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Indians have right ingredients for big win in playoff opener
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By JUDY HARLOW
10/23/07 KEWASKUM- With a little under four minutes remaining Tuesday night, the playoff victory cake was about ready to come out of the oven, then Kewaskum High linebacker Eric Turowski provided the frosting.
Turowski picked off a Tyler Zeman pass in the flat and rambled 33 yards for one final touchdown. Game, set and match Kewaskum, which dominated visiting Sauk-Prairie 34-7 in a Division 3 Level 1 playoff game.
This was the 10th straight win this year for the Indians, who will take their perfect record into the second round against Jefferson, a 27-7 winner over Portage. Sauk-Prairie ended its season at 5-5.
“Eric picked two of those off in practice this week,” a happy coach Jason Piittmann said afterward, pleased with the way his offense, defense and special teams performed.
The special teams provided a spark on the very first play of the game. Junior Ray Wollner gathered in the ball at the 2-yard line, appeared to be hemmed in at about the 20 but kept his legs going and didn’t stop until he reached the Sauk-Prairie 44.
“We had a couple of nice blocks and got a nice return,” Piittmann said, stressing, “We’re not a one-dimensional team.”
After picking up a couple first downs on the ground, it appeared as if the drive might stall as the Indians were facing a fourth and eight at the 10-yard line.
No problem. Quarterback Nick Olla pulled off a nifty fake, stepped back and calmly tossed a perfect strike to John Holt in the left corner of the end zone. With Brian Backhaus’ PAT. the Indians were ahead 7-0 just three minutes into the contest.
The rest of the quarter, it was the Eagles holding the upper hand and looking at their best opportunity to score before the final minute of the game.
After Olla was sacked for a 12-yard loss, Kewaskum punted to Sauk-Prairie 44, and quickly the Eagles had three first downs, the third one at the Indians’ 20.
After rare face mask penalty on the offense, a short run and an incomplete pass, S-P was facing a fourth and 10, and a Zeman to Nolan Bruening pass netted just eight, and the Indians took over.
Early in the second quarter, the Eagles tried a fourth down run at the KHS 40 and paid dearly for not getting it. After a couple short runs and an 11-yard pass to Zach Amerling, Olla showed his magic on a beautiful option play.
With an Eagle committing on the play, the junior quarterback made a perfect pitch to Ben Boettcher, who had a wide open field in front of him and turned it into a 44-yard touchdown.
This time Backhaus’ PAT was blocked, so the Indians took a 13-0 lead into the break.
The score didn’t stay that way long in the third quarter. Kewaskum’s first drive, set up by Turowski’s fumble recovery at the S-P 27, turned into a one-play, touchdown. Once again Holt and Olla teamed up for a score. and even though Backahus’ PAT was blocked again, the Indian faithful were feeling a 19-point lead would enough.
One last time, the Kewaskum offense would score, this one coming on a 6-yard run by Jordan Petrin (2-point conversion on an Olla run) with 1:36 remaining in that third quarter, capping a 10-play, 85-drive, the kind that makes Piittmann beam.
One of the big plays in the march was a 30-yard pass from Olla to Matt Donath.
“The ends did a super job,” Piittmann said, looking at the fact the passing game netted 126 yards, with Holt catching three balls for 78 yards and Donath two for 37.
The KHS coach also praised the play of Olla, who was six for nine in passing with no interceptions. “He played very well tonight. We knew their blitzing scheme would give us some trouble, but we were able to give him some time, and he threw some excellent balls.”
Piittmann also shuffled his backs in and out to keep them fresh. “We figured it’s a three-headed monster,” the coach said, noting “They all bring a different dimension” to the offense, Petrin with his speed and spins, Boettcher looking for people to run over, and junior Nate Westerman “just a solid runner.”
Those three, along with Olla running the option, were responsible for 176 yards rushing. Boettcher hit the century mark in 10 carries, while Petrin carried the ball 11 times for 45 yards.
Sauk-Prairie wound up with 341 yards, 164 passing and 177 passing. Just over 100 of those passing yards came in the Eagles’ final drive, which resulted in their only touchdown. Zach Fiene made a beautiful catch of a Zeman pass for 38 yards against the Kewaskum reserves.
While the win appeared relatively easy, Piittmann didn’t see it totally that way. “The first half wasn’t (easy), but we played much better in the second half.”
When asked if he had a preference of who he would like to play, Piittmann said, “Portage gets us a home game,” but it was not to be as Jefferson rolled up 499 yards in total offense in defeating the Warriors.
The game will now be held at Jefferson High School, 700 W. Milwaukee Street, Jefferson on Saturday at 3 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the gate, there will not be pre-sale tickets.
Please continue to watch our website as this article is updated.
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