No. 6 HLV knocks off another top-5 team to go to Dome

ELKADER — The No. 6 HLV football team was no stranger to a challenge headed into Friday night's quarterfinal game at No. 5 Elkader Central.

Counting Central, HLV has faced three Top 5 teams this season through the quarterfinal round, including on the road at No. 2 Janesville on Monday in second-round action. Those tests set them up to spoil the dream season in Elkader, reaching the UNI-Dome for the first time since 2006 with a 36-28 8-man quarterfinal win.

'They fight, they work, they don't quit,' HLV Coach Kevin Smith said. 'We bend, we bend, we bend, but we don't break. They hit some big pass plays on us, but we came back. We gutted it out, moved the ball down the field, and did what we had to do to win.

'Nobody cares who gets the glory. The only stat these kids care about is the final score, and they've been that way all year long. This is the culmination of it.'

The game was back and forth from the opening kick, with the lead changing hands four times throughout the game.

Smith said right after the game it was still all a blur, but he did know what gave them the biggest opportunity to win was preventing Central from getting more than one score ahead.

Having played close games against quality competition had HLV prepared in a way Central couldn't be. Smith also said containing Central running back Nathan Fitzgerald was their top priority, and they succeeded.

'It'll probably make more sense when we can sit down, watch film and relax,' Smith said. 'This team and Janesville both hadn't been in a close game. The closest (Elkader) had was 24 points. We said if we can keep it close we had a shot.

'I think the biggest thing was, the Fitzgerald kid, everyone knew we had to try and limit him and make someone else beat us. He was going to get some tough yards, but we felt we had to try and limit what he did. He didn't really bust anything. We were afraid he'd bust one up the middle, but he never got that.'

Central had its chances, though. Trailing 36-28 with less than two minutes left in the game, Central drove from its own 15 to the HLV 5-yard line. A sack set up a fourth down from the 10, and forced Central's Derek Ehrhardt to make a throw to a guarded receiver.

HLV quarterback Dalton Kriegel, who doubles as a defensive back, made the game saving play, knocking down the pass to send his team to the semifinals. Kriegel was responsible for three touchdowns in the game — 33- and 65-yard passes to his cousin Louis, plus a 37-yard run — but said that play was his best contribution by far.

'The play there at the end, no doubt, was the biggest thing,' Kriegel said. 'Stopping them from scoring the potential tying score and then we win the game (meant everything).

'I was just thinking, 'Dome,' in my head the whole time. One more game, one more play away from the Dome. It came down to me (on that play) and I got the stop.'

Central Coach Tom Wilwert fought back emotions after the game, knowing a turnaround season almost meant a semifinal berth. The 14th-year coach praised his seniors as a group that changed Elkader Central football into a power, and said though the outcome wasn't what they wanted, the run will hold a special meaning to them and the program for a long time.

'It's disappointing we didn't play (as well); we're going to walk away from this feeling we could've played better and could've won this game,' Wilwert said. 'But, you know, understanding the way they had to work, the way they had to prepare, this group was different than any group of guys I've ever coached before, and hopefully we can continue this in the future.'

For HLV, it's a 'business trip' ahead in Cedar Falls.

In his postgame address to the team, Smith showed his team what they'll do when they first get to the UNI-Dome by looking up and turning around. Once that's done, once his team is used to its surroundings, all bets are off.

'I said they've got two minutes to walk in the place and look around, then it's back to business,' Smith said. 'It's what they're all there to do. Everybody's going to do that.

'It's a waiting game now. Right now it doesn't matter who it is. It didn't matter before (either).'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com