Hawks vanquish Knights to defend home turf

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W-G senior Kade Polich heads down the grid. Polich had 162 yards and three touchdowns Friday. Photo courtesy Teresa Zieman Lettow.

WOODWARD — It was a happy Homecoming at Woodward-Granger Friday after the Hawks rallied three times from deficits to pull away for a 36-17 win over Kuemper Catholic in 1A District 8 action.

W-G (4-1) finally moved ahead for good late in the third quarter before adding a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull away for the victory, dropping the Knights to 1-4 overall.

“We started slow, which was kind of surprising, because there wasn’t so much Homecoming stuff going this year, which can sometimes be a distraction,” W-G head coach George Ashman said. “I think our guys might have taken them (Kuemper) a little too lightly, but we slowly took charge and started to wear them out as the game went on.”

Kuemper took a 3-0 lead after one frame when Knight placekicker Simon Wagner kicked a line-drive 35-yard field goal. The ball spun sideways off his right foot, clanged into the crossbar, and fell over for a three-point advantage.

A combined sack from Dane Polich and Alex Evans, followed by a John McKeever sack, had turned the guests back from inside the 10-yard line, forcing the field goal attempt.

Kade Polich scored on a nine-yard burst early in the second as W-G moved in front, 6-3, but a 15-yard TD pass put the Knights back out front, 10-6.

However, the hosts were able to enter the break with a 14-10 lead after Christian Husmann took a short pass on the wing, made a man miss, and broke down the near sideline. He cut back across the grain near the 20 yard line to elude the final defender and trotted into the north end zone for a TD. Polich added a conversion run to create the four-point margin.

Taye Vonnahme scooted free off left tackle and outran the W-G defense for a 77-yard TD and a 17-14 Knight lead with 5:40 to play in the third quarter. It would be the last time the visitors led on the scoreboard.

W-G was stopped on a fourth down moments later, but the defense turned right around and forced a Kuemper punt. The boot was blocked by Carter Moran, with the Hawks recovering on the 15 yard line.

Polich bulled in from four yards out to give the home team a 20-17 lead, where it remained when a two-point conversion failed.

W-G had been kicking most point-after attempts, but Jake Lego — who also leads the team in rushing — is injured and missed the game.

Kuemper had to punt early in the fourth, with Dustin Harney taking the proper angle and blocking the rugby-style try. He then chased down the ball from the 35, recovering the ball and eventually being dragged down at the two-yard line.

Quarterback Trevor Simmons plowed in to the end zone from there, with Polich adding a conversion to put the Hawks in front, 28-17, with 9:44 to play.

The Knights responded by moving the ball sharply up the turf. However, Brody Nardini fell on a fumble at the 27 yard line to turn aside the charge.

A key double-penalty followed when Polich had his facemask grasped for a 15-yard flag, with the Knight defender tossing aside his helmet in disgust, adding 15 more yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.

That moved the ball to the Knight 40, and a few plays later Polich broke free up the middle, then angled to the southeast corner for a 30-yard TD jaunt. Simmons hit Worth Henry with a conversion pass to cap the scoring at 36-17 with just under three minutes still on the clock.

Simmons finished 4-of-10 for 103 yards and one TD while being intercepted twice. Husmann caught two passes for 75 yards and a score, with Moran making one catch for 20 yards and Henry one for eight yards.

Polich rumbled for 162 yards and three TDs on 23 carries. Dustin Harney had 35 yards and Dylan Bird 32, with both carrying the ball four times, with Simmons scoring once and gaining eight yards on six carries.

Nardini had 6.5 tackles, Simmons and Dane Polich 5.5 apiece and McKeever five. Henry (3.5), Garrett Burkhart (3), Harney (2.5) and Evans (2) also played well. McKeever had a sack and three tackles for loss, with Burkhartt making a pair of stops behind the line of scrimmage.

W-G visits West Central Valley (1-4) Friday. The Wildcats fell, 46-0, to visiting Panorama Sept. 25. The shortened regular season will end for W-G Oct. 9 with a visit from second-ranked Van Meter.

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