FOOTBALL: Central starts 2-0

Falcons’ Jackson spreads the field

By Jason Arndt
Editor

Before Friday’s 28-20 defeat of host Woodstock North, the last time Westosha Central High School strung together a chain of victories in a single season was in 2010, when the Falcons won four in a row.

The Falcons, coming off a 30-6 season-opening win at Milwaukee Washington, start the year 2-0.

According to Falcons’ coach Tyson Mengel, whose team bus rolled back into Paddock Lake at 11 p.m. last night, the victory carries a special meaning for the seniors.

“This has been a fantastic start for us, I am just proud of these seniors,” said Mengel. “They haven’t won many games in their career, I think four from their freshman year until now.”

Entering the contest, Mengel only knew Woodstock North was an IHSA playoff team last year, but the rest was relatively unknown to him and his Falcons’ coaching staff.

“We didn’t know much about them, the film that we got was a scrimmage, and I think that they were scrimmaging their junior varsity team,” said Mengel. “We didn’t get good film, we do know last year, they were a playoff team.”

While the Falcons had little to review, they still found a way to win, courtesy of senior quarterback Jaden Jackson and junior multi-purpose threat Adam Simmons.

Jackson, whose family move from Utah last January, completed 16 of 17 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns.

His lone incompletion was an interception.

“With Jackson throwing the ball so well, we were able to keep their defensive backs off of us, and not creeping in,” Mengel said.

Simmons, who lined up as a running back, wide receiver and tight end, opened the contest with a 16-yard touchdown to give the Falcons a 7-0 edge entering the second quarter.

Simmons, also a quarterback, finished with 47 yards rushing on 12 carries. As a receiver, the junior had two catches for 25 yards.

“Simmons was a threat because we put him at running back, we put him at slot, we put him at tight end and he came through tonight,” said Mengel, noting the junior made crucial interception towards the end of the contest.

In the second quarter, Jackson went to work, starting with a 5-yard strike to senior Nic Frederick to build the Falcons’ lead to 14-0.

After a Woodstock North 2-yard touchdown run by Ed Flores, Jackson responded again, connecting with Jared Gehrke on a 22-yard touchdown to enter halftime with a 21-7 edge.

Thunder cuts lead
Holding a 21-7 edge entering the second half, the Thunder diminished the Falcons’ lead to 21-20, courtesy of a 4-yard Flores run followed by a 30-yard score by Collin Mergl.

Flores accumulated a game-high 131 yards rushing on 21 carries while Mergl added another 84 yards on 12 carries for Woodstock, which had 258 of its 336 yards of total offense on the ground.

“That offense is tough to stop, the same one that Lake Geneva Badger runs,” Mengel said.

The Falcons, however, erased one of Woodstock North’s touchdowns in the fourth quarter, where leading rusher Niko Lemke made a 1-yard score to seal the Falcons’ 28-20 victory.

Lemke finished with 24 carries for a team-leading 104 yards.

Mengel, whose team had 159 total rushing yards, credited junior Samy Greco for offering pass and rush protection in the backfield.

Greco led the team with six catches for 67 yards.

“Samy Greco is always a constant contributor, we were asking him to the dirty work offensively as the lead blocker,” he said. “I know it is not glamorous and it is not something that running backs want to do but he takes that job seriously and we were able to run the ball the entire second half.”

With the Falcons’ win, they have won three consecutive games, dating back to last year’s defeat at Elkhorn.

“This was just a smart football game,” Mengel said. “Our conditioning really showed tonight.”

Next for the Falcons is their first of three home contests Sept. 1 when they host Elkhorn.

In 2010, when they won four straight, the Falcons edged Union Grove, Waterford, Delavan-Darien and Wilmot, which forfeited its contest due to an ineligible player.


Posted

in

,

by

Tags: