The Audubon Wheelers Football Team’s season came to a disappointing end Thursday night as they fell to the Remsen St. Mary’s Hawks in the state quarterfinal. The Hawks controlled the game from start to finish, dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. In addition to quarterback Landon Waldschmitt, Colin Homan led the way for Remsen St. Mary’s, catching two touchdowns while being a force on the defensive line. Following the 61-20 victory, Remsen St. Mary’s will move on to the state semi-final next Wednesday.

At first, the game seemed destined to be a defensive battle. Both teams went three and out on their opening possessions with Carson Wessel barely missing Jack Stanerson down the field on what would’ve been an explosive play. However, after the Wheelers punted the Hawks’ offense got to work. Effective moving the ball Waldschmitt capped off the drive with a 42-yard touchdown run to open the scoring and give Remsen St. Mary’s an 8-0 lead.  For much of the night, the Hawks’ defense severely limited the movement of the Audubon offense. They also were able to create turnovers and after nabbing the first of three interceptions from Wessel, Homan would pick up his first of two touchdown receptions to push the lead to 14.

As the Wheelers’ offense struggled to gain traction, the Hawks’  showed no signs of slowing down. Before the end of the half, they would add rushing touchdowns from Waldschmitt, Braxton Kneip, and Keaton Harpeneau, while Brody Wurth and Kneip picked up touchdowns through the air. Audubon did get on the board with a 59-yard touchdown run from Aaron Olsen but found themselves down  46-6 at the half.

Little changed in the third quarter. After forcing Audubon to punt on the opening possession,  Waldschmitt threw his final touchdown of the evening to Homan. With the game out of reach, both teams gave their underclassmen a chance to get on the field. Dalton Klien added a 16-yard touchdown run to put up the Hawks’ final points of the night to extend the lead to 61-6. Freshman Aidan Kjeergard entered the game at quarterback and would go on to lead the Wheelers on numerous scoring drives. He capped off one with a 19-yard rushing touchdown and a beautifully thrown ball to Jorgen Norwatzke to bring the final to 61-20.

With all said and done, the Audubon Wheelers had an extremely successful season. They captured a second straight undefeated regular season and for the first time in program history, back-to-back district titles. Building upon the regular season success, they won two playoff games and made their sixth quarterfinal appearance in twelve years finishing with a 10-1 record. Head Coach Sean Birks was very pleased with what his team was able to accomplish.

Next season will undoubtedly look different for the Wheelers. They are graduating 11 seniors including Adam Obrecht (who played a phenomenal defensive game), Colton Hansen, Colin Hartl, and Aaron Olsen. Birks said he was proud of the leadership this group of seniors provided and the mark they left on the Audubon football program.

Remsen St. Mary’s semi-final match is scheduled for next Wednesday. Their opponent has yet to be announced.