Kyle Wiswell plows through an Eau Claire defender Saturday
(Photo by Wes Morgan)
MENDON — Munching on Smucker’s Uncrustables at halftime of its Division 8 pre-district playoff game against Eau Claire, the Mendon football team watched as coaches drew up plays to work on for next weekend’s game.
They even shared a few laughs.
“This might be the worst, god-awful team on fake 2-point conversions in the history of mankind,” Hornets offensive coordinator Glen Samson joked about his squad’s numerous failures Saturday.
But the No. 2-ranked Hornets are pretty good in all other facets of the game. In what amounted to an extra practice for a program with only one goal, Mendon eviscerated the Beavers 67-0 to improve to 10-0 and set up a Saturday (1 p.m.) district final against Climax Scotts, which picked up a 20-0 win over Bellevue.
Eight different players scored touchdowns for Mendon and three different players lined up at quarterback. After losing junior Jordan Medich to a broken collarbone in the final game of the regular season, senior Robert Riley took over. Sophomore Trey Cook got a number of looks and senior Kaleb McCarroll executed the Wildcat with ease for a nine-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
Click here for our photo gallery from the game.
It was 33-0 after the first quarter, which meant head coach John Schwartz and his staff had the complicated task of doing what was necessary to get better while trying to prevent injuries, getting everyone into the game and not embarrassing the opponent further.
“These kinds of games, and we’ve had a number of them this year, it’s not any fun for anyone,” Schwartz said. “We do the best we can to make sure we’re not scoring more than we need to and still giving your first unit a chance to play. From here on out our first unit’s got to play four quarters. If you don’t get used to that, you’re going to be tired in the fourth quarter. It’s a no-win situation.”
The Hornets put up 519 yards of total offense and held Eau Claire to 46. Led by McCarroll’s seven carries for 133 yards and two TDs, Mendon piled up 372 rushing yards. Riley was 4-of-6 passing for 103 yards and a score.
Parker Cupp returned a punt 60 yards for the second TD of the game, Kyle Wiswell hauled in a 77-yard pass from Riley on the next possession and Riley and Danny Cleveland found the end zone on runs of nine and 44 yards, respectively, in the first quarter.
Full game stats can be found on the Scoreboard page.
Elijah Klepper and McCarroll both crossed the goal line on second-quarter runs, Devin Greer added a four-yard rushing touchdown in the third frame and Brandon Bray punched one in from a yard out in the fourth quarter. Greer capped the day with a 16-yard TD run.
Defensive back Marcus Craft snagged two interceptions, Cook and Damion Fritz each recovered a fumble and linebacker Josh Hawkins turned in a team-high nine tackles. Five of Kyle Wiswell’s seven tackles were for a loss and he and Klepper both finished with three quarterback hurries.
Senior linebacker Derek Zagon finished with six tackles and three hurries, though he was pulled from the game after taking a shot to a knee that’s been giving him problems in recent weeks. Wiswell twisted his ankle in the game as well, but Schwartz said both should be fine and ready to play next weekend.