Wolverines total nine turnovers in lopsided affair
By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
WAUKESHA – Anyone who tells you they saw the outcome of Friday’s WIAA Division 2 Level 3 football playoff game between Waterford and Waukesha West coming is a liar.
West, seeded first in its bracket, routed third-seeded Waterford 60-0 at West and brought the Wolverines’ 2015 season to a close at 10-2.
West (10-2) advances to Level 4 and will play Lake Geneva Badger (10-2) either Friday, Nov. 13 at Kenosha Indian Trail High School.
Badger, seeded second on its side of the bracket, beat No. 1-seeded Waunakee (11-1) 24-21 Friday in a Level 3 game at Waunakee. Waunakee finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the Wissports.com Division 2 state poll.
The winner of the contest between West and Badger advances to the Division 2 title game at 1 p.m. Nov. 20 at Madison’s Camp Randall Stadium. The winner will play either Homestead or Chippewa Falls for the Division 2 state title.
Waterford coach Adam Bakken did his best to ease the pain of the loss in post-game comments to his shell-shocked squad.
“When all is said and done, when you look back on the season, from start to finish, there are a lot of teams that would be happy to be among the last eight to play,” Bakken said. “We did not win 10 games by accident.”
Waterford’s chance to be in the conversation for a berth at state ended early. The Wolverines committed turnovers on their first three possessions and four in the first half. Waterford trailed 19-0 after the first quarter and 39-0 at halftime.
West finished with 232 yards of offense in the first half compared to 41 for Waterford. The game proceeded under a running clock in the second half, in accordance with WIAA rules. Waterford finished with nine turnovers.
West quarterback Conor Blount threw for five touchdowns and operated at will against Waterford’s normally stout defense.
“I did not,” Blount said when asked if he thought the outcome would tilt so heavily in West’s favor. “We just clicked. We came out right away and took it and ran with it.”
West scored its first points on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Blount to tight end Zach Zimmer and led 7-0 with 8:07 left in the first quarter.
Waterford turned the ball over on its first possession, which led to a three-yard touchdown run by West’s Jair Scott. West led 13-0 after a failed extra point with 6:22 left in the first.
Blount threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Zach Schnepf after another first quarter Waterford turnover. An unsuccessful two-point conversion left the score 19-0 in favor of West.
Blount threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter. West took a 39-0 lead on a 10-yard touchdown reception by Nick Daniels with 55 seconds left in the first half and headed to the locker room with a 39-0 halftime lead.
The game effectively ended, at that point. The best Waterford could do is consider how the contest spiraled out of hand so fast.
“We definitely felt we needed to play our best game to win,” Wolverines wide receiver/defensive back Johnny McCormick said. “We had our best week of practice going into the game.”
Much is made of the Classic 8 conference, in which West competes, being the state’s best for football. Four teams from the Classic 8 played Friday in Level 3 games, and three of those teams advanced to the state semifinals.
West has now ended Waterford’s season in each of the last four years. West lost 35-17 to Menasha in last year’s Division 2 state title game. Waterford won a share of its fifth consecutive Southern Lakes Conference title this past season.
“We came to play, and they just outplayed and outmanned us,” McCormick said.
Both sides handled the lopsided outcome with dignity. West won with class and Waterford, for as much as it likely hurt, lost with grace.
Most from the two teams gathered at midfield for a post-game prayer led by West’s Peter MacCudden. MacCudden humbly asked the Holy Father to bless the Waterford players, especially the seniors, and prayed the pain of losing their final game so decisively would eventually ebb.
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