Eagles soar into playoffs

BEAVER DAM — Well, it’s official: the Eagles have landed ... in the WIAA playoffs, for the first time since 2007. Needing a win to guarantee themselves a spot in the postseason, Sauk Prairie’s football team went to Beaver Dam last Friday and left with a resounding 56-22 win in the final game of the regular season. Sauk Prairie finished the regular season 6-3 overall and 4-3 in the Badger North. It marks the Eagles’ first winning season since the 2007 campaign. Beaver Dam finished 2-7, 2-5. Sauk Prairie travels to Stoughton on Friday in a WIAA Division 3, Level 1 playoff game at 7 p.m. The Eagles received the sixth-seed in their bracket and Stoughton is the No. 3 seed. Fellow Badger North opponent DeForest is the top-seed in the Eagles’ bracket. “It means so much to make it to the playoffs, especially for the seniors,” Sauk Prairie senior Parker Breunig said. “I’m speechless. We expected this as a team, we were ready from day one to be in this moment — now here we are.” Senior running back Garrett Hertzfeldt agreed. “We knew we could do it, and we did it. This is huge,” Hertzfeldt said. “Now we get to play another week.” The Eagles’ appearance in the playoffs ends a decade-plus absence from the WIAA postseason, a stretch in which they compiled a 23-76 record between 2008-‘18. First-year head coach Clay Iverson came to Sauk Prairie with a 91-46 career high school coaching record, though, over 13 seasons. Iverson’s teams had also made the playoffs 10 times since 2007. Now, it’s the Eagles’ turn with Iverson at the helm, and the hard work they put in with the new coach is paying dividends. “”We just kept on pushing throughout the year,” senior Brooks Leister said. “We’ve been doubted the last few years, but now we’re in the playoffs.” “We worked hard in the weight room, and it paid off,” junior Tyler Uselman added. One week after rushing for a season-high 312 yards, the Eagles set a new season-high against Beaver Dam, churning out 405 yards on the ground on 46 carries. Sauk Prairie finished with 434 yards of total offense. The Eagles ran at will, with the Golden Beavers unable to find an answer for the punishing offensive line that opened huge running lanes all game. The Eagles had 15 rushes of 10 yards or longer and four that went for more than 20 yards. “That many rushing yards will make any coach smile,” Iverson quipped. “Credit to our offensive line, but also, we have some talented backs. They run hard and are very unselfish. But the offensive line and tight end — that’s where the games are won and lost.” Hertzfedlt led all rushers with 230 yards on 22 carries, an average of 10.4 yards per carry. Hertzfeldt also had nine runs of at least 10 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Tyler Uselman contributed 121 yards on 10 carries (12.1 avg.), including a 56-yard touchdown run, the longest offensive play of the night for either team. Senior Brooks Leister carried five times for 23 yards and a score. “Our offensive line had huge holes for us,” Leister said. “Our backs were eating up the holes and that was huge for us to keep truckin’ down the field.” Uselman and Hertzfeldt agreed that the line was locked in. “In practice, Coach (Iverson) always says ‘block for six seconds,’ ” Uselman said. “Doing that paid off tonight.” “Our line was ready to put their bodies on the line for us,” Hertzfeldt added. Sauk Prairie trailed early in the game after Beaver Dam took the opening drive 64 yards over nine plays for a touchdown. On second-and-33, Beaver Dam quarterback Carter Riesen hit receiver Broden Boschert on a screen for a 44-yard touchdown pass, and the Beavers led 7-0 with 8:34 left in the first. On the ensuing kickoff, Tyler Uselman returned the kick 83 yards for a score. The extra point failed and Sauk Prairie trailed 7-6, but momentum had shifted in favor of the Eagles. “I think we started getting nervous (after the Beaver Dam opening score), but right there with the kick return, we showed them that we came to play,” Breunig said. Uselman went untouched for the score and credited his teammates. “Everyone had great blocks,” Uselman said. “Garrett (Hertzfeldt) smoked a kid. There was a big hole for me and I just ran through it.” Sauk Prairie held Beaver Dam to consecutive three-and-outs and a turnover on downs over their next three drives after the kick return touchdown. The Eagles capitalized, scoring touchdowns on each of their first three drives and building a comfortable 34-7 lead with 3:42 left in the second quarter. To get there, Hertzfeldt contributed an 8-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and then the second quarter belonged to Breunig. He had a 24-yard passing touchdown to Dayton Goette, a 1-yard rushing score, and returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown to help the Eagles roll off 34 unanswered points. Beaver Dam showed a glimmer of hope late in the second quarter when Riesen connected with Brian Toth for a 24-yard touchdown. Still, the Eagles led 34-14 at halftime. “Football is a game of momentum, and we got on a roll in the second quarter,” Iverson said. “When this group enjoys playing football and not worrying about the scoreboard, they really do a great job. That second quarter was about as free and open and fast as we’ve played all year.” Sauk Prairie stalled on its first two drives of the second half, but put the game away after that, scoring touchdowns on their next three drives. Hertzfeldt ran for an 18-yard score, Leister added a one-yard touchdown, and Uselman ripped off his 56-yard score to give the Eagles 56 points. In the week leading up to the game, Sauk Prairie’s players knew what was at stake. “For the seniors, this could have been it,” Breunig said. “We wanted to play like this was going to be our last game.” ‘Get better’ has been the Eagles’ mantra all season long, and they’ll look to continue getting better as they prepare for Stoughton. “If we can be a better football team a week from now, that’s our job. We just come out and play hard,” Iverson said. “This team comes out to practice and they get better, that’s the secret to it. This team has improved from the first day until right now. “I give this group a lot of credit: you would think that not being in the playoffs for 12 years would put a lot of pressure on them trying to leave a mark and a legacy, but we didn’t really talk about it too much. We’re playing good football right now and we’re focused on us and getting better. There are only 32 teams left in Division 3, and we’re one of them, and we’re excited.” Oct. 18 SAUK PRAIRIE 56, BEAVER DAM 22 Sauk …........ 14 20 8 14 — 56 Beaver Dam ... 7 7 0 8 — 22 FIRST QUARTER BD- Boschert 44 pass from Riesen (Walters kick), 8:34 SP- Uselman 83 kick return (kick fail), 8:23 SP- Hertzfeldt 5 run (Breunig run), 4:13 SECOND QUARTER SP- Goette 24 pass from Breunig (kick fail), 11:53 SP- Breunig 1 run (two-point fail), 4:01 SP- Breunig 50 interception return (Breunig pass to Hertzfeldt), 3:42 BD- Toth 24 pass from Riesen (Walters kick), 0:15 THIRD QUARTER SP- Hertzfeldt 18 run (Hertzfeldt run), 2:29 FOURTH QUARTER SP- Leister 1 run (Vasquez kick), 8:30 BD- Boschert 36 pass from Riesen (Wendt-Utrie pass to Schoenberger), 7:13 SP- Uselman 56 run (Vasquez kick), 7:01 TEAM STATS Total yards-- SP 434 BD 292. Rushes-yards-- SP 46-405 BD 35-121. Passing(comp-att-yd-int)-- SP 2-3-29-0 BD 12-23-171-1. Fumbles-lost-- SP 1-0 BD 2-0. First downs-- SP 18 BD 12. Penalties-yards-- SP 6-36 BD 7-45. INDIVIDUAL STATS Rushing(att-yd-td): SP Hertzfeldt 22-230-2, Uselman 10-121-1, Leister 5-23-1, Breunig 5-27-1, Elizondo 2-6-0, Davis 2-(-2)-0; BD Brown 18-122-0. Passing(comp-att-yd-td-int): SP Breunig 2-3-29-1-0; BD Riesen 12-23-171-3-1. Receiving(rec-yd-td): SP Goette 1-24-1, German 1-5-0; BD Boschert 5-97-2.