VICTORIA – Throughout the year, Victoria coach Doug Oberle has harped on the Knights flying to the football and gang tackling. Additionally, Oberle wanted to see continued improvement from the passing game, especially after zero passing yards in a two-point Week 4 loss against Otis-Bison.
On Friday, the Knights, despite injuries to multiple key starters, played well in those key areas in a 50-26 home win against Logan-Palco.
Victoria bumped its record to 4-1, 1-0 in challenging Eight-Man, Division I, District 4. Logan-Palco dropped to 4-1, 0-1. Five squads entered District 4 at 3-1 or better with just two qualifying for the postseason. Victoria plays host to Bennington (5-0, 1-0) next week.
The Knights led 24-0 at the 5 minute, 10 second mark of the first quarter and then didn’t score until the second half.
“I didn’t know what we were going to get in the second half,” Oberle said. “Our halftime locker room was not pretty or pleasant. We knew they weren’t going to go away without a fight. They are too good.”
Logan-Palco cut the deficit to 24-14 at intermission and 24-20 at the 8:46 mark of the third quarter.
The Knights responded with a 36-yard play-action scoring pass from junior quarterback Cooper Windholz to wide-open senior Cole Schmidtberger for a 30-20 lead. Schmidtberger credited the line and backs for allowing the play to develop.
“Let me get deep into the route,” he said.
On the next play, Victoria delivered an onside kick that bounced off a Trojan player. A hustling Schmidtberger recovered the ball. Schmidtberger labeled the play “a big momentum shift.”
“We’ve preached all week and all year about getting to the football, getting guys to the football, and on the fumble, we are running to the ball,” Oberle said. “Earlier, they put the ball on the ground, and we are standing there. Cole has got to be a leader. Cole has got to make plays for us.”
Victoria converted the play into an eventual 5-yard scoring run by senior Collin Kisner for a 38-20 lead.
“That was the turning point,” Logan-Palco coach Mike Jenner said. “We’d pretty much climbed back in right before the half.”
Kisner served as the primary quarterback in 2016 with Windholz seeing spot duty. This season, Oberle has used the speedy Kisner in multiple roles. Kisner, playing hurt, finished with 11 carries for 40 yards and two scores. Senior fullback Cooper Pfanenstiel led with 115 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Versus Otis-Bison, Windholz was 0 of 5 passing with an interception. This week, he completed 5 of 8 passes for 100 yards and three touchdowns against no interceptions.
“Pretty much just get in a groove, and I’ve just got to keep improving every game,” Windholz said. “Everyone needs to improve, but I really need to improve.”
Windholz tallied 11 rushes for 59 yards and a score. Victoria outgained Logan-Palco, 361-302.
“I knew they were going to throw it on us a little bit,” Jenner said. “Because normally our defense will step up and stop the run for the most part, so I knew they were going to have to (pass). Again, missed assignments early. People out of position, just didn’t play the ball.”
Victoria opened the game with a 50-yard scoring pass on a blown coverage from Windholz to junior Caden Oberle.
“We knew we couldn’t do what we did last week,” coach Oberle said. “Again, we have to find a way to throw the ball and be successful, and we thought we could do a few things against them, and we caught them in a bad coverage early.”
Logan-Palco went three-and-out as the Knights tackled Trojan senior all-stater David Thompson well. He produced 24 carries for 84 yards.
“I felt like last week, we did not tackle, we did not get eight guys to the football,” Oberle said. “The kid is a stud. He is a man. Nobody on my team is bringing that kid down one on one, and we had to get guys to the football, and I was happy with that. Our corners, we challenged them to get the sweep read, and come up and set the edge, and bring him in, and I thought we did a good job.”
Thompson’s line drive punt went off a player and netted no yards. Windholz quickly gave Victoria a 16-0 advantage on a perfectly ran 31-yard zone read for a touchdown.
“We have a read there,” Windholz said. “Sometimes I don’t do a very good job of that, but luckily enough, I was able to get the right read there.”
Following another Trojan three-and-out, Kisner showcased his elusiveness for a 27-yard score and a 24-0 lead.
“We weren’t mentally ready to go,” Jenner said. “Simple as that. We were making stupid mistakes, weren’t in position, weren’t carrying out our assignments. I tip my hat to them. He had his guys ready, we didn’t.”
Logan-Palco, with senior quarterback Riley Allen, started throwing the deep ball. Thompson, with his back to Allen in the end zone, bobbled a pass but held on for a 41-yard touchdown on fourth down.
A 53-yard completion led to a Thompson 1-yard run and 24-14 deficit. Allen, in his first year as starting quarterback, completed six of 17 passes for 153 yards with two scores and an interception at the goal lin. He had 14 rushes for 77 yards and a touchdown. The Trojans had another score called back because of penalty.
“Riley’s biggest problem is that he is not really a quarterback yet,” Jenner said. “He is an athlete. … But he has got a good arm. He knows what he is doing. We’ve got receivers that will catch the ball. All he’s got to do is get it out there.”
Both teams faced injuries throughout the contest. In the third quarter, Logan-Palco junior Bodey Leroux, a multi-year starter, needed medical attention for a possible ankle/leg injury. The game was stopped for more than 10 minutes. Jenner said Leroux’s status was not immediately known after the game.
Victoria senior center/defensive lineman Wyatt Engel went down with an apparent ankle injury midway through the third quarter. Junior Jacob Schroeder stepped in at center. On defense, sophomore Kail Brungardt and freshman Drayden Karlin filled key roles.
“He did a tremendous job,” Oberle said of Brungardt. “He did not see the field I think other than maybe a special teams play here or there, and we put him in on a fourth down in a crucial time because we are a little dinged, and he did a great job at nose.”
Even with the outcome decided late, Oberle wanted to make sure Victoria received the maximum 21-point margin, a tactic Jenner was aware of.
Last season, Logan-Palco defeated Victoria, 50-28. Victoria fell one point short of the playoffs. This time, Windholz capped his impressive day with a 13-yard score to Caden Oberle inside the final two minutes.
Coach Oberle apologized to Jenner after the game for the final touchdown. Both coaches said they “hate” the 21-point rule, a tiebreaker that could end up deciding District 4 playoff berths again this fall.
“We’re up by 18 with four minutes to go, and it’s just the nature of the beast, and I feel like I’ve got to go down and find points,” Oberle said. “We miss the playoffs last year by one point, and I told our guys, ‘I can’t let us get in that position again. We’ve got to find those points.’”
Use your Facebook account to add a comment or start a discussion. Posts are subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment.
