Edgar in the Marawood standings. Both teams are now 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the conference, one game behind Colby, Auburndale’s final regular-season opponent next week.
Edgar, which hosts Marathon next week, and Auburndale could still finish in a tie for the Marawood title if both win next Friday.
“Our guys have a lot to play for,” Auburndale coach Jay Anderson said. “Our guys are competitive and I think, even if we didn’t have that (the conference championship) to play for, they would come ready. They enjoy playing the game and have good chemistry. They have a lot to play for.”
Edgar’s running game and Auburndale’s passing game were on display and they matched each other up to the end.
Edgar put together a 70-yard scoring drive that bridged the final three minutes of the first quarter and nearly the first three minutes of the second, ending in a 5-yard touchdown run by Karter Butt. The Wildcats added a two-point conversion and led 8-0.
After a three-and-out by Auburndale, Edgar looked to put some distance between itself and the Eagles, but Auburndale’s defense stiffened up in the red zone. Two plays inside the 10 ended with Edgar coming up a yard short on fourth down.
With just 2:51 left in the half, Auburndale wasn’t content to let time run out.
Quarterback Trayton Weber connected with Lucas Yeske for a 40-yard completion and later hit Tim Schmitt on a fourth-and-six to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Weber with 32 seconds left in the half. The two-point conversion failed and Edgar took an 8-6 lead into halftime.
Auburndale had a promising drive to start the second half end on downs. After an 11-play drive brought the Eagles down to the 15, an intentional grounding call pushed Auburndale back and a fourth-down play failed.
Edgar took over and used 12-straight running plays to find pay dirt as Jase Apfelbeck ran in from the 4 with 53 seconds left in the quarter and the Wildcats pushed their advantage to 15-6.
Auburndale responded as Weber completed passes of nine yards to Alex Willfahrt and 23 yards to Aden Cherney, and then capped off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. Weber hit Willfahrt for the two-point conversion, bringing the Eagles to within one at 15-14 with 9:27 to go.
After both teams went three-and-out, Edgar drove 57 yards on eight plays, all on the ground. With the help of a personal foul penalty and a facemask after picking up a fourth down, Butt ran in from the 3 and Edgar led 21-14 with 2:19 left.
Auburndale quickly drove down the field as Weber completed five-straight passes covering 73 yards. The final one went for four yards to Schmitt, who was stripped of the ball in a pile up and Edgar’s Teegan Streit recovered at the 8 with 1:17 left.
Auburndale got the ball back after a short punt with six seconds to go, but a Hail Mary pass to the end zone was tipped away to end it.
“It’s tough, there’s things we obviously could have and should have done better,” Anderson said. “I liked the way we responded. The first quarter, we had plenty of opportunities to make plays. You have to have some of those plays early on because when Edgar is ahead, it’s tough to come from behind against them.
“It’s our first loss, so we’ll see how we respond.”
Weber finished 16-for-29 for 232 yards passing, six of which went to Schmitt, for Auburndale.
Edgar racked up 250 yards rushing, 156 from Butt on 33 carries.
Click here to view the Marawood Conference football standings.
Wildcats 21, Eagles 14
Edgar 0 8 7 6 – 21
Auburndale 0 6 0 8 – 14
Second Quarter
E – Karter Butt 5 run (Brett Baumgartner pass from Teegan Streit), 9:16.
A – Trayton Weber 2 run (pass failed), 0:32.
Third Quarter
E – Jase Apfelbeck 4 run (Harrison Graveen kick), 0:53.
Fourth Quarter
A – Weber 5 run (Alex Willfahrt pass from Weber), 9:27.
E – Butt 3 run (pass failed), 2:19.
Team Statistics
First downs: Edgar 15; Auburndale 14.
Rushing (att-yards): E 51-250; A 25-89.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): E 2-3-29-0; A 16-29-232-0.
Total yards: E 279; A 311.
Penalties (no.-yards): E 8-78; A 4-47.
Fumbles (total-lost): E 1-0; A 1-1.
Punting (no.-avg.): E 3-26.7; A 3-30.3.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: E, Karter Butt 33-156, Kohlbe Weisenberger 12-60, Jase Apfelbeck 4-16, Leyton Schuett 1-11, Teegan Streit 1-7. A, Evan Scholl 11-50, Trayton Weber 13-32, Kaden Anderson 1-7.
Passing: E, Streit 2-3-29-0. A, Weber 16-29-232-0.
Receiving: E, Butt 1-15, Brett Baumgartner 1-14. A, Tim Schmitt 6-44, Lucas Yeske 4-68, Aden Cherney 4-77, Alex Wilfahrt 2-43.
Fumble recovery (defense): E, Streit.
Records: Edgar 6-1, 5-1 Marawood Conference; Auburndale 7-1, 5-1 Marawood Conference.