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Warriors Lose Close Game Against Arlington in Class C-1 Playoffs

Warriors End 2007 Season with 6-3 Record

by Head Coach Chad Fox on October 29, 2007

Arlington (Class C-1 Playoffs - October 25, 2007)

Wahoo – 29
Arlington – 32

Click HERE to view Arlington game statistics.
Click HERE to view final cumulative season statistics

Wahoo had another hard-fought game for the First Round of District Playoffs. Turnovers and poor defense played a major part in the Warriors’ third loss of the season.

The first half was all offense for both teams as the Warriors had 189 yards of total offense in the first half to the Eagles 215 yards of total offense. Wahoo was led by a two-pronged offensive attack with Layne Moore and Tyler Brunsting amassing most of those yards on the ground. Brunsting had both of Wahoo’s touchdowns in the first half. The half closed with Arlington leading 18-14. 

The third quarter proved to be more of a defensive game with neither team scoring until late in the quarter. Wahoo’s score was set up by Moore’s 78-yard kick return.  Brunsting then finished the drive with his third touchdown run of the evening. The third quarter closed out with the Eagles leading 25-22. Arlington again scored in the middle of the fourth quarter to put them up by 10 points with just over five minutes left in the game.  Wahoo charged right back going to the air. Moore hit Taylor Murren on a 51-yard toss pass, and then Brunsting went to Taylor for a 26-yard pass to set up the Warriors’ final points of the evening. Moore scored on a 4-yard run to cap the drive. Wahoo then set up for the on-side kick, but was unsuccessful in recovering both attempts. 

Offensively, Brunsting finished the game with 81 yards rushing on 10 carries and Moore led all rushers with 130 yards on 35 carries. Murren was the leading receiver with two catches for 77 yards. 

Defensively, the Warriors were led by Camdyn Kavan with 17 tackles and Jake Stewart with 11 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 2 sacks. Ben Grandgenett and Matt Myers both had interceptions and Murren was able to come up with the only fumble recovery for the evening.

Wahoo finishes its season 6-3, with many of the games having exciting finishes. 

Wahoo Bishop Neumann (Home - October 18, 2007)

Wahoo – 9
Neumann – 33

Click HERE to view Bishop Neumann game statistics.
Click HERE to view cumulative season statistics.

It was a tough night for the Warriors with critical turnovers killing drives that would have lead to scores. Wahoo had three fumbles and one interception that led to the Warriors demise.

In the first quarter the Neumann Cavaliers did a great job of using field position and the wind to get their first 12 points and 6 more points early in the second quarter, while Wahoo had a tough time moving the ball. Wahoo’s defense was plagued by poor tackling and blown assignments that also contributed to the Cavalier’s scoring drives. 

The game can easily be told by the rushing statistics, where Neumann averaged over six yards a rush and Wahoo was under three yards a rush. Neumann’s running game was in full swing with a steady dose of Iso’s and Counter’s that kept Wahoo’s defense on its heels.

Neumann also complimented their running game with some key play action passes to extend their drives into Warrior territory.

Wahoo’s offense was limited by turnovers, with two turnovers inside the 5 yard line and an interception inside the 20 yard line. Wahoo’s offense finally got on the board late in the fourth quarter. Layne Moore led Wahoo’s rushing attack with 120 yards on 33 carries. 

Tyler Brunsting had a difficult time throwing the ball with the wind and poor field conditions. Tyler finished 3-15 for 29 yards and 1 INT.

Defensively, Wahoo was led by Camden Kavan’s effort with 9 unassisted, 5 assisted tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 sack. Chris Ludi finished with 8 tackles for the Warriors, as well. The Warrior defense was unable to create any turnovers, which proved to be the big difference in the contest.

Wahoo will have to shake this loss very quickly as they will have a First Round Playoff Game vs. the Arlington Eagles at Wahoo High School game next Thursday. 

Ashland-Greenwood (Away - October 12, 2007)

Wahoo – 14
Ashland-Greenwood – 13 (2 OT)

Click HERE to view Ashland-Greenwood game statistics.
Click HERE to view cumulative season statistics.

The Wahoo Warriors managed to find a way to win another overtime thriller. Wahoo beat Ashland-Greenwood in the second overtime, 14-13. The game started on Friday night as scheduled, and only seven minutes into the first quarter Ashland took the lead after a blocked Wahoo field goal set up their first score. The game was called after that score because of lightning and did not resume until Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m.

When play resumed there wasn’t any scoring until early in the fourth quarter when Tyler Brunsting connected with Garett Bowers for a 49-yard touchdown pass. Wahoo threatened to score several times in the game only to be turned away by the Blue Jay defense.

The score remained locked at 7-7 until the second overtime when Ashland-Greenwood scored in two plays over the left side, and then missed the PAT. Wahoo then needed all four downs to tie the game when Tyler Brunsting had a 6-yard pass to David Stuchlik. Ethan Harders connected on his second PAT to win the game. 

Several Warriors led the way on offense: Brunsting ran the ball for 36 yards on 10 carries and threw the ball for 159 yards. Layne Moore had a great game on the ground with 21 rushes for 120 yards. Taylor Murren lead all receivers with 6 catches for 62 yards, followed by Bowers with 2 catches for 52 yards, and David Stuchlick with 3 catches for 24 yards.  

Defensively the Warriors showed more improvement with holding Ashland to 182 yards of total offense. Casey Nice led the Warrior defense with 14 tackles, followed by Camdyn Kavan and Murren with 12 tackles apiece. The Warrior defense had a decisive goal line stand in the first overtime, turning Blue Jays away on the goal line. 

This win was definitely a big win as the Warriors came from behind for the fifth time this season and secured a play-off spot in the C-1 Playoffs. Wahoo will have a chance to play for a District Championship on Thursday as they host the undefeated Wahoo Neumann Cavaliers at 7 p.m.

Boys Town (Away - October 5, 2007)

Wahoo – 0
Boys Town – 29

Click HERE to view Boys Town game statistics.
Click HERE to view cumulative season statistics.

Wahoo was defeated 0-29 after a night of Special Team miscues. The Warriors had a blocked punt in the 3rd quarter that was returned for a touchdown, and later in the quarter had a bad snap that lead to another Boys Town touchdown. Wahoo was unable to overcome these critical errors in their first loss of the season. 

The Warrior defense played an improved game against a very talented Boys Town club. Wahoo held the Cowboys to 224 yards of total offense. Leading Wahoo on defense was Chris Borreson with 5 assisted, 4 unassisted tackles and Taylor Murren with 8 assisted, 2 unassisted, and 2 tackles for losses. 

Offensively, the Warriors had a very tough time getting anything going. Boys Town proved to be too fast and athletic in their front 8 for Wahoo to sustain drives. Borreson led the Warriors with 26 yards on 8 carries and Tyler Brunsting had 16 yards on 10 carries. Murren led all receivers with 2 catches for 31 yards.

Wahoo will need to quickly put this game behind them and focus on Ashland – Greenwood, as they travel to Ashland on Friday for a 7:00 p.m. game.

DC West (Homecoming - September 28, 2007)

Wahoo – 34 OT
DC West – 27

Click HERE to view DC West game statistics.
Click HERE to view cumulative season statistics.

Wahoo needed a little extra time to defeat their opponent this week. Wahoo struck first in overtime with three straight running plays. The Warriors then played some stout defense holding DC West to -2 yards in the extra period for Wahoo’s fifth straight victory.

At the end of the 3^rd quarter it wasn’t looking like Wahoo was going to be able to pull out the Homecoming win, being down 27-6. At that point the Warriors had three turnovers and a blocked punt, all adding to their demise. It wasn’t until early in the 4^th quarter with 11:58 on the clock that Tyler Brunsting hit Taylor Murren in the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown pass to start the comeback. Wahoo then played great defense to get the ball back to the Offensive Unit and the Warriors later scored with Chris Borreson running it in from 42 yards out. The Warriors then scored in the final minute of the game for the second straight week with Tyler Brunsting’s 2-yard touchdown run to send the game into overtime. DC West won the coin toss and elected to go on defense first, so Wahoo took the opportunity to score first for 28 unanswered points. The Warrior Defense then stopped the Falcon’s attack to win the game, as the Wahoo student body stormed the field. 

Defensively, the Warriors were able to show improvement with only giving up 252 yards on short fields all night, because of the Warrior turnovers. Senior Linebacker Camdyn Kavan finished with 15 tackles, 3 for losses. Ben Grandgenett, senior cornerback, finished with 4 tackles and 2 interceptions.  Garret Bowers played really well on defense with 13 tackles, 6 solos, 3 tackles for losses and 1 interception. 

On offense, Chris Borreson finished over the 100-yard mark for the second straight week, with 117 yards and 2 touchdowns. Layne Moore had 83 yards rushing and Brunsting added 38 yards rushing with 2 touchdowns. 

Next week Wahoo will go the Boys Town to take on the Top 10 Cowboys (4-1).

Yutan (Away - September 21, 2007)

Wahoo – 30
Yutan – 26

Click HERE to view Yutan game statistics.
Click HERE to view cumulative season statistics.

Wahoo continued its winning ways on Friday night pulling out a victory late in the 4th quarter at Yutan. Tyler Brunsting led the game-winning 96-yard drive with runs of 48 yards, 11 yards, and a touchdown run of 6 yards. The Warriors scored with 26 seconds left in the game. 

Wahoo’s offense managed to roll up 407 yards for the game, getting most of those yards on the ground (339). Leading the rushing attack was Brunsting with 141 yards and Chris Borreson with 113 yards. Taylor Murren led the Wahoo receivers with 3 catches for 72 yards.

The Warrior defense struggled the first half with stopping the Chieftain offense, giving up 200+ yards of total offense by half time. The defense improved its efforts in the second half by holding Yutan to less than 100 yards of total offense, including a goal line stand inside of 4 minutes in the game, which set up the winning drive. 

Wahoo’s special team units played really well, also. Moore recovered a fumble on a Punt and Jake Tenopir recovered an onside kick. Casey Nice punted really well, getting Yutan pinned deep in the second half. Ethan Harders was 100% on his PAT’s and 1 for 2 with his FG’s, hitting a key 25-yard FG right before half-time giving the Warriors momentum going into the 2nd half. 

Overall, we knew that it was going to be a tough game and that it would take a 4-quarter effort to get the job done. One of the things that I am most proud of is our kids managed to show some resiliency and find a way to win the game in the 4th quarter when things were not looking good. Hopefully that resiliency is a trait the Warriors will continue to show in weeks to come because the schedule doesn’t get any easier. 

The Warriors will welcome DC West to town on Friday night for Homecoming.

Lincoln Christian (Home - September 14, 2007)

Wahoo – 21
Lincoln Christian – 7

Click HERE to view Lincoln Christian game statistics.
Click HERE to view cumulative season statistics.

The Wahoo Warriors posted a great win on Friday night with a 21-7 victory over the Lincoln Christian Crusaders. Wahoo struck first with a 6-yard run by Chris Borreson with 2:44 left in the 1st Quarter. Wahoo scored again early in the 2nd Quarter with a 22-yard run by Layne Moore on a toss play to the outside. The score remained 14 – 0 going into half-time. 

The 2nd half started with a penalty on Lincoln Christian during Wahoo’s kick-off return, giving Wahoo great field position. The Warriors did not squander the short field, and Freshman Sean Lindgren threw a short play action touchdown pass to Borreson for Wahoo’s final score with 8:47 left in the 3rd quarter. Lincoln Christian finally got on the board with 4:47 left in the 4th quarter. Lincoln Christian then tried an onside kick on the next kick off and was unsuccessful as David Stuchlik recovered the kick for Wahoo. 

Overall, I believe that this was a great effort by our defense. We gave up a lot of yards to Lincoln Christian’s offense, but they have a lot of weapons that you have to try and stop. I felt our defense stepped up to the challenge by only allowing 7 points. Our secondary had a great game. Taylor Murren, Ben Grandgenett, Garett Bowers, and Layne Moore all played really well on defense. Between them they had 3 interceptions and some key open field tackles to stop the big play potential of the Crusader offense. I also thought Defensive Coordinator Jayson Iversen did a great job of mixing up his play calls so their coaches and players were confused with what coverages we were giving them. 

On offense, Layne Moore ran the ball extremely well with 231 yards rushing on 21 carries. Freshman Sean Lindgren managed the game well at his first start at QB, filling in for an injured Tyler Brunsting. Sean was 6 for 10 passing for 94 yards and 1 Touchdown pass. The offensive line bounced back from a sub par week and blocked really well against a big, athletic defensive line. We had at least five running plays that went for 25+ yards and that is because the O-Line took care of business on the first level and the receivers did an excellent job blocking down field. 

This was a big win for us this week against a quality opponent. Lincoln Christian is a talented team that could do well in their district if they get some momentum. 

Wahoo moves to 3-0 and will go to Yutan next week to open District play. Yutan is also 3-0 and looks to be another tough opponent for the Warriors.

Mount Michael (Away - September 7, 2007)

Wahoo – 29
Mt. Michael – 20

Click HERE to view Mount Michael game statistics.
Click HERE to view cumulative season statistics.

This week proved to be much of the same for the Warriors. We fell behind early again in the 1st quarter 14-0. It wasn’t until late in the 2nd quarter (2:47 left) and we posted our first score with a screen pass from Tyler Brunsting to Chris Borreson for 41 yards. It didn’t take long after that and the Warrior Defense scored with Jake Stewart returning a fumble 28 yards with 2:11 left in the 2nd quarter. Our defense stepped up again and played great, forcing Mount Michael to punt right before the end of the half.  We then used some trickery to score our third touchdown with less than a minute left in the half. Layne Moore connected with Taylor Murren for a 45-yard Toss Pass. Wahoo lead at half-time 19-14. 

We received the ball the second half and benefited from a great kick-off return from Moore.  Our drive started on Mt. Michael’s side of the 50, and we were successful with reestablishing the run, driving the ball down inside the 10-yard line. Ethan Harders kicked a 25-yard field goal to cap the drive with 8:52 left in the 3rd quarter. Mt. Michael and Wahoo traded punts, but Wahoo fumbled on the return giving Mt. Michael a short field to set up their third touchdown with 5:29 left in the 3rd quarter. Neither team could really gain an advantage until half way through the 4th quarter when Murren intercepted a Mt. Michael pass. Wahoo later scored on a Brunsting run of 1 yard with 5:39 left in the 4th quarter. We were able to hang on and hold Mt. Michael on a 4th down with less than 2:00 minutes left and we were able to run the clock out. 

I thought Taylor Murren played pretty well on both sides of the ball, with 1 TD reception for 45 yards and 7 tackles, 1 sack and 1 interception. On defense Jake Stewart and Casey Nice both played really well with Jake having 6 tackles and the fumble return for a touchdown and Casey having 11 tackles with 1 tackle for a loss. 

Offensively we had a difficult time finding our rhythm.  We were able to hit a few big plays and sustain a couple of crucial drives, but other than that we struggled a little bit.

Defensively we improved from week one, but we still were susceptible to the big play with all of Mt. Michael’s score coming on plays from 30 yards or greater. That is something we definitely will need to improve on for next week. 

We will really need to improve our special team play before next week when Lincoln Christian comes to town. Lincoln Christian will be coming to Wahoo with a strong performance against a top ranked Boys Town team. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Wahoo High School.

Centennial (Home - August 31, 2007)

Wahoo - 43
Centennial - 26

Click HERE to view game statistics.

We had a slow start to the game and Centennial came out hot. We gave up a couple of big plays and got down earlier. Defensively we struggled to stop the big play in the first half and Centennial did a great job of executing. They came out with more intensity and we didn’t match their intensity early in the game.

It wasn’t until midway through the second quarter we made some adjustments on defense and caught a couple of breaks to turn the momentum of the game in our favor. After scoring a third touchdown we didn’t look back from a 22-18 lead. 

The second half we renewed our commitment to run the ball and use field advantage to seal the victory. 

On offense Tyler Brunsting played a great game, running for 100 yards and throwing 8 for 9 for 83 yards and 3 TD passes. Layne Moore also played well, rushing the ball for 193 yards on 23 carries and having 3 Rushing TD’s. Layne came out after half-time and rushed the ball extremely well, earning the majority of his yards and all of his TDs in the second half. Taylor Murren ended up being Brunsting's favorite target, having 5 receptions for 74 yards and 2 touchdown catches. 

I felt one of the keys to our offensive success was the way the offensive line performed in the second half. Jake Stewart, Matt Myers, John Krejci, Alex Callan and Jake Tenopir all did an adequate job of protecting Brunsting and giving him time to throw. What was even more impressive was the way they run blocked. When you have over 300 yards rushing the O-line is definitely getting it done up front. 

Defensively we were disappointed with the outcome of the game. We felt we should not been so prone to the big play, but those are all things we can learn from and get better at defending. We don’t want to take anything from Centennial. They had some pretty good young skilled players that made some big plays. 

We know that we have to improve in all areas of the game very quickly, because our schedule will keep getting tougher each and every week.