8-Man Semifinals Wednesday, November 10th
Audubon Vs CAM Anita
CAM Anita 66
Audubon 29
Audubon led midway midway through the 3rd quarter on Wednesday morning but the Cougars were able to take advantage three turnovers and pulled away in the 4th quarter to advance to the finals were they will face off against Easton Valley who topped St Mary’s Remsen in the second semifinal. The first half was tight with both teams taking advantage of big plays and holding leads for short periods. The Wheelers appeared to have grabbed the momentum with a 16 play, 67-yard drive right before half to tie the game at 22. CAM Anita scored to start the 2nd half but Audubon answered with a 40-yard drive, capped by an 11-yard run by Gavin Smith. Things went wrong after that for the Wheelers.
PHOTOS: Credit to Jeff Storjohann (ViewFinder22)
The Wheelers were poised to take the lead on the opening drive, marching the ball down the field. They got to the 2-yard line but fumbled and the Cougars recovered at their own 5. Two plays later Lane Spieker found a crease on the left side and ran 75-yards for a touchdown and CAM was up 8-0. Audubon responded on their next snap as Matthew Beisswenger got in behind the defense and Gavin Smith through a dime, catching him in stride for a 65-yard touchdown. The Wheelers cut it to 8-7 with 7:09 left in the 1st quarter. The Wheeler defense was doing a nice job against Spieker in the run game early and forced the Cougars into a three and out. Audubon marched down the field and was stopped on 3rd down. Matthew Beisswenger booted a 22-yard field goal but was run into and the penalty gave the Wheelers a first down. Gavin Smith scored on a 2-yard run and Audubon led 14-8. The lead was short lived as Spieker scored on a brilliant run from 29-yards. The Wheelers had the play stopped but he spun around a pair of tacklers and out ran the defense to the end zone. The Cougars led 16-14 after the 1st quarter.
Audubon was held on downs at the Cougars 19-yard line early in the 2nd quarter on a drive that started at their own 25. The Cougars weren’t able to move the ball and punted, pinning the Wheelers at the 1. Audubon failed to get a first down and punted back to CAM who got a nice return from Spieker to the Wheelers 28-yard line. Cade Ticknor put the Cougars up 8 with 6:50 left in the half. The best drive of the game for either team ended the 1st half. Audubon went for it on 4th down and got it on a run by Gavin Smith. The Wheelers used that momentum to slowly march down the field, using the clock in the process. CAM Anita nearly had a great defensive stand in the final 30 seconds. Audubon had it 1st and goal from the 2 and didn’t score until Gavin Smith extended the ball over the end line on 4th down from the 2 with 0:04 seconds left. Braden Wessel scored the 2-point conversion and the game was tied at half.
The Wheelers nearly came up with a stop on the Cougars opening possession of the 2nd half. They faced a 4th down from the Audubon 13-yard line. Lane Spieker rolled to his right and was being pursued by a couple Wheeler defenders when he fired the ball across his body into double coverage and Cade Ticknor made a nice catch in the end zone for the touchdown. CAM was back on top 28-22. Braden Wessel nearly took the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown getting tackled by his shoe strings at midfield. The Wheelers capitalized on the great field position and Gavin Smith scored on an 11-yard run and Audubon went back up 29-28.
A CAM touchdown with 4:02 left in the 3rd was followed by a Wheeler turnover at their own 27. The Cougars struck on a 4 yard run by Spieker and they put some distance between themselves and Audubon with a 44-29. An Audubon punt led to another Cougar touchdown to blow the game open. The 52-29 deficit forced Audubon to go for it on 4th down in their own territory and they fumbled in the end zone and it was recovered by CAM. Audubon turned the ball over three times in the final 15:56 of the game. The Cougars tacked on another score with 3:35 left.
The Wheelers capped another great season with both losses coming to number one ranked CAM. They end the season 10-2. The senior class helped the Wheelers qualify for the Dome in two of the last three years.
CAM Anita moved to 12-0 and will face 12-0 Easton Valley in the championship game next Thursday morning.
Audubon Stats
Gavin Smith 43-225 yards rushing-3 TD, 5-19 94 yards passing, TD, INT
Matthew Beisswenger 4-89 receiving- TD
Carter Andreasen 9.5 tackles
Garrett Christensen 8.5 tackles
Box Score
Teams 1 2 3 4 Final
CAM Anita 16 6 22 22 66
Audubon 14 8 7 0 29
