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| Jerome Mays scrambles against Iowa City Regina in their 35-0 playoff loss to the Regals. Photo by Ryan Stonebraker. |
By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor
IOWA CITY — Making their first state quarterfinal round game, the Wilton Beavers had a tall task ahead of them to reach their first trip to the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. Last Friday, the Beavers could not dent the Regals defense, falling 35-0 in a class 1A Elite Eight round of the playoffs. The Regals advanced to play Pella Christian in a class 1A semifinal game this week.
Wilton ends the season 9-2 and say goodbye to a senior class that won 16 games in the past two seasons and had the Beavers ranked in the class 1A top-10 each of the last two seasons at some point.
“They never gave up. They never quit. Tonight was a tough one. I can’t be disappointed. We were looking to get where we haven’t been before to the dome. We were excited for this match up. What better way to get to the dome than beating Regina at Regina. That was our message last week in getting ready for tonight,” said Wilton football coach Ryan Hetzler.
“When your only two losses in a 9-win season are to Iowa City Regina, you’ve had a special season. We have a lot of guys back. We had a special season this year and I think that we are going to have a special season next year. We are in good shape for a few years,” he said.
Wilton will say goodbye to seniors Drake Hayes, Trey Brisker, Tyler Hartman, Austin Pleggenkuhle, Dylan Leinen and Jacob Sheperd.
“When you look at the seniors, I track how they did in junior high and junior varsity and see where they were at. My first year was their freshman year and I was told I would take my lumps with them. If 9-2 is a lump year, then we’re ok. It’s a group that didn’t win a single junior high game and not more than two junior varsity games and here they are as seniors 9-2 and bowing out in the final eight 1A teams,” said Hetzler.
The Beavers reached essentially the equivalent of the state basketball or baseball tournament with eight teams. The only difference in football when you are on the final eight teams you still play at school fields. It’s not until the state semifinals that teams go to a neutral site, in this case the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.
The game couldn’t have started out better for the Beavers as Regina’s Jacob Phillips fumbled on the Regals first play of the game. Wilton recovered on the 39 and got two first downs to get into the redzone. The Beavers drive stalled at the 14-yard line when Jerome Mays was sacked.
The Wilton defense forced a Regina punt on the next Regal drive. Wilton crossed the 50-yard line on the ensuing possession on two Mays passes to Cory Anderson for 26 yards and Brock Hartley for 12 yards. The Beavers got into the redzone on the drive. The Regals forced the Beavers into a 4th down situation and the Beavers tried a field goal. A high snap caused placekicker Jared Townsend to miss wide right on a 35-yard attempt with less than a minute left in the quarter. The score would remain scoreless after one quarter.
Regina broke a scoreless tie game with two touchdowns in the second quarter. Michael Conlon went over the goal line from 6-yards out for the touchdown. A Conlon two-point run put the score at 8-0 with 8:52 before halftime. Regal tailback Isaac Vollstedt had 39 yards of his game high 145 on the scoring drive.
Later in the quarter, a Jacob Phillips 3-yard touchdown run and Isaac Vollstedt PAT kick set the score at 15-0 with 3:57 left in the half.
“All the momentum was on our side in the first quarter. They didn’t get past the 50 on offense in the first quarter. And even in the second quarter, I thought that Regina earned their touchdowns. We didn’t give up a big play. No big 40 or 50 yard run. One of their scores was off one of our turnovers and that swung momentum to their side and we couldn’t get it back,” said Hetzler.
Regina scored two touchdowns in the third quarter on short touchdown runs from Isaac Vollstedt and Conlon to set the score at 28-0 after three quarters. The deficit going into the final quarter, on the road, at Regina was too much to overcome. The Regals scored the final touchdown of the football game with 11:16 left in the game on a Conlon 9-yard pass to Alec Wick, starting the 35-point mercy running clock rule.
Wilton had 12 first downs in the football game and 191 yards of total offense. The Beavers lost the turnover battle with five to the Regals two. Wilton had 93 passing and 98 rushing yards. Jerome Mays led Wilton in both stat categories rushing for 97 yards and passing for 93 yards on nine completions. Cory Anderson caught four passes for 61 yards.
“We had a good game plan coming in and we were confident in it. We changed some things up this time. Regina is too good to sit in the same thing twice. I thought the boys executed well early. We moved the football well twice which we could not in our first time we played them. Inside the 20, in a playoff game, you have to score,” said Hetzler.
Defensively was an improvement this time around as the Beavers gave up 500 yards of total offense in their regular season meeting with Regina. Wilton was led by linebackers Trey Brisker and Tyler Hartman with 11 tackles each. Defensive linemen Jared Townsend and Brayton Wade had 8 and 6 tackles. Brock Hartley also had 7 stops. Brisker had an interception and Chantz Stevens and Anderson each had interceptions.
The Beavers defensive unit held the Regals to their second fewest yards of the season to date with 252 yards. Regina’s yardage total was the fewest since their loss at Solon in week two. Regina rushed for 200 yards and passed for 52 yards. The Beavers defensive backfield is one of the top in class 1A and made a dramatic turnaround from their week 6 contest when they allowed 242 yards in the air from quarterbacks Michael Conlon and Ashton Cook.
Isaac Vollstedt rushed for 145 yards on 25 carries and had one touchdown. Michael Conlon passed for 52 yards on 8-for-15 attempts and added 34 rushing yards on ten carries. He accounted for three of the five Regal touchdowns. Jacob Phillips caught five passes for 42 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Ryan Schott and Cole White had 8 and 7 tackles to lead Regina. Phillips and Steve Sehl each had fumble recoveries and Isaac Vollstedt, Phillips and Parker Eden each had interceptions.
The Regals beat Wilton 49-7 at home in week 6. In that game, Wilton quarterback Jerome Mays threw four interceptions and the Beaver offense was held to half of their 319 yards a game entering the contest. After that game, Wilton went 4-0 and outscored their opponents 158 to 65 on offense and on defense, Wilton held opponents to around 15 points and as a unit, forced 11 turnovers. The Regals entered the quarterfinal game ranked fifth in class 1A in total yards and sixth in touchdowns.
Team Statistics:
WIL ICR
First Downs 12 13
Rush att-ave. 36-2.7 44-4.5
Rush yards 98 200
Pass C-A-I 9-22-3 9-16-1
Pass yards 93 52
Returns-yards 4-51 1-27
Penalties-yards 7-38 1-10
Turnovers 5 2
Time of Poss. 24:21 23:19
Total Yards 191 252
Quarter Scores:
1 2 3 4 Final
Wilton 0 0 0 0 0
Iowa City Regina 0 15 13 7 35
Scoring Summary:
2nd Qtr - (8:52) - ICR - Michael Conlon 6-yard run (Michael Conlon run)
2nd Qtr - (3:57) - ICR - Jacob Phillips 3-yard run (Isaac Vollstedt kick)
3rd Qtr - (6:32) - ICR - Michael Conlon 1-yard run (Isaac Vollstedt kick)
3rd Qtr - (3:38) - ICR - Isaac Vollstedt 6-yard run (Isaac Vollstedt kick)
4th Qtr - (11:16) - ICR - Alec Wick 9-yard pass from Michael Conlon (Isaac Vollstedt kick)
Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Wilton - Jerome Mays 29-97, Trey Brisker 5-15, Cory Anderson 1-7, TEAM 1-(-14). Iowa City Regina - Isaac Vollstedt 25-145, Michael Conlon 10-34, Jacob Phillips 4-20, Ryan Schott 1-5, Nick Milder 2-0.
Passing: Wilton - Jerome Mays 9-for-22 93 yards 0 TD’s, 3 INT’s. Iowa City Regina - Michael Conlon 8-for-15 46 yards 1 TD, 1 INT; Ashton Cook 1-for-2 8 yards 0 TD’s, 0 INT.
Receiving: Wilton - Cory Anderson 4-61, Brock Hartley 1-12. Iowa City Regina - Jacob Phillips 5-42, Bryce Barnett 1-8, Alec Wick 1-8, Ryan Schott 1-0, Nick Wagner 1-(-4).
Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): Wilton - Trey Brisker 5-6 11, Tyler Hartman 3-8 11, Jared Townsend 2-6 8, Brock Hartley 3-4 7, Brayton Wade 1-5 6, Trey Sulzberger 5-0 5, Brian Stillman 2-3 5, Cory Anderson 1-3 4, Clayton Cooling 1-3 4, Jerome Mays 2-2 4, Calib Lilly 1-2 3, Collin McCrabb 2-1 3, Chantz Stevens 2-0 2, Ronen Santiago 1-0 1, Jacob Sheperd 1-0 1.
Iowa City Regina - Ryan Schott 7-1 8, Cole White 5-2 7, Jayden Kies 4-1 5, Nick Milder 5-0 5, Alex Moore 3-1 4, Luke Stein 3-1 4, Michael Conlon 3-0 3, Jacob Phillips 3-0 3, Alec Wick 2-0 2, Scott Arndt 1-0 1, Paul Keller 1-0 1, Nick Wagner 1-0 1.
Fumble Recoveries: Wilton - Cory Anderson 1. Iowa City Regina - Jacob Phillips 1, Steve Sehl 1.
Interceptions: Wilton - Trey Brisker 1. Iowa City Regina - Isaac Vollstedt 1-7, Jacob Phillips 1-2, Parker Eden 1-0.
Pass Knockdowns: Wilton - Chantz Stevens 1, Cory Anderson 1.
Kicking Statistics:
Kick-Offs: Wilton - Jared Townsend 1-54 yards. Iowa City Regina - Isaac Vollstedt 3-179 yards, Alec Wick 3-150 yards.
Kick-Off Returns: Wilton - Cory Anderson 3-51. Iowa City Regina - Jacob Phillips 1-26.
Punts: Wilton - Jared Townsend 3-93 yards, 31.0-ave. Iowa City Regina - Michael Conlon 3-95 yards, 31.7-ave.
Punt Returns: Wilton - Cory Anderson 1-0. Iowa City Regina - none.
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