Chalk one up for the defense.
On a night when the offensive unit of the Superior High School football team struggled, the defensive unit came through with two fumble recoveries, an interception and a huge goal-line stand as the Spartans broke into the win column with a 14-7 victory over the Hudson Raiders Friday night at Ole Haugsrud Field.
"There was nothing pretty about it, but I'm proud of every one of those kids," SHS coach Bob DeMeyer said. "The kids showed up and played with heart and drive. Right to the end they didn't quit and we did what we had to do to pull out the win."
The Spartans, who opened the season with close losses to state powers Stevens Point and D.C. Everest, came up with a defensive stand in the final minute of play to improve to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the Big Rivers Conference.
Hudson took over at midfield with 5:41 remaining in the fourth quarter and gradually worked its way into a first down at the 12-yard line.
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Raiders quarterback Davy Branson rushed for 5 yards then lost a yard for third down at the 8. After calling time out, Hudson threw back-to-back incomplete passes, the second of which was knocked away by SHS defensive back Mike LaValley.
"We were expecting a fade pass, we saw them use the same play on film against Somerset," LaValley said. "I was just able to get position on him and knock it away.
"Defensively we played amazing out there against a very good Hudson team."
Superior and quarterback Kellen McCoshen ran out the final 57 seconds to pick up the victory.
"We didn't get down when we were making mistakes early on," DeMeyer said. "We also kept fighting and battling, and our playmakers made some plays to spark it for us."
The Spartans were their own worst enemies early on as they committed penalties on the first play of their first two drives.
Then, one play after finally picking up a first down with 6:15 left in the first half, McCoshen was hit as he attempted a pass and the ball was intercepted and returned for an apparent touchdown by Hudson's Tyler Smrcina.
Fortunately for Superior, an illegal block was called on the return taking the TD off the board. The Spartan defense dug in and forced a punt, leaving the score 7-0 in favor of Hudson.
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Superior tied the game at 7-7 when McCoshen found LaValley streaking down the middle for a 55-yard touchdown with 14 seconds left in the first half.
"They overplayed to the strong side and I was able to break free," LaValley said of the play which was just installed in the SHS playbook last week.
"Mike's a heck of a receiver and Kellen just threw a dart," DeMeyer said. "The guys up front blocked well and it was a big play going into the half."
The Spartans' winning touchdown came on Chad Murray's 2-yard plunge with 3:34 left in the third quarter. David Zastrow booted both extra points for Superior.
Zach Erickson gained 24 of his team-high 34 yards on the eventual game-winning drive on six carries.
"You have to give a lot of credit to Zach," DeMeyer said. "He's a player; not very big, but he runs big and is very steady."
Zach Colvin added 33 yards rushing and led the Spartans on defense with 17 tackles.
Ethan Taylor added 10 tackles and Scott Collins had nine. Jake Turkowski chipped in with seven tackles and forced a fumble that Chris Bishop recovered.
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Bishop also forced a fumble that was recovered by LaValley at Superior's 15-yard line.
"I just had to take a good angle on him," Bishop said. "Just this week in practice, coach Buzz (Johnson) taught me how to grab the outside shoulder, rip through it and knock the ball away and it worked."
Bishop's forced fumble came at the end of a 12-yard run by Hudson quarterback Davy Branson. It was also the first play of the fourth quarter.
Austin Lezen's 12-yard run with 28 seconds remaining in the first quarter gave Hudson a 7-0 lead.
In other BRC action Friday night, Chippewa Falls ran away from Eau Claire Memorial 41-9, Eau Claire North nipped Rice Lake 28-27 and Menomonie defeated River Falls 17-7.
The Spartans are back in action at 7 p.m. Friday at Rice Lake.
Superior Spartans 14, Hudson Raiders 7
Hudson Raiders 7 0 0 0 -- 7
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Superior Spartans 0 7 7 0 -- 14
First Quarter
Hudson, Austin Lenzen 12-yard run (Jake Denison kick), :28.
Second Quarter
SHS--Kellen McCoshen 55-yard pass to Mike LaValley (David Zastrow), :14.
Third Quarter
SHS--Chad Murray 2-yard run (Zastrow kick), 3:34.
Fourth Quarter
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No scoring.
Team stats
H SHS
First downs 11 9
Rushes-yards 44-178 34-108
Comp-att-int 3-9-1 3-10-1
Passing yardage 23 77
Pass touchdowns-int 0-1 1-1
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Total offense 201 185
Fumbles-lost 4-2 2-1
Penalties-yards 7-55 8-50
Def. sacks - yards lost 0-0 2-8
Time of possession 27:27 20:33
3rd down efficiency 3 for 12 3 for 11
4th down efficiency 1 for 2 1 for 1
Punts-avg 6-30.3 6-36.8
Individual statistics
Rushing: H--Davy Branson, 17-93; Austin Lenzen, 15-58; Tyler Smith, 6-17; Travis Hilden, 6-10. SHS--Zach Erickson, 10-34; Zach Colvin, 5-33; Chad Murray, 7-23; Dan Quade, 1-16; Kellen McCoshen, 11-2.
Passing: H--Branson, 3-9-1-23. SHS--McCoshen, 3-10-1-77.
Receiving: H--Travis Hilden, 1-11; Tyler Smith, 1-6; Zach Beinlich. SHS--Mike LaValley, 2-68; Murray, 1-9.
Defensive Stats
Superior
Tkl Ast Sac TFL Int
Colvin, Zach 17 11 0.0 0.0 0
Taylor, Ethan 10 7 0.5 2.0 0
Collins, Scott 9 7 0.0 0.5 0
Turkowski, Jake 7 2 0.0 0.0 0
Erickson, Zach 6 2 0.0 0.0 1
Bronson, Andrew 5 3 1.5 1.5 0
Bogojevic, Nikola 4 3 0.0 0.0 0
Ford, Mason 3 3 0.0 0.0 0
Koskie, Spencer 3 1 0.0 0.0 0
Murray, Chad 3 3 0.0 0.0 0
LaValley, Mike 2 2 0.0 0.0 0
Bishop, Chris 2 0 0.0 0.0 0
Soland, AJ 1 1 0.0 0.0 0
Dembroski, Rob 1 0 0.0 0.0 0
Butera, Jordan 1 1 0.0 0.0 0
Kitch, Cody 1 0 0.0 0.0 0
Total: 76 46 2.0 4.0 1
Hudson
Tkl Ast Sac TFL Int
Larson, Chas 6 1 0.0 0.5 0
Weiler, Ryan 5 1 0.0 0.5 0
Swanger, Kyle 4 0 0.0 0.0 0
Vinzant, Arthur 4 0 0.0 0.0 0
Bennett, Michael 3 0 0.0 0.0 0
Stephens, Sam 3 0 0.0 0.0 0
Dinauer, Ethan 2 0 0.0 0.0 0
Widmyer, Derek 1 0 0.0 0.0 0
MacSwain, Walker 1 0 0.0 0.0 0
Hilden, Travis 1 0 0.0 0.0 0
Smrcina, Tyler 0 0 0.0 0.0 1
Hanson, Luke 0 0 0.0 0.0 0
Total: 32 2 0.0 1.0 1
