Minnetrista, MN – Westonka went into last Thursday’s season opener against Marshall with some uncertainty on both sides of the ball and it showed in the 47-0 defeat at Haddorff Field. The defense showed some promise early in the game as they stopped the Tigers on their first three possessions, including a 4th down stop and then a fumble recovery at their own 2-yard line.

However, the White Hawks offense couldn’t muster any yards all night against a Tigers defense that continually put eight players near the line of scrimmage. Westonka finished with 50 yards rushing on 26 carries and was only able to complete one pass for a mere three yards. Junior running back Blake Reinbold had 36 of those yards on 17 carries. “We knew going into this game that yards were going to be tough to come by. With that, the bright side is that so many of these things are correctable and things that we can improve upon from an execution standpoint,” said White Hawks Head Coach Nick David.

Following the opening possession 4th down stop by the White Hawks, Marshall drove 55 yards on their next drive but a botched snap on 3rd and 1 at the Westonka 2-yard line saw linebacker Mason Merritt fall on the ball giving the ball back to the White Hawks. However, on 2nd down, quarterback Cade Newell’s pitch went awry, and the Tigers recovered the fumble in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. The extra point made it 7-0 with 2:47 to play in the first quarter. The defense came up big again early in the 2nd quarter, when junior Carter Holappa sacked Marshall’s quarterback, Levi Maeyaert, for a six-yard loss forcing a punt.

The Tigers took advantage of good field position at the Westonka 47-yard line. A questionable 2nd down pass interference penalty gave Marshall new life and three plays later Maeyaert converted on a 22-yard touchdown pass to 6’5 wide receiver Jayden Meister. The ensuing kickoff was a low line drive that hit one of the White Hawks front liners and bounced back toward the kicking team and was ultimately recovered by the Tigers at the White Hawks 48-yard line. The next play saw Marshall hook up on a 44-yard pass play down the right hash. Carter Manthei would finish the drive on the next play running up the middle for a 4-yard score and a 21-0 lead. “It was a 7-0 game with just over 6 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, and then just like that, it was 34-0. Marshall is a well coached team that plays a very physical and disciplined style of football. Against a good team like Marshall we cannot afford to turn the ball over or have the amount of mistakes that we did,” noted David.

The ensuing kickoff saw Westonka unable to recover a kickoff that bounced at the 20-yard line setting up the Tigers once again on the White Hawks side of the field. On 2nd down, Marshall found their tight end, Logan Eickoff, across the middle of the field, but senior safety Brandt Tebbs hit him knocking the ball loose, however on the way to the ground, Eickoff somehow corralled the ball. Two plays later, Andrew Stelter used his 205 pounds to run it in from the 1-yard line giving the Tigers a 28-0 advantage with 3:35 remaining in the 2nd quarter. Marshall tacked on another Stelter 1-yard TD with 37 seconds left in the first half giving the Tigers a 34-0 lead. Reinbold’s six yard gain on the final play of the half gave Westonka their only first down of the half.

Marshall would add a 65-yard screen pass for a touchdown with 4:55 left in the third quarter and then a 68-yard rushing TD midway through the fourth quarter.

Tebbs led the defense with 15 tackles (8 solo) and senior linebacker Andrew Hoisington finished with 13 tackles (8 solo). Merritt finished with 7 tackles, a QB sack and the fumble recovery. Junior Anders Mjelstad had six tackles, while sophomore cornerback Max French added five tackles, as did senior safety Ethan Keller. Senior cornerback Gavin Ruegemer tacked on four tackles and also had a pass defended. Offensively, Tebbs had the lone catch for three yards, and also rushed one time for four yards. Newell finished with eight yards on the ground. He also punted 8 times for a 42.1 yard average, which included a 55-yarder.

The White Hawks look for improvement as they hit the road in Week 2 as they travel to Willmar this Friday, 9/5 to take on the Cardinals at 7:00pm.