MAPLE — Northwestern football coach Jovin Kroll described the play like he was watching a movie, a sports classic such as the “Longest Yard” or “The Sandlot,” where time almost stood still.
Tigers quarterback Luke Sedin was rumbling down the left sideline Friday, Sept. 9, when he was suddenly caught by St. Croix Falls defender. Sedin was holding the ball in his left hand, like he should, to his outside, but it somehow squirted back the other way, going high in the air and landing well in-bounds.
Fortunately, teammate Camden Trzynka, a 6-foot, 225-pound lineman, was trailing on the play and recovered the fumble more than 30 yards downfield. Tanner Kaufman scored from 7 yards out on the next play to give Northwestern the lead with 1:24 to play and the Tigers escaped with a 36-28 Heart O’ North Conference victory.
The game, pitting two unbeatens ranked in the top 10 in Wisconsin Division 5, was nothing short of a thriller.
“I don’t know if my heart rate is going to let me go to sleep until the sun comes up tomorrow morning,” Kroll said. “I felt like the ball was in the air forever, and it’s like you could almost see everyone in slow motion going, ‘Noooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!’ That was one of those moments, where a backside tackle, running all the way downfield to block a safety, ends up making the play that in all reality saved the game. He got the ball.”
ADVERTISEMENT
And plenty of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Sedin felt bad about the fumble, sitting on his knees and slapping the turf, but later he was slapping Trzynka on the back. That’s what teammates are for.
Sedin ran 12 times for 98 yards and two touchdowns, and he was 5-for-14 passing for 111 yards and another score.
With a hand in three TDs, Sedin was to receive three PB&J sandwiches, per Tigers tradition, and he planned on giving them all to Trzynka.
“I’m lucky he was there,” Sedin said. “When I saw him fall on it, I was like, ‘Thank God, he’s there!’”
Sedin was running an isolation play up the middle and busted left and rumbled down the sideline toward the end zone.
“Then I felt the ball come loose, and was like, ‘Oh, God,’ but luckily he was there,” Sedin said.“
It ended up being a 33-yard gain.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I’m very hungry. I’m ready to go,” Trzynka said, laughing. “I was just trying to get downfield as fast as I possibly could to see if there was anyone I could block to help get Luke a touchdown. I was just in the right place at the right time.”
Trzynka was being too humble. The ball squirted a little bit when he pounced on it but he was clearly on top of it.
“I had it all the way,” he said. “It was right on my stomach and I got the wind knocked out of me when everyone jumped on top,” he said. “(Teammate) Jase Nelson came up to me and said, ‘You just saved the game.’ I was getting downfield like I should have. I was where I was supposed to be.”
Kaufman finished with 70 yards rushing, Wyatt Dumonson added 58 yards rushing and scored a pair of touchdowns, Kellen Trautt chipped in 48 yards rushing and defensive lineman Ian Smith had 12 tackles to lead the defensive effort for the Tigers (4-0), ranked No. 4 in Wisconsin Division 5.
Junior Aiden Meador had a monster game for St. Croix Falls, with 31 carries for 184 yards and three touchdowns for the Saints (3-1), ranked No. 7. Brock Sawicki, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound senior, meanwhile, was a monster up front.
“It was a good football game,” St. Croix Falls coach Grant Belisle said. “We know what we’re getting into every time we come up here — real physical.”
Junior Jayden Adams filled in admirably at quarterback for senior Brady Belisle, Grant’s son, who was out with a knee injury, something the Tigers didn’t know until right before the game. Adams made like Houdini in scoring on a two-point conversion that tied the game 28-28 with 5:29 remaining. It was a naked bootleg to the left, and Adams had no business scoring on the play. While not the fastest guy, Adams made two players miss and then refused to go down, bulldozing everybody else.
“He did an outstanding job,” Grant Belisle said. “For him to punch in that two-point conversion — and they had it sniffed out. He found a way, and that’s all you can of kids. We’re not always going to call great plays. I made that call and when I looked at it, I was going to call timeout, but it was too late. I didn’t think he was close but it looked like they had him swept up right away, but he did it.”
ADVERTISEMENT
It was a seesaw game throughout, a dogfight with one big play after another. And it was a clean football game, with only a handful of penalties.
Rain throughout the day gave way to a pleasant evening, with calm conditions and temperatures in the 50s, and the crowd sure seemed to enjoy it. It all made for a night to remember.
“We’ll be talking about that fumble recovery for years, assuming we’re able to do what we want to do this year with our remaining regular-season schedule,” Kroll said. “That may be the one play that sticks out above all others. You never know when it’s going to happen, and that’s what you tell the kids. You never know what the one play is that’s going to make the difference in the game. And tonight, that was Camden hustling downfield that made all the difference.”
St. Croix Falls 0-14-6-8—28
Northwestern 6-8-8-14—36
NW — Wyatt Dumonson 35 pass from Luke Sedin (pass failed)
SCF — Aiden Meador 42 run (pass failed)
NW — Dumonson 1 run (Sedin run)
SCF — Meador 2 run (Michael Shannon pass from Jayden Adams)
SCF — Jayden Adams 2 run (run failed)
NW — Sedin 1 run (Tanner Kaufman run)
NW — Sedin 31 run (pass failed)
SCF — Meador 1 run (Adams run)
SCF — Kaufman 7 run (Kaufman run)
The Trust Project
