Long Lake, MN – Westonka’s season came to an end on Saturday afternoon falling to archrival Orono, 50-6, in a Section 6AAAA Semifinal match-up at Pesonen Stadium in front of a sparse crowd due to the cold and windy conditions.

The White Hawks (3-7) began the game by going three-and-out on offense giving Orono possession near midfield. The Spartans wasted little time scoring on their fourth play from scrimmage when quarterback Griffin Mauer found a wide open Bennett Halverson for the 37-yard touchdown. Mauer ran in the two-point conversion for the 8-0 lead just two minutes into the game.

Westonka picked up two first downs on their next possession but eventually stalled out and was forced to punt. The White Hawks defense was able to force a 4th -and-7 from their 37-yard line, however Mauer was able to throw to his 6’5 tight end, Simon Vinton, who jumped up and over linebacker Mason Merritt for the 21-yard pickup. Then, after senior safety Brant Tebbs pushed Hudson Hirt out of bounds for a four yard loss, Orono faced another 4th-and-long from the Westonka 17-yard line. This time, despite tight coverage from cornerback Blake Reinbold, Halverson hauled in a lofted 16-yard pass right at the goal line. Mauer snuck it in from there and then kicked the extra point making it 15-0 late in the first quarter. “We did some really nice things defensively on downs 1st-3rd. We just couldn’t get off the field on 4th down when we needed to. Hats off to Orono as they made some really nice plays on 4th down,” stated Westonka head coach Nick David.

The second quarter was all Spartans as they outscored Westonka 28-0 leading to a 43-0 halftime advantage. The White Hawks came out in the third quarter and forced a punt deep in Spartans territory, and the 13-yard punt gave Westonka their best field position on the day. Senior quarterback Cade Newell, and Reinbold, carried the offense down to the Spartans 9-yard line, and then Newell capped off the drive with the 9-yard TD run right up the middle. The two-point try was snuffed out on Newell’s pass attempt to Tebbs. Orono tacked on the last score with just 2:02 left in the game.

Offensively for the White Hawks, Wyatt Stepanek led the team with 9 attempts for 33 yards rushing, followed by Reinbold who finished with 26 yards on the ground and 25 yards receiving on 2 receptions. Newell had 23 yards rushing on 12 carries. Sophomore Will Pioske had one catch for 31 yards on a fake punt. On the defensive side of the ball, Reinbold had a game-high and season-high 9 tackles, all of them solo. Carter Holappa finished with 8 tackles. In their last high school game, Tebbs and Big Phil Pisarchuk tallied 8 tackles a piece with Tebbs having one tackle-for-loss. Senior Mason Merritt had six tackles, while fellow senior Andrew Hoisington added five tackles and a sack. Sophomore cornerback Max French chipped in 5 tackles. Anders Mjelstad had four tackles and the other sack along with a pass defended. Dane Sewell tallied four tackles and blocked an extra-point. Senior Glenn Givens finished with two assisted tackles.

On the season, Newell threw for 945 yards and seven touchdowns while leading the White Hawks ground game as he rushed for 485 yards on 122 carries and 7 touchdowns. Reinbold had 331 yards on the ground with two scores. Stepanek finished the season with 332 rushing yards on 64 carries and had two touchdowns. Tebbs added 69 rushing yards on 16 attempts. Reinbold led the receiving corps with 26 receptions for 404 yards and three touchdowns. Tebbs had 21 catches for 305 yards and 4 TD’s while adding a two-point reception. Senior John Seckinger had 4 catches for 68 yards before being injured against Willmar. Senior Gavin Ruegemer added two receptions for 28 yards, and a two-point reception, before his injury in the regular season matchup with Orono. Holappa finished the year with four catches and a two-point conversion catch. Tebbs also had 276 kick return yards on 15 returns (18.4 avg), while Reinbold finished with 266 kick return yards on 18 returns. Tebbs led with two punt returns for 47 yards. Newell had a 35.2 punt average on 40 punts. Senior Leif Hagen was 1-3 on field goals and 3-4 on extra-points, while Bruno Pomsel nailed all three of his extra point attempts. Ole Bettin also kicked one extra-point. “Special teams played a huge role in our 3 wins this season and was our strongest phase of the three throughout the entire season,” expressed David.

On defense, Tebbs led the White Hawks in tackles for the second consecutive season finishing with 116 (74 solo). He also had a team-high four passes defended and tacked on 8 tackles-for-loss. During his three years as a varsity starter, Tebbs accumulated 257 tackles (the most by any White Hawk since 2011) with 15 tackles-for loss, 11 passes defended, and an interception in the Delano playoff victory in 2024. Andrew Hoisington had 89 tackles (60 solo) and a team-high 11 TFL’s to go along with 3 sacks, a team-high two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, and a blocked kick. Mjelstad tallied 70 tackles (51 solo) with three sacks, 6 tackles-for-loss, a fumble recovery, and a pick-six in the Big Lake game. Senior defensive lineman Dawson Leinfelder, who missed the last game due to an injury, tacked on 41 tackles with 5 TFL’s, a team-high tying 3 sacks and a blocked kick. Sophomore cornerback Max French tallied 46 tackles and had one pass defended. Merritt, who came back from an injury earlier in the year, finished with 39 tackles from his linebacker position. He also added two sacks. Pisarchuk chipped in 40 tackles with 6 TFL’s and a sack with one pass knockdown. Reinbold moved to defense halfway through the year and finished with 36 tackles, a Forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Sophomore Dane Sewell had 30 tackles, two TFL’s, and two blocked extra-points. Holappa added 28 tackles and three sacks. Seniors Ethan Keller (who missed the last 5 games with an injury) and Emmitt Johnson each tallied 18 tackles. Keller added a team-high tying 4 PD’s while Johnson had one TFL. Newell and junior Eric Donelan each had an interception. “Though the season did not end the way we all had hoped, there are a ton of positives we can take away and apply this off-season in order to help us improve going into next year. I cannot thank our seniors enough for their leadership. They will truly be missed,” said David.