Mound Westonka Varsity Football opened the 2022 campaign at Haddorff Stadium with a dominant performance in a 65-12 Thursday night victory over the visiting North St. Paul Polars in a Twin City Maroon Sub-District match-up. The White Hawks start the season 1-0 for the ninth consecutive year.

Mound Westonka never trailed in the game while posting a 35 point second quarter. The no-huddle offense took shape from the outset as junior quarterback Carter Reinbold led the White Hawks to two quick scores in the first quarter. The first on a 43-yard scamper from junior Jacob Hansberger. Ben Neve kicked the first of his seven successful extra points to take an early 7-0 lead.

Reinbold, who led the team with 105 yards on the ground in just nine carries, orchestrated a seven-play drive that culminated in a Tyler Albert 4-yard run to extend the lead to 14-0 after one period. The White Hawks scored again with 11:14 left in the second quarter, as Reinbold found senior Kade Tappen (4 catches-28 yards) in the right corner of the end zone for a 4-yard score and a 21-0 lead.

The defense dominated the line of scrimmage all game, led by senior DL Mathew Oko with three tackles for loss, two quarterback sacks, and a forced fumble. Sophomore Beck Jenson (4 tackles) also contributed two sacks, as the White Hawks finished with eight total sacks and 12 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Hansberger found paydirt once again on a nifty 15-yard run, and then Reinbold followed that up with a 10-yard TD run of his own, staking Westonka to a 35-0 lead with 3:56 to play in the second. The stout White Hawks defense snared their first interception of the new season, when senior linebacker Fletcher Anderson picked off the Polar quarterback, setting up a Reinbold to Tappen 8-yard TD, via the air, just 22 seconds later.

The connection of Reinbold (8-12-75 yards, 3TD’s) and Tappen closed out the first half scoring as they hooked up for a third time with 17 seconds remaining giving the home team an insurmountable 49-0 margin.

With mainly substitutes taking the field to start the second half, Westonka still moved the ball behind senior quarterback Gavin Leuthold. Hansberger (8 carries-100 yards) finished off his night in style with his third TD run from six yards and 56-0 advantage after junior Sam Gaylord’s extra point.

The defensive line came up big again, late in the third quarter, when sophomore DL John Seemann recorded a sack for a safety and a 58-0 lead. Defensively for the White Hawks, Cam Peterson led the team with six tackles (5 solo), while Anderson, Jenson and senior Sam Dioszeghy had four total tackles apiece. Luke Leonard, Jaaron Konkel, and Carter Kleinsasser each contributed with three tackles.

North St. Paul, who were held to just 149 yards (3.1 yards per play) of total offense, broke up the shutout late in the third quarter on a 7-yard run, but the defense held on the 2-pt conversion pass. Senior Cale Hendrycks then intercepted a pass for Westonka and returned it 16 yards for a TD extending the lead to 65-6.

On offense, Westonka’s Tyler Albert carried the ball 11 times for 103 yards and a TD. Mound Westonka hits the road this Friday night at 7pm taking on another Twin City Maroon Sub-District foe in St. Anthony Village.