Stanton edges Central Valley in the big Battle of the 8-Man Ones

Central Valley star Grady Kelly (#5 dark uniform) is being pursued by Stanton All-Stater Barrett Wilke (#4 white jersey). Stanton won the Battle of the 8-Man Number ONES, 40-28 last Friday.`

WOLBACH, NE

Billed as the Battle of the 8-Man ONES, the Class D-1 Stanton and Class D-2 Central Valley game was a Classic from beginning to end.

Played down in the famous Wolbach Bowl, Stanton rode the incredibly strong legs of All-State quarterback Barrett Wilke to pull off an impressive 40-28 win after a defensive, pad popping first quarter

The game started similarly to the Sandy Creek/ShelbyRising City game did last Friday….runs right up gut, with both teams testing the vanilla waters with no fancy stuff.

The defenses were strong in this one with the Central Valley Cougar defense penetrating the Stanton offensive front, spilling Barrett Wilke for a few short losses in the opening quarter.

Slick Cougars quarterback Zaden Wolf began to find some space across the middle as Central Valley hit the scoreboard first when he connected with speedy wideout Boston Wood for a 32 yard touchdown pass, with 7:26 showing on clock.

The PAT attempt failed after a holding penalty pushed Central Valley to the 13. Unfortunately this was the first of THREE holding calls on PATs for the Cougars.

Stanton hit the board about five minutes later when the Mustangs finally shook Barrett Wilke loose on a roll out right play that saw the Stanton quarterback, who has very deceiving speed, get to the outside and simply outrun the Cougar “D” to the endzone.

Wilke added the two point conversion run and Stanton had themselves an 8-6 halftime lead over Central Valley.

Both offenses exploded in a third quarter that saw FIVE lead changes and a combined 38 points scored.

The fireworks (literally) started when Central Valley quarterback Zaden Wolf sprinted 27 yards for a touchdown just two minutes, ten seconds deep into the second half.

The Cougars would convert this double PAT on a pass from Wolf to a hurting Grady Kelly, an All-State runner who exploded for 2006 yards rushing a year ago.

Kelly, who is the finest vision/finesse runner in 8-Man football, was playing on an injured right foot from the get-go in this game..

It took just three minutes for Stanton to answer the Cougars score and subsequent 14-8 lead. Barrett Wilke scored on the exact same play he went 52 yards to paydirt n in the 2nd stanza, this one coming from 38 yards away.

Following that Cougars defense confidence crushing touchdown run, Wikle did what everyone in the Central Valley crowd probably felt like doing.

He threw up. Twice.

He then calmly took the snap from under center on the PAT attempt, pitched it back to fellow thousand yard rusher and childhood friend Becker Pohlman, rolled right unnoticed, then received a perfect pass from Becker for the sneaky double point after. The Mustangs had their lead back, 16-14.

The lead changed three more times in the third quarter before Central Valley’s Zaden Wolf skipped in for a tally from three yards out. Wolf’s pass to Cordel Wagne gave the Cougars a 28-24 advantage entering the final quarter.

Central Valley’s lead was short lived in that 4th stanza as Stanton overcame a third down and forever situation then turned the sensational Wilke loose for his 4th of five touchdowns, this baby coming on a 5 yard scamper.

The key play on that drive came on a 34 yard pass play from Wilke to an all-by-himself Josh Arens, a good looking 195 pound junior tight end.

Stanton iced the game with 1:46 to go with a clock draining drive that witnessed Wilke waiting to receive the snap from center with just 5 seconds remaining on the play clock on every down.

The clever Wilke even had an opportunity to score before the 1:46 mark but instead took a knee INBOUNDS at the one yard line.

Wilke then allowed the play clock to run down to a few seconds before calling a timeout.

The Mustang QB then came back in and scored from a yard out, giving Stanton a 38-28 lead but leaving just a buck 46 on the clock to overcome a 12 point/two possession lead following the 2 point conversion.

THAT my friends, is some kind of clock management.

Central Valley put together a decent last shot drive but a tipped pass ended the Cougars chances and the victory was in the pockets of the invaders from the Northeast.

The Stanton offense was nearly all Barrett Wilke, who amassed an incredible 284 yards on 34 of the teams 41 rushing attempts and ALL five the Mustangs touchdowns.

Wilke also completed 4 of 13 passes for 79 yards, clearly missing the talents of the great Mitchell Hupp, now playing for Wayne State.

The Central Valley offense clearly missed a healthy Grady Kelly, who was hobbled by the nagging foot injury. Quarterback Zaden Wolf instead came up HUGE, completing 17 of 27 aerials for 196 yards and one TD.

Wolf also rushed the ball 14 times for 84 yards and a pair of scores. Despite his injury, Grady Kelly still gained 52 yards on 13 totes with a touchdown. The outstanding senior also caught 6 passesfor 80 yards. Speed merchant Boston Wood followed with 4 catches for 66 yards and a score.

Defensively for Stanton, I was really impressed with #54 Garrett Hansen,who led the Mustangs with 13 tackles. The guy was so disruptive. Of course the All-State linebackers Becker Pohlman (11 tackles/9 solos) and Barrett Wilke (10 stops/1 solo) were always in the scrum.

That swarming Central Valley “D” was paced remarkably by Grady Kelly, who was literally everywhere with his 21 tackles (11 solos) despite missing several plays with that foot injury.

Senior Taesian Soto, a real terror on defense, chipped in 16 stops while sophomore Luke Shoemaker added 12 tackles and Zaden Wolf 11.

Stanton improves to 3-0 after this victory and will return home to face a strong 3-0 Summerland team next Friday.

Central Valley will travel to Anselmo-Merna next Friday, a dangerous 0-3 team whose losses are to teams that are currently a combined 9-0.

This game was a win/win situation for both teams as long as there were no serious injuries. This was a chance to face a top quality opponent you would not see again this season and the early-on-the-schedule, pre-district scheduling was perfect.

……………………………...1…….2……3……..4……….Final

Stanton (3-0).............0…….8…..16……16…………40

Central Valley (2-1)...0…….6…..22…….0…….……28

……………………………………………………………………………………CV-Stanton

2nd Qtr.

CV-Boston Wood 32 pass from Zaden Wolf - PAT-pass failed, 6-0 (7:26)

ST-Barrett Wilke 52 run - PAT-Wilke pass from Pohlman, 6-8 (2:06)

3rd Qtr.

CV-Zaden Wolf 27 run - PAT-Grady Kelly pass from Wolf, 14-8. (9:50)

ST-Barrett Wilke 38 run - PAT-Wilke run, 14-16 (6:48)

CV-Boston Wood 34 run - PAT-pass failed, 20-16. (6:31)

ST-Barrett Wilke 14 run - PAT-Hunter Robinette pass from Wilke, 20-24 (4:35)

CV-Zaden Wolf 3 run - PAT- Cordel Wagner pass from Wolf, 28-24. (0:33)

4th Qtr.

ST-Barrett Wilke 5 run - PAT-Ren Brown run, 28-32 (8:11)

ST-Barrett Wilke 1 run - PAT-Josh Arens pass from Wilke, 28-40 (1:46)