Depending on what poll you were looking at, the Wisconsin Rapids Assumption Royals were ranked in the top three teams in the state in 8-man football when they came to town for a big North Central-East Conference showdown with the Blackhawks. The challenge for the Hawks was going to be to control their big guys up front and to play discipline defensive football verses the Royal’s option offense. Mother Nature was forecast to maybe impact the game with rain but it turned out to be a great evening for high school football.
As in the case of most big games like this, it comes down to the team making the big plays when needed that comes away with the win. Friday night belonged to the Royals as they converted on six 4th down plays, keeping drives alive and eventually scoring. The Hawks, on the other hand, left a minimum of three scores on the field when they got inside the redzone and failed to punch it in.
The Royals opened the scoring with a 46-yard quarterback keep on the option to go up 8-0. The Hawks Isaiah Pyrchalla answered that score with a 29-yard touchdown run to bring the Hawks within two, 8-6 after the failed two-point conversion.
The second quarter is where the Hawks scoring woes started when they failed to get on the board after two long drives that ended up with no points put up on the scoreboard. Assumption added two scores of their own to go up 24-6 at the half.
The second half was another accumulation of missed opportunities for the Blackhawks as they just weren’t able to find the endzone. A fumble recovery and a big stop on fourth down gave the Hawks good field position but in each case the Hawks couldn’t finish the deal and came away empty. In the end, the Hawks and Royals traded scores in the second half making the final score 32-14.
The Blackhawks will travel to Thorp this Friday night to take on the Cardinals in the traditional “Can” game. The battle between the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s lives on and keeps the great high school rivalries alive and well. Kick-off is at 7:00 p.m.