Wildcats win wild one over Spartans

Alex Call’s 4-yard touchdown run with 5 seconds remaining gave the River Falls Wildcats a 34-28 win over the Superior High School football team Friday night before more than 1,000 fans at Ole Haugsrud Field.

Call’s scramble around the right end put the finishing touches on a wild game that saw 35 points scored in the fourth quarter.

Trailing 20-7, Superior quarterback Spencer Urban found Kyle Turkowski alone down the right sidelines for a 29-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the fourth quarter. McKenzie Schwarz’s extra-point kick got the Spartans within 20-14.

River Falls got that touchdown back 1:24 later when Aaron Rodewell ran untouched up the middle from 24 yards out. Alex Call’s kick gave the Wildcats a 27-14 lead.

After both teams failed to pick up first down on its next drives, a 20-yard punt by River Falls gave the Spartans the ball at the 25-yard line.

The Spartans moved the ball to the 8, but Jon Helegson picked off a Urban pass in the end zone with 5:06 remaining and fans started heading for the exits.

But on the very next play, Superior’s Jaylon Brown recovered a fumble at the 23-yard line and five players later Urban threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jack Kline. Schwarz’s kick got the Spartans within 27-21 with 3:47 left.

On River Falls’ second play on its next drive the Spartans took a 28-27 lead when Anthony Valentine intercepted a Call pass at the 16-yard line and returned it for a touchdown.

Superior’s Jake Libal recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff giving the Spartans the ball at the 28 with 3:10 remaining.

The Spartans failed to pick up a first down and turned the ball over to the Wildcats at the 25 with 2:19 remaining.

River Falls then caught a break when Libal deflected a pass, but the ball went right into the arms of Wildcats’ John Maillette for a 35-yard gain.

One play after Superior’s Ben Erickson sacked Call giving River Falls a third-and-20 at the 25, Superior was called for pass interference giving the Wildcats a first down at the 13 with 23 seconds left.

Three plays later Call scored the winning touchdown when he scrambled around the right end, avoided a Spartan defender at the 5-yard line, and scored with five seconds remaining. Call also kicked the extra point for a 34-28 lead.

River Falls took a 3-0 lead on Call’s 25-yard field goal 3:51 into the game.

Tyler Nystrom’s kickoff return to the 40 set up a 60-yard scoring drive that ended with Urban running for a 5-yard touchdown around the right end. Schwarz’s kick gave Superior a 7-3 lead with 5:06 left in the first quarter.

River Falls took the lead right back thanks to a 9-yard, 65-yard drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Call to Eric Wunrow.

Superior played giveaway the rest of the first half starting with a fumble at the River Falls’ 8-yard line. Helgeson’s first interception of the game was followed by a nine-play 78-yard drive that ended with Rodewell running up the middle from 5 yards out.

Another Superior fumble on its next possession, led to a Call 41-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

The Spartans, 1-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big River Conference, play at River Falls at 7 p.m. Friday.

River Falls 10 10 0 14 — 34

Superior 7 0 0 21 — 28

First Quarter

RF—Alex Call 25yard field goal, 8:09.

SHS—Spencer Urban, 3-yard run (McKenzie Schwarz kick), 5:05.

RF—Eric Wunrow 14-yard pass from Call (Call kick), 1:08.

Second Quarter

RF—Aaron Rodewald 5-yard run (Call kick), 1:20.

RF—Call 41-yard FG, 0:00.

Third Quarter

No scoring

Fourth Quarter

SHS—Kyle Turkowski 28-yard pass from Urban (Schwarz kick), 11:32.

RF— Rodewald 24-yard run (Call kick), 10:08.

SHS—Jack Kline 5-yard pass from Urban (Schwarz kick), 3:47.

SHS—Anthony Valentine 16-yard interception return (Schwarz kick), 3:26.

RF—Call 4-yard run (Call kick), 0:05.

Team Stats

RF SHS

First Downs 17 15

First Downs: R-P-Pen 7-9-1 9-6-0

Rushing Yards 194 152

Passing: Comp.–Att. 19/35 11/31

Passing Yards 213 143

Passing: TDs–Int 1/1 2/2

Total Offense 407 295

Fumbles-Lost 2/2 2/2

Penalties-Yards 3/20 1/15

Def. Sacks 0 2

Time of Possession 26:53 21:07

Punts-Avg. 3/34.0 1/31

Individual Stats

Rushing

SHS—Spencer Urban, 9-42; Raheem Vann, 8-39; Aaron Wakefield-Zubiate, 7-13; Anthony Valintine, 3-10; Brandon Gustafson, 1-10; Ben Erickson, 3-8; Addison Schwarz, 1-8; Jaylon Brown, 1-1; Tyler Nystrom, 3-7; Mike DeMoure, 1-8; Ean Fredericks, 1-2; Kyle Turkowski, 1-4.

Passing

SHS—Urban 11-31—143. RF—Alex Call, 19-35—213.

Receiving

SHS—Valentine, 3-56; Jack Kline, 4-32; Vann, 1-18; Wakefield-Zubiate 1-(-1); Erickson, 1-8; Kasey Keup, 1-3; Turkowski, 1-28.

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