Runaway Win
Waverly earns second-straight trip back to title game
By Michael Ashford
Saturday, November 11, 2006
All Waverly coach Mike Hevel wanted was to see his team make it to the State playoffs after a district that featured teams like Lebo and Hartford.
Hevel and the Waverly Bulldogs got much more than that after a dominating run through the State playoffs, capped by Friday night’s 46-24 victory over Madison, as Waverly is headed back to the State Championship game.
“I think we’ve had a great year,” said Hevel, who’s team won last year’s 8-Man Division II title before making the jump to 8-Man Division I this year. “When you get this far, unless you are the clear-cut favorite, there is a lot of pressure on the kids. I’m happy for ours guys getting back to the title game. This means a lot to them.”
Waverly used a punishing ground game to dispose of Madison, amassing 275 rushing yards — Waverly passed just twice — to turn a close game early in the third quarter into a going-away victory.
“I’d just have to say it was our offensive line play. I was getting three yards before I was getting hit,” Waverly running back Matt Coursen said. “We were making their D-backs have to tackle us, and sometimes that can be hard when you have three yards to juke either way.”
Waverly led at halftime, 22-8, but it could have been closer.
A sure touchdown pass was dropped right before the half when Madison’s Kevin Metzen had a pass from quarterback Jordan Stout hit him in the numbers at about the 5-yard line and then had it drop to the turf.
A score before halftime could have turned the tide of the game, since Madison stole the momentum out of the locker room after forcing a Waverly turnover on the first drive. That led to a 23-yard touchdown run by Madison’s Michael Luthi, which made it 22-16 less than two minutes into the third quarter.
“We talked at halftime how we had to come out and make a stop,” Madison coach Fred McClain said. “We got that turnover and Michael Luthi made a great run.”
But Madison’s glory was short-lived, as Waverly responded with three straight touchdowns to put the game out of hand just as quickly as it had become close.
The first of the trio of scores came on a dazzling run by Coursen.
Coursen took a handoff from quarterback Dentin Chapman and ran to his right, where Madison’s Sid Childers was waiting.
Like he had all night, Coursen spun out of the tackle, managed to keep his balance by putting his hand down on the ground, regained his balance and took off down field. Forty-six yards later, Coursen was in the end zone to make it 30-16.
“(My coach) was just yelling, ‘Get the first down,’ and normally when he does that, I strive to get more,” Coursen said. “Luckily, I just went right up the sideline, and I don’t know if they didn’t see me or what, but they just didn’t tackle me.”
After forcing a Madison three-and-out, Waverly got the ball back and went on an eight-play drive capped by a Chapman 1-yard TD rush.
Another Madison drive halted by a block in the back penalty and an 11-yard sack eventually led to a Dakota Foster 3-yard score, which made it 46-16 with 8 minutes left in the game.
“Eight-man football is a game of momentum, and you could just sense we had it there for a minute,” McClain said. “You can’t make mistakes against a good football team, and we did make some mistakes.”
Madison added a score with 1 minute remaining on a 9-yard score by Luthi, but the game’s fate had already been sealed, and Waverly’s place in next Saturday’s State championship game against Jetmore had been locked up.
All of Waverly’s scoring came from three players, as Coursen, Chapman and Foster had two touchdowns each, while Coursen converted five 2-point conversions.
Coursen finished with 156 yards rushing and Foster added 91. Madison’s Luthi rushed 23 times for 115 yards and three scores.
“We came into the game thinking that we were going to play the offense that we normally play. The last time we played Madison, our whole gameplan was to just run it down their throat and prove that we were more physical,” Coursen said. “This game, we decided that if we can pass, we’ll pass. But the wind played a big factor, and Stout, he’s their safety, and he moves to the ball well ... and I think our running game was working.”
Waverly will go for the 8-Man Division I State championship at 2:45 p.m. next Saturday in Newton against Jetmore.