Waterford routes Demons to clinch conference title
By Jason Arndt
Editor
When two football teams scoring about 40 points a game go head-to-head, anyone would believe the contest could bring fireworks, especially when the clash involves contenders Burlington and Waterford.
On Oct. 11 at Don Dalton Stadium in Burlington, however, the contest brought a different outcome as the Wolverines routed the Demons 49-14 to clinch at least a share of the Southern Lakes Conference title.
The Demons, without starting quarterback Dalton Damon because of illness, just couldn’t keep up with Waterford’s dynamic running tandem of Tanner Keller and Dominic Miller and the Wolverine defense.
“They have got a heck of a football team. They came out to play and all of the credit in the world goes to that coaching staff and their players,” said Burlington coach Steve Tenhagen.
“Those two backs, they are as dynamic as they come.”
Collectively, the Waterford duo scored all seven of its touchdowns, with Miller producing four while Keller added the other three.
The Waterford defense forced three turnovers, including two for interceptions, and held Burlington to 206 total offensive yards.
“Our defense is playing well, we played good across the board,” said Waterford coach Adam Bakken. “It was tough out there, it was slippery with all of the rain everybody has had, but again to keep them at that amount of offensive yardage says we are doing what we need to do.”
Tenhagen said committing miscues against a team such as Waterford is not easy to overcome.
“They have a good defense, and we had some opportunities early in the game where we turned the ball over and we put ourselves behind the sticks with some holdings and some false starts,” Tenhagen said. “It is tough when you play a good football team like this, you can’t make those mistakes.”
All Waterford
Keller, who had 10 carries for 89 yards, scored his first of four all-purpose touchdowns in the opening drive on a 4-yard run to pull Waterford ahead 7-0.
Miller then scored back-to-back touchdowns, with the first on a 64-yard run at 5:51 in the first quarter. He added his second the following quarter on an 8-yard score.
Keller extended the Waterford lead to 27-0 with a 45-yard touchdown at 6:22.
On the kickoff, Burlington posted its first score, thanks to a Zach Wallace 85-yard touchdown return to cut its deficit to 27-7.
“We just had a breakdown in coverage, that is what happened, that was their only score until late into the fourth quarter,” Bakken said.
Keller, however, responded on the ensuing kickoff with an 81-yard return for a touchdown to erase Wallace’s score.
Miller, who rushed for a game-high 140 yards on seven carries, added his third rushing touchdown on a 34-yard dash to the end zone at 5:52 in the second quarter.
Miller then contributed defensively, picking off a Peyton O’Laughlin pass in the third quarter, returning the football 57 yards for the touchdown.
“We both have certain skills,” Miller said about how he and Keller work well together. “He is more like a power back and I am more of a speed, cut back.”
Tops in conference
Waterford (8-0, 6-0 SLC) claimed at least share of the conference title for the seventh time in Bakken’s nine years as coach.
Bakken credits his players and coaching staff for continuing Waterford’s winning tradition.
“I have been fortunate enough to have a lot of really good kids, a lot of good coaches, kids that care a lot, the coaching staff cares a lot, so it is certainly not only because of me,” he said.
“Since I have been here, there is a whole lot of people that deserve a lot of credit.”
Bakken, whose team plays at Lake Geneva Badger Friday, needs either a victory and/or Wilmot (7-1, 5-1) loss to seize the championship outright.
Keller and Miller each acknowledge the game against Badger will top off a prolific regular season.
“It is amazing, especially against Burlington,” said Keller about the Oct. 11 victory. “Hopefully we are outright champions next week.”
“We still got to play Badger to be complete outright champions,” Miller added.
Bakken, meanwhile, has shared the conference title in the past, but does not plan on it happening again against Badger (5-3, 3-3).
“We will do whatever we can to be outright champs, I don’t have a big interest in wanting to share with anybody, we have done it a couple times and we will do our best to make sure that happens,” he said.
Bakken indicated Badgers running game would be difficult to stop, but the Wolverines could prevail if they keep it contained.
“This is my ninth year at Waterford, in eight times we have played Badger, we have won four and they have won four,” he said. “It is always a battle. I know they have lost close games this year.”
To read the entire story, see the Oct. 17 edition of the Burlington Standard Press and Oct. 18 edition of the Waterford Post.
Correction: This article has been corrected to reflect Lucas Winski (31) as the defender intercepting the pass. It was previously identified as Jacob Kempken (3).
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