The fans that made the two-hour trek to Clayton were treated to an offensive explosion as the 6-1 first placed Clayton Bears of the North Central-West Conference squared off with the 5-2 Owen-Withee Blackhawks of the North Central-East Conference in a huge game for both teams as the game would have huge implications for the winner in the Play-off Matrix.
The Bears featured a 6’1”, 255 lb. bruising running back and a two-year All-Conference quarterback at the controls averaging over 40 points per game. The challenge for the Hawks defense was to get to the big back before he could square his shoulders and get up field and then contain the quarterback knowing he was going to get his share of yards but minimize the big play.
And BIG plays there were, anywhere from a 96-yard fumble recovery by Talon Mueller for a TD to an 88 yard kick-off return for a touchdown by the Bears, to two TD pass receptions of over 50 yards one by each team, to nine rushing plays of 30 plus yards! The game never lacked excitement as both teams traded scores early on in the game. The momentum changer in the first half was the big fumble recovery by Mueller in the second quarter that gave the Hawks a two-score lead at 30-14.
The second half started with the Bears returning the second half kick-off to cut the lead to 30-20. But the key to the game was the resiliency of the Blackhawks as they always were able to answer. The Hawks offensive line of Winston Poehler, Jordan Wulff, Jack Wendler, Aron Sanchez, and Tegan Treankler were dominant as they owned the line of scrimmage allowing the Hawks to roll up 468 rushing yards. Talon Mueller accounted for 179 yards on 24 carries and Clay Mueller had a huge night racking up 271 yards on 14 carries. Isaiah Pyrchalla delivered a back breaking 50-yard scoring strike to Winston Poehler in the fourth quarter while managing the offense to a T.
The Blackhawks defense made the big plays when they had too. The defensive front line of Poehler, Wulff and Wendler and the linebacking duo of Sanchez and Mueller limited the Bears to just 63 yards on the ground in the second half while Clay Mueller put the final nail in the coffin with an interception return of 37 yards down inside the Bears 10-yard line late in the fourth quarter.
The huge win for the Blackhawks moved them up to a fourth seed in the matrix and they will host the fifth seeded Almond-Bancroft Eagles at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the WIAA play-offs. Come out and enjoy high school football at its best as your own Owen-Withee Blackhawks begin their Play-off journey!