By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
The closest football ever gets to a walk in the park comes when a team can run the football seemingly at will.
The Waterford Union High School football team rushed for 311 yards and routed intra-country rival Union Grove 52-28 Oct. 6 at Union Grove.
The Wolverines (6-2, 5-1 SLC) close-out their regular season tonight at home against Delavan-Darien/Williams Bay (2-6, 1-5 SLC). Waterford is celebrating Parents Night for the cheerleaders, football and dance teams.
“When you have two backs with over 150 yards in each game, it’s pretty rare,” Waterford coach Adam Bakken said of the Wolverines’ running game. “It makes us better. You can’t just focus on one guy.”
Zach Stiewe, Jacob Francisco, Adam Goessl, Trevor Pye, Boyd Biggs and tight end Tony Mastrocola are the Wolverines’ starting offensive linemen.
Ben Michalowski led Waterford with 158 yards on 20 carries, and scored once. Tanner Keller rushed for 153 yards on 25 carries and four touchdowns.
As prolific as the Wolverines’ offense proved to be against Union Grove it is the defense that drew first blood.
Matthew McCormick scored Waterford’s first points on an interception return with 10:43 left in the first quarter, and the extra point by Patrick Goldammer gave the Wolverines a 7-0 lead. The Broncos’ J Ross evened the score with a 91-yard kickoff return on the ensuing possession.
Waterford exerted its will and took control of the game with a 24-point second quarter. Keller rushed for touchdowns of two, 28 and 10 yards, and Goldammer kicked a 22-yard field goal. Waterford led 31-14 at halftime.
In the second half, Aaron Chapman rushed for a one-yard touchdown and Michalowski scored from four yards out to give Waterford a 45-21 lead.
Keller scored the last of his four touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Goldammer successfully converted all of his extra points.
The 257 yards of passing offense and 28 points allowed by the Wolverines’ defense must be weighed against Waterford holding the Broncos (3-5, 2-4 SLC) to zero yards of rushing on 13 carries. The Wolverines accomplished their stated goal of making their opponent’s offense one-dimensional.
The Wolverines also intercepted Union Grove quarterback Alec Spang twice.
“When a team passes that many times, we tell the kids you have an opportunity to make plays,” Bakken said. “Guys were in the right spot.”
Bakken said McCormick was in the right spot on his interception. Chapman intercepted Span in the second half, which led Bakken to question why teams even throw at the All-Southern Lakes Conference defensive back.
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