Friday October 1st the Mound Westonka White Hawks traveled to Fridley to take on the number 6 ranked Tigers. Despite being ranked higher at number 3, the White Hawks have struggled against the Tigers in the past and tonight would be no different.

The White Hawks would receive to start the game and began with good field position after a return from senior Ben Tice. Gaylord worked his magic right after and drew the defense offsides not once, but twice. Despite the strong start, the White Hawks found themselves in an unfamiliar situation, being forced to punt on their first drive. The Tigers responded with a roar, marching down the field behind the run game and a final reception by Devin Williams to make it 7-0 Tigers with just over seven minutes left in the first quarter.

The Tigers would then kick off and pin the White Hawks deep, starting this drive at the 12. Despite the poor position, the White Hawks would move the chains behind the efforts of Tyler Von Bank, Tyler Albert, and Jake Dallman, but it wasn’t enough and the Hawks would be forced to punt again. This time Von Bank’s punt would do the same and pin the Tigers back to their 13. The White Hawks Defense would settle to their usual routine of shutting down the offense on this drive and would force the Tigers to punt.

On the next drive the White Hawks Offense would settle in too and march the ball down the field. Tyler Albert would string together a few rushes and a deep pass to Zachow would be interfered with, moving the ball into their own territory. A completion to Will Wallace and a rush by Tyler Von Bank would tie the game at 7-7 thanks to Neve’s extra point with 10:47 left in the second quarter.

The Tigers would not be intimidated however and confidently worked their way down the field during their final first-half drive. The drive was complete when Tiger QB found his man who didn’t stop until he found the endzone making it 13-7 Fridley with 28 seconds left in the half.

In the second half, the Tigers would receive the ball and the Hawks Special Teams would struggle to take their man down. Despite their good field position to start, Jack Pfeiffer would interrupt their drive with a key momentum stopping interception. However the White Hawks wouldn’t be able to capitalize on the change of possession with a fumble of their own. The White Hawks Defense rallied to ensure the fumble made no mark or the score. They held the Tigers again and forced them to punt.

With the fumble in ancient history, White Hawk junior Tyler Albert had a long run to put the ball on Fridley’s 26-yard line. Jake Gaylord would then end the drive with a long QB keeper to make it 14-13 White Hawks with 6:48 left in the quarter.

This hard-earned White Hawk lead would not last long as it took only 15 seconds for Fridley to answer back. On the first play of the ensuing drive, senior running back Zachary Gotsch scored on a long run. The successful two-point conversion would make it 21-14 Fridley with 6:33 remaining in the third quarter.

The White Hawks regrouped and in the White Hawk Way, would not cower. They returned to their game plan and found openings on the ground and in the air. Gaylord would remind the Tiger’s that he should not be ignored as a force on the field and would keep the ball, scramble and bounce off several Tigers to set up great field position. Since it wasn’t broken, they didn’t fix it, and they would again call on Gaylord to keep the ball rushing for another touchdown to make it 21-20 Tigers with 3.2 seconds left in the third quarter.

With one final quarter to go, Westonka put together an impressive drive but was faced with a tough decision on 4th and 5. They went for it and Von Bank moved the chains with an outside run. Later in that same drive, the White Hawks were again faced with a 4th and 11 from Fridley’s 19-yard line. This time Von Bank used his arm instead of his legs and found senior Jake Dallman towering above his defensemen in the endzone. Jake’s basketball skills shined as he tipped the ball and brought it for a touchdown making it 26-21 White Hawks with 5:56 left in the game. Von Bank would convert for two making it 28-21 with about 6 minutes left in the game.

The White Hawks knew better than to let up, as the Tigers are tough to stop in their territory. They began their offensive attack but when they tried to go to the air, senior defensive back Joe Zachow would intercept a deep Fridley pass to give the White Hawks the ball back with only 3:21 remaining in the game.

The White Hawks needed both yards and time and could not move the ball so had to punt one last time and in doing so pushed the Tigers back to their own 21-yard line with just over 1:30 left in the game. This time the White Hawks Defense would not give them anything and the Tigers finally turned it over on downs. Jake Gaylord would take a knee as time expired with the final score of 28-21, improving their record to 5-0 and making them Twin Cities Maroon Subdistrict Champions.

The White Hawks rushing would be the story of the game with Tyler Albert (163 yards), Jake Gaylord (76 yards) and Tyler Von Bank (42 yards) leading. Leading the team in tackles were Fletcher Anderson with 10, Matt Oko with 8, and Joe Zachow, Tyler Von Bank and Adam Mack each with 6. Coach David also recognized the work of the Defensive Line (Matt Oko, Max Swanson, Andrey Sivtsov, Sam Dioszeghy) who kept the Hawks in the game despite the explosive Tiger running game.

David said to MN Football Hub after the game, “In my nine years, this is probably the biggest win of the program against a state-ranked team. Fridley has beaten us the past two years but we knew this would be a huge win so I’m very proud of the kids.”