Mustangs trample Blue Devils

By Dan Truttschel~Sports Correspondent

It was no secret prior to Saturday’s game that the Southern Lakes Blue Devils would have to be almost perfect to hang with Ironman Football League power Madison Mustangs.

Almost from the start, however, very little went right for the Blue Devils – and the final score bore that out.

Madison, the winners of the last four Ironman League titles, cruised out to a 32-0 lead and never looked back in a 40-6 victory.

The loss dropped the Blue Devils, who already have clinched a playoff berth, to 4-4 overall with one regular-season game remaining.

“We had a good game plan together, but we were missing a lot of people (for different reasons),” Blue Devils coach Tom Hawkins said. “Hopefully we get some of these guys back for the first round of the playoffs and we’ll be fine.”

Hawkins said, aside from the missing players, the Blue Devils hurt their cause with a couple costly early turnovers.

“We gave them two easy scores on an interception and a fumble in the first half,” he said. “We didn’t move the ball like we had been doing lately. Without a couple defensive leaders (also), that hurt.”

The Blue Devils finally got on the scoreboard in the third quarter when backup quarterback Chris Calhoun connected on a 47-yard scoring pass to Nate Moses. The two-point conversion failed.

Calhoun completed 11 of 21 passing attempts for 187 yards in relief of starter Gary Griffin, who left the game after the first half.

Griffin was on the run for most of the first two quarters, Hawkins said.

“He was getting hit almost every time, which caused him to throw a couple interceptions,” Hawkins said. “He took himself out of the game at halftime. He just got hit so many times. He had to get his head straight.”

Hawkins was pleased with Calhoun’s pinch-hitting effort.

“He was able to move the ball and keep them from constantly being on the field scoring, otherwise it would have been a lot worse,” Hawkins said.

To add insult to injury, former Blue Devils’ Most Valuable Player Kevin Barrett, who moved to Madison and now is a part of the Mustangs, scored twice against his former mates.

“He came back and haunted us,” Hawkins said.

For the game, the Blue Devils finished with 359 total yards, including 220 through the air and 137 on the ground. Kyle Wilson led the rushing attack with 73 yards, while Moses was the top receiver with two catches for 67 yards.

Now the Blue Devils have to put the loss behind them and look to the future, Hawkins said.

“We have to refocus, hopefully get some guys healed up from injuries and concentrate getting ready for the first round of the playoffs,” he said. “I think we can beat anybody in our conference.”

The Blue Devils close out the regular season this Saturday night when they host the Milwaukee Venom at 6 p.m. Included in the game will be emergency personnel appreciation festivities.

 


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