Stanton headed to Lincoln with hard-earned 48-36 win over Sandy Creek

Posted Saturday, November 11, 2023, at 2:41 AM

Stanton's 1000 Yard Rushing Duo of Barrett Wilke (#24/Left) and Becker Pohlman (#1 Right) is as good as it gets in Class D1, 8-Man football.

SANDY CREEK HS

A 39 yard highlight reel touchdown run by smooth-as-silk Stanton quarterback Barrett Wilke with NO TIME remaining in the first half, and a critical fumble recovery by the Mustangs at the Sandy Creek 37 midway through the 3rd quarter, spelled the difference in Stanton’s 48-36 win over a powerhouse Sandy Creek squad.

The win sends the 12-0 Stanton Mustangs to the Class D1 State Championship game a week from Monday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.

It marks the first time in the Final since 2004, when the Mustangs lost a 21-6 Class C2 Final to North Platte St. Patrick.

It also erased a disappointing semifinal loss to eventual D1 Champion Clarkson-Leigh a year ago.

A remarkable 275 yard, FIVE touchdowns on 25 carries performance by junior quarterback Barrett Wilke and sensational blocking by the Mustang Offensive front line of #77 Ren Brown, #53 Gatlin Davidson, #54 Garrett Hansen, #81 Mitchell Hupp and #86 Keyfer Fernau, created some great creases for Wilke and the lightning quick Becker Pohlman.

That, coupled with a stellar performance by the Stanton defense, who had to counter fabulous performance by Sandy Creek junior quarterback Ethan Shaw, came through when it mattered in the huge victory.

The do-it-all Barret Wilke came up with a timely interception inside the Mustangs 5 yard line to thwart a Sandy Creek touchdown drive.

How big was that Pick by Wilke? It gave the ball back to Stanton with under four minutes left in the game and that’s all the time it needed for the undefeated Stanton Mustangs to run out the clock.

It is a remarkable sight to see a monster rushing game from Barrett Wilke one night, the same by Becker Pohlman the next Friday, or BOTH destroying the opposition with large rushing totals.

Tonight it was the slick, smooth sliding Wilke that did the major damage. Barrett has been on a run defense destroying rampage since the beginning of the postseason, exploding for 800 yards and 12 touchdowns. BUT…

Not far off Wilke’s pace. As usual, is Becker Pohlman, who has racked up 694 yards rushing with 10 trips to the end zone on the ground.

And another tip of the hat to the well-balanced Mustang defense, who has been forced to pick up the slack for the great Parker Wiedeman, who was lost to injury a few games back after accumulating a huge 58 tackles.

Stanton will meet EMF and sensational running back Beckan Schluter, who has run for over 7000 yards in his career. This is for all the marbles for the D1 Championship Monday, November at 10:15 in the morning.

It will mark a meeting of the two finest offensive lines in Class D1.

Individual Stats:

Rushing: Stanton-Barrett Wilke-275-25/5 TDs, Becker Pohlman-81-15/1 TD, Jordan Claussen-27-1. Sandy Creek; Ethan Shaw-228-28/2 TDs, Ben Sullivan 6-1.

Passing; Stanton: Wilke 3-9 for 38 yards/1 TD, Sandy Creek: Shaw-4-9 for 60 yards/2 TDs/1 INT

Receiving: Stanton: Pohlman-1-21, Mitchell Hupp-1-17/1 TD

………………….……..1…….2…….3…….4..……Final

Stanton (12-0)…….....6…….14……..8..……20………..48

Sandy Creek (11-1)....6……..6…… .14……...8….….....36

1st Qtr.…………………………………………..SC-STA

STA-Barrett Wilke 51 run - PAT-Run failed…0-6 - (11:09)

SC-Ethan Shaw 2 run - PAT-Run failed…6-6 - (4:54)

2nd Qtr.……………………………………………………SC-STA

SC-Jack Clark 27 pass from Shaw - PAT-Run failed…12-6 - (8:36)

STA-Mitchell Hupp 17 pass from Wilke - PAT-Wilke run…12-14 - (4:20)

STA-Barrett Wilke 39 run - PAT-Pass failed…12-20 - (0:00)

3rd Qtr.………………………………………………………....SC-STA

SC-Connor Rempe 6 pass from Shaw - PAT-Shaw run…20-20 - (5:28)

STA-Barrett Wilke 24 run - PAT-Becker Pohlman run…20-28 - (4:25)

SC-Ethan Shaw 1 run- PAT-Clark pass from Shaw…28-28 - (1:28)

4th Qtr.…………………………………………SC-STA

STA-Barrett Wilke 4 run - PAT-Run failed…28-34 - (11:56)

SC-Jack Clark 11 pass from Shaw - PAT-Shaw run…36-34 - (8:36)

STA-Becker Pohlman 2 run - PAT-Pohlman run…36-42 - (6:35)

STA-Barrett Wilke 42 run - PAT-Pass failed…36-48 - (5:30)