Waverly-Shell Rock stuffs hampered No. 8 West Delaware, 28-14

MANCHESTER - Everyone knew what West Delaware was up against with a stingy Waverly-Shell Rock defense.

Only the Hawks knew that they would go without their top runner.

With tailback Caleb Kehrli watching in street clothes with an injured hamstring, eighth-ranked West Delaware could only get in the end zone twice and fell to Waverly-Shell Rock, 28-14, Friday night in a Class 3A first-round playoff game.

'You've got to give them credit,” West Delaware Coach Doug Winkowitsch said. 'They have a great defense, and we just couldn't do enough to sustain the drive and punch another one in there.”

Waverly-Shell Rock (7-3) will face undefeated and second-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier (10-0) next Friday in a 3A quarterfinal. Xavier – the only team to score more than 14 points against the Go-Hawks – routed Waverly-Shell Rock in an Oct. 7 regular-season meeting at Waverly, 42-0.

West Delaware broke a scoreless stalemate when senior quarterback Tanner Wessels weaved through the Go-Hawks' secondary for 74 yards on 1st-and-10 from his 13. Six plays later – which included a Wessels 4th-down conversion – the quarterback plunged into the end zone from a yard away for a 7-0 Hawks' lead with 8:23 left before halftime.

The Go-Hawks needed just five plays to tie the game. On 3rd-and-9 from his 39, senior quarterback John Stensland connected down the left seam with receiver Joey McNally for 44 yards. Two plays later, bruising fullback Gabe Santoiemma burst into the open field for a 19-yard TD.

After a West Delaware three-and-out, the Go-Hawks drove 89 yards in 12 plays. Stensland hit a 13-yard throw for a first down on 3rd-and-12, then gave his team a 14-7 halftime lead with 33 seconds left on a 28-yard TD pass to McNally on 4th-and-8.

'We just came out with a lot of power and wanted to start off with a bang,” said Stensland, who finished with 176 yards passing and added 74 on the ground. 'Our running game opened up and that led to our passing game.”

Late in the third quarter, West Delaware attempted to tie the game with a drive deep into Waverly-Shell Rock territory, but Wessels fumbled at the 15 after an apparent first-down run. On the second play of the fourth quarter, Stensland pushed the lead to 21-7 with a 20-yard TD to McNally.

McNally caught four passes – two for scores – for 97 yards.

West Delaware got within 21-14 with a short Wessels TD with less than 10 minutes to go, but turned the ball over on downs on its next possession. After routinely hitting the West Delaware defense with handoffs to Santoiemma – who carried the ball 33 times for 146 yards – Stensland executed a pair of nifty quarterback keepers to seal the game. The first gave the Go-Hawks a first down on 3rd-and-1 from their 34, the second found open ground for a 42-yard TD for the game's final margin.

'Our kids, I thought, came out and competed with one of the best programs in the state,” Waverly-Shell Rock Coach Mark Hubbard said. 'Tonight we made some plays and had a few things go our way.”

Wessels – a senior – ran for 136 yards and threw for 152 for West Delaware, which ends its season at 8-2.

'This group of seniors just demonstrated what we're all about,” Winkowitsch said. 'It's a group of kids that didn't have a lot of success early that decided it wanted to be a good football team.”

AT MANCHESTER

Waverly-Shell Rock 28, No. 8 West Delaware 14

Waverly-Shell Rock 0 14 0 14-28

West Delaware 0 7 0 7-14

WD – Tanner Wessels 1 run (Aaron Thole kick)

WSR – Gabe Santoiemma 19 run (Jacob Norton kick)

WSR – Joey McNally 28 pass from John Stensland (Norton kick)

WSR – McNally 20 pass from Stensland (Norton kick)

WD – Wessels 8 run (Aaron Thole kick)

WSR – Stensland 42 run (Norton kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Waverly-Shell Rock: Gabriel Santoiemma 33-146, Jordan Chandler 1-4, Jack Seward 2-23, John Stensland 6-74, Jackson Little 1-(-2); West Delaware:

Jordan Bries 3-12, Tanner Wessels 27-136, Kabryn Cook 1-1, Grant Morris 16-31.

PASSING – Waverly-Shell Rock: John Stensland 9-18-1-176; West Delaware:

Tanner Wessels 13-24-0-152.

RECEIVING – Waverly-Shell Rock: Joey McNally 4-97, Jack Seward 2-46, Gabriel Santoiemma 1-13, Jackson Little 1-12, Jordan Chandler 1-8; West Delaware:

Kabryn Cook 4-61, Mitchel Mangold 3-21, Tyler Kelley 1-10, John Nagel 4-60.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com