Sauk Prairie gets defensive

A smash-mouth defense. A freight train offense. An all-around quality performance. It didn’t matter what the flavor was, Sauk Prairie’s football team was dishing it up last Friday. The Eagles played arguably their best game of the season and snapped a three-game losing skid, defeating host Portage, 19-0, in a Badger North Conference game. Sauk Prairie improved to 4-3 overall and 2-3 in the Badger North. Portage fell to 2-5, 1-4. Sauk Prairie head coach Clay Iverson remained humble after the dominant win. “Well, it is always nice to win,” Iverson said. “But most importantly we are improving and playing hard. That has to be our focus.” The defense may have shined the brightest against Portage, pitching a shutout for the first time this season. The Eagles held Portage to 103 yards of total offense, registered seven sacks, and forced two turnovers. It was the fewest yards the defense has allowed all season. Portage running back Delnato Sheppard entered the game with 1,013 rushing yards through six games for an average of 168.8 yards per contest. The Eagles held the powerful back to just 50 yards, his lowest output of the season. “Very good work by our defensive unit,” Iverson said. “To shutout a team like that you need to have a complete team effort. “Portage is a good offense that has a very good running back, as well as other fine players, and they are very well coached. I thought we played hard and executed assignments well on defense.” Offensively, the Eagles had their best night of the season. Junior running back Tyler Uselman led all rushers with 120 yards on 13 carries and scored a touchdown, his fourth straight game leading the Eagles in rushing. Uselman now has 421 yards on 65 carries (6.5 avg) this season. The Eagles ran for 233 yards, the third time this year they have gone over 200 yards. Quarterback Parker Breunig, who hadn’t thrown for 100 yards in a game this season, completed 5-of-6 passes for a season-high 126 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Ben German had his best output of the season, tallying 92 yards and scoring his fourth touchdown of the year. German’s touchdown came on an 83-yard reception, the longest play from scrimmage for the Eagles this season. And the offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage, didn’t allow a sack and paved the way for a season-high 359 yards of total offense. “Everything starts and ends with our blocking: offensive line, tight ends, and backs,” Iverson said. “When we can spread the ball around, that opens up the offense. Like always, our success is built in the week, and I am liking our practice habits more and more.” Sauk Prairie got on the board quickly, scoring a touchdown on the second play of the game. Uselman took an end-around handoff and went 60 yards nearly untouched to give the Eagles a quick 6-0 advantage with 11:07 left in the first quarter. Portage had its best scoring chance of the night in the second quarter, taking over after a Sauk Prairie fumble. The Warriors went on a 10-play, 53-yard drive to the Eagles’ 13-yard line, but the Sauk Prairie defense forced a turnover on downs after Portage went for it on fourth-and-4 from the 13-yard line. The Eagles responded with a 13-play drive to the Warriors’ 27-yard line, but the drive ended with a fumble. Sauk Prairie led 6-0 at halftime. On the Eagles’ second play from scrimmage in the second half, Breunig hit German in stride over the middle for an 83-yard touchdown that put the Eagles ahead, 12-0, with 6:04 remaining in the third quarter. Clinging to a 12-0 lead in the fourth quarter, Sauk Prairie scored once more to seal the game. Garrett Hertzfeldt had a three-yard touchdown run with 6:22 left in the game to make it 19-0. The touchdown capped a nine-play, 70-yard drive that featured a 29-yard completion by Breunig to Jay Liedtke to the 5-yard line that set up the Hertzfeldt score. The Eagles’ defense forced one more turnover on downs, and the offense ran out the clock to preserve shutout win. “I think in the second half we really competed with great effort and toughness,” Iverson said. The win was big for Sauk Prairie, which stayed alive for a postseason berth. The Eagles need to win their final two games of the season to become playoff eligible. The Eagles host Mount Horeb (1-6) in their final home game of the regular season Friday at 7 p.m. Even with the resounding win, Iverson is taking things one game at a time. “Well the hope is that each game you are getting better,” Iverson said. “We still have a lot to improve on, but I’m very proud of the kids and the credit goes to their hard work.” October 4 SAUK PRAIRIE 19, PORTAGE 0 Portage ……............. 0 0 0 0 — 0 Sauk Prairie ........... 6 0 6 7 — 19 First Quarter SP — Uselman 60 run (kick failed), 11:04 Third Quarter SP - German 83 pass from Breunig (two-point failed), 6:40 Fourth Quarter SP - Hertzfeldt 3 run (Vasquez kick), 6:22 TEAM STATISTICS Total yards--SP 359, P 103. Rushes-yards--SP 44-233, P 27-14. Passing(comp-att-yd-int) — SP 5-6-126-0, P 6-16-89-1. Fumbles-lost — SP 2-2, P 1-0. First downs — SP 15, P 7. Penalties-yards — SP 6-23, P 5-54. INDIVIDUAL LEADERS Rushing (att-yd-td): SP Uselman 13-120-1 Hertzfeldt 16-67-1, P Sheppard 15-50-0. Passing (comp-att-yd-int-td): SP Breunig 5-6-126-0-1, P Walker 6-16-89-1-0. Receiving (rec-yd-td): SP German 2-92-1 Liedtke 1-29-0, P Schultz 2-43.