Minnetrista, MN – Haddorff Field was packed with a standing room only crowd for Homecoming last Friday evening, however the White Hawks football team couldn’t overcome costly turnovers in a 14-3 loss to the Lions. The matchup between two teams ranked in the Top 10 of Class 4A in Minnesota was a very physical game that came down to who executed better, and on this night Providence Academy used a couple big plays to pull out the win.

Both teams had trouble moving the ball in the first quarter. Westonka junior cornerback Cade Newell intercepted Lions QB Magnus Hansen stepping in front on a post pattern and returning the ball to the Providence 29-yard line. However, White Hawks quarterback, Cole Drill, was hit as he threw by a blitzing linebacker and the Lions recovered the fumble at their own 38-yard line. 

Hansen would lead the Lions down the field and eventually found Matthew Hunter in the left corner of the end zone for the game’s first score on the second play of the 2nd Quarter. During the drive, Providence Academy used play-action to pick up a first down on 4th and 3 from the Westonka 11-yard line. Drill would move the White Hawks right down the field on the ensuing possession, including a 15-yard scramble setting up a first-and-goal opportunity. Unfortunately, the drive would stall inside the Lions 10-yard line, but sophomore kicker, Chase Lee, would come in and nail the 25-yard field goal cutting the deficit to 7-3 with 5:52 to play in the first half. "Chase has been doing a fantastic job kicking for us all season. He has had two big field goals in back-to-back weeks. Excited to see how he continues to develop as he is only a sophomore," said White Hawks Head Coach Nick David.

The Lions would use two big plays the next time they had the ball. A 38-yard completion to J.P. Nelson on a stop-and-go route down the left sideline moved them into Westonka territory. On the next play, the White Hawks defensive backfield had every receiver covered, so Hansen scrambled to his right, but with linebacker Cole Munsterteiger closing in, he dodged through the middle of six defenders before racing towards the left pylon. Junior safety Brandt Tebbs was able to chase him down at the 3-yard line. Lions’ fullback Grant Sandell would plow through on the next play giving Providence a 14-3 advantage. 

White Hawks sophomore running back, Blake Reinbold, would pick up 11 yards following the kickoff, and then a swing pass to the left gave him another 10 yards helping move Westonka just beyond the 50-yard line. A Ray Beiningen run continued the drive, however, Drill’s pass would get tipped at the line-of-scrimmage on the next play and intercepted by Sardell at the Lions’ 31-yard line. Providence’s offense would use another big play to set up a scoring chance just before the half. Hansen dropped back to pass and threw a pass behind the line to running back Joe Berghult, who set up to throw downfield with a closing Dawson Leinfelder. The long pass to Hunter was broken up by senior safety JT Kimbrough, but Nelson would make a diving catch at the White Hawks 19-yard line. With six seconds to play in the half, Hansen would find Nelson across the middle at the 2-yard line, but Tebbs would bring him down just short of the goal line as time expired. Coach David noted that "We were really proud of our defensive efforts on the last drive of the first half. For Providence Academy to make a big play on what should have been an incomplete pass could have turned into a late touchdown, but the boys were able to dig in and finish the half on a high note with a huge stop."

Providence would take the second half kickoff and move right down the field setting up a 2nd and 4 from the White Hawks 11-yard line. The defense would hold up once again as Kimbrough would break up the pass, but this time it was a diving Munsterteiger that ended the threat, giving the ball back to the offense at the 3-yard line. Beiningen would get them out of danger with a 14-yard run up the middle. However, Westonka could only muster one more first down before Drill pinned Providence at the 3-yard line with a booming 58-yard punt.

The Westonka defense would bend, but not break, on the next Lions drive, as Providence drove methodically down the field before senior defensive lineman, Dylan Sloan, would jar the ball loose from Lions running back, Peyton Bartz, at the 28-yard line. Linebacker Andrew Hoisington would pounce on the fumble giving the White Hawks life with 9:42 to play in the game. The Westonka offense, who only had one possession in the third quarter, would go three-and-out following the recovery, but Drill would hit a 53-yard punt downing Providence inside the 20-yard line. The White Hawks defense would hold and force their own three-and-out. The Lions punt was shanked to the right and would only travel 8 yards setting up Westonka at the 31-yard line.

Drill would throw to senior receiver Max Kraay for 10 yards. Then, on 3rd and 10, Joe Sluka would execute a perfect out and up route where Drill hit him for 14-yard gain down to the 7-yard line. Beiningen’s run picked up four yards on first down, but he would lose four yards on the very next play when Providence linebacker, Colin Gregory, broke through the line untouched. Beiningen would pick up three yards forcing a huge 4th down at the Lions 3-yard line, with just 5:27 remaining. Drill would take the snap and run right on a designed run play. He would shake off a defender at the 6-yard line and then dove for the pylon, but Sandell hit Drill just as he reached out causing the ball to come loose at the 1-yard line, thus ending any comeback hopes of the White Hawks. "We definitely left some points on the field tonight due to some mental mistakes and miscues. Providence Academy is a great team, but we showed tonight that we can play with anyone, but we need to clean things up if we are going to win these types of close games," said David.

The Westonka defense played physically throughout the game, limiting the Lions offense to 130 yards on the ground, with Bartz only tallying 41 yards on 16 carries. Hansen was able to throw for 186 yards completing 15 throws, but the White Hawks also intercepted two passes. Tebbs corralled nine tackles for Westonka, while Hoisington finished with eight tackles, including a tackle-for-loss and the fumble recovery. Big John Seemann tallied six tackles from his defensive tackle position. Dylan Holappa had another good game with six solo tackles with two of them behind the line. Linebacker Roman Larsen came back from an injury this week and had five solo tackles with two TFL’s. Sloan tallied five tackles with a TFL and the forced fumble. Offensively, Beiningen ran for 50 yards, while Drill had 34 yards rushing.

The White Hawks will make the short trip to Orono this Friday night, as they face the Spartans in the “Battle for the Anchor”. This will be the 44th meeting of the War On the Shore, with Orono holding a 31-12 advantage. Westonka looks to spoil Orono’s homecoming after last season’s homecoming loss at Haddorff Field. Game time is set for 7pm at Pesonen Stadium. "Rivalry games are simply the best. We are so excited to have the opportunity to play a meaningful game against Orono at this point in the season for a chance to bring The Anchor back home to Westonka," said David.