By Mike Ramczyk
DELAVAN – What a way to spoil a Homecoming.
It took more than 40 minutes, but two of the most vaunted offenses in the Southern Lakes Conference lived up to their billings Friday night in Delavan.
Though the Delavan-Darien Comets gave the raucous Homecoming crowd a heavyweight fight equipped with a last-minute, go-ahead touchdown, it was the visiting Burlington Demons who provided the knockout blow.
Senior tight end Aaron Mutter, who had one catch all season entering tonight’s game, made two big catches on Burlington’s final drive, the last one setting the Demons up with first and goal at the Delavan 1-yard line.
Burlington quarterback Cal Tully rushed to the line of scrimmage and calmly spiked the ball with 21 seconds left. On the next play, a designed QB sneak, Tully took the shotgun and hesitated before barreling into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
The Demons, who led 28-17 with 7:18 left in the game, held on for a 35-31 victory thanks to late-game heroics after Delavan marched 60 yards to take a 31-28 lead with 1:27 left. Burlington’s game-stealing drive totaled 70 yards in about a minute, and the Demons didn’t need to use their one timeout.
Burlington improved to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the tough Southern Lakes Conference, where four teams, Waterford, Wilmot, Lake Geneva Badger and Union Grove currently sit ahead of the Demons in the standings. It was the second straight win for the Demons after losing two to start the conference season.
For Burlington coach Steve Tenhagen, it was his first trip back to Delavan-Darien, where he coached the Comets from 2007 to 2013. Tenhagen was greeted by several Delavan players, parents and coaches after the game, but the second-year Burlington coach was focused on his team’s victory.
“For some reason, we came out flat in the first half,” he said. “It was big to keep it at 14-7 at the half. We started executing in the second half and moved the ball. Delavan got the passing game going in the second half. I’m really proud of our guys. We hung in there and went 70 yards in a minute.”
“Our kids stepped up when we needed to. I’m happy with our effort.”
Delavan quarterback Jake Benzing had a night to remember despite getting banged up and losing his dynamic running ability. He took the Comets on his back and put them in a position to win with two touchdown passes to Seth Kirsch in the final seven minutes.
Benzing finished with 405 passing yards on 32 of 56 with three touchdowns. Delavan out-gained Burlington, 507-416, but the Demons held Delavan to 97 rushing yards.
The Comets left just enough time on the clock for Tully, who executed the two-minute, or one-minute, twenty second drill to perfection.
First, the senior gunslinger found Nick Klug on an out route for a first down. Then, with roughly 40 seconds left, Tully waited in the pocket for what seemed like an eternity, rolled left and found Mutter, who got out of bounds for another first down.
On the next play, Tully fired over the middle to the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Mutter, who broke a tackle and surged toward the goal line, diving with the ball extended down to the Delavan 1. Tully spiked the ball with 21 seconds left.
The next play was a designed Tully run, according to Tenhagen, but the quarterback hesitated after taking the shotgun snap. He recovered and barreled into the end zone for the game-winning score. The extra point made it 35-31 Burlington.
Mutter was the first to greet Tully, who jumped into his teammate’s arms in celebration.
“We showed our resilience,” Tully said after the game. “This was a huge confidence booster. This is up there with the four-overtime win over Wilmot last year.”
Senior defensive stopper Hegeman Tiedt, who recorded 7.5 tackles, one sack and 3.5 tackles for loss, said the Demons are a family.
“It feels great,” Tiedt said. “I’m absolutely honored to play with these guys. It gives us a lot of motivation, especially knowing we’re able to do something this great. We know we can come back from a hopeless situation in some cases and give it our all.”
With Delavan leading, 14-7, late in the second quarter, the Comets were driving and reached the Burlington red zone. But three pass plays failed, and kicker Pablo Gomez-Castro’s 37-yard field goal was short, which kept it a one-possession game at halftime.
The Demons came out firing in the second half, with a 21-3 flurry that took only 17 minutes.
The power run game complemented the passing attack, as Jack Miller found plenty of daylight behind the hard-charging Burlington offensive line.
Klug scored on a 38-yard end-around to cap the Demons’ first drive, but the Comets answered with a Gomez-Castro field goal to regain a 17-14 lead.
Then, Miller busted it up the gut for a 26-yard touchdown. On the ensuing Delavan drive, Burlington linebacker Aaron Sturtevant intercepted a Benzing pass, and the Demons immediately capitalized.
Tully lobbed a deep ball to Klug, which set up more Miller. The 5-10, 190-pound junior fired off a first-down run before finishing the drive with a two-yard touchdown.
Miller totaled 84 yards on 16 carries and was asked to shoulder most of the load on the ground after tailback Grant Tully got hurt.
“It was awesome,” Miller said. “Grant went down, so we had to pick up the slack a little bit. The line played great in the second half.”
It was the first game this season where Burlington didn’t have a passing touchdown. All five scores came on the ground, led by two each from Tully and Miller. Tully was 17-of-33 for 246 yards and ran for 59 on 10 carries.
Klug led the Demons with 88 yards on six catches, while Mutter finished with three catches for 63 yards. Klug had 131 total yards.
Jarrett Pope paced the defense with nine tackles.
Michael Alder led Delavan with 165 yards on eight catches. Kirsch added 12 catches for 121 yards.
Burlington finishes the 2015 season with home games against Wilmot and Union Grove and a road contest against Elkhorn. The Demons must win two of the final three to automatically qualify for the WIAA playoffs.
“We knew Badger and Waterford would be right there, and it was a tough way to start our conference schedule,” Tenhagen said. “We have to take care of business and make sure we get four conference wins.”
Other area scores
Waterford 56, Westosha Central 18
Union Grove 27, Elkhorn 7
Wilmot 14, Lake Geneva Badger 0
-
-
-
-
-