The Audubon Wheelers and Newell-Fonda Mustangs slugged it out in the first round of the 8-Man Football Playoffs on Friday night. The Wheelers won by decision 45-33 after it was all said and done. Audubon fought their way to a one point halftime lead 13-12 as Tyler Reibhoff scored on a 1 yard run with 1:45 left in the half. The two teams would then combine for a whopping 36 points in the third quarter.
The Mustangs got the wild quarter started with a 78 yard kickoff return touchdown from Austin Gerdes to open the second half. Bryce Coppock then hit a 66 yard connection to Nate Pedersen to put Newell-Fonda up 25-13. The Wheelers then cut the lead to 5 with a Nolan Smith 15 yard touchdown run. Gerdes then answered with a 56-yard touchdown run and the Mustangs tacked on a two point conversion to make it 33-20 with 3:16 left in the quarter. Audubon answered back with a 31-yard Smith touchdown run and then he hit Tyler Reibhoff on a fake PAT for 2 to make it 33-28.
Then in the final period Audubon failed to score after recovering a Newell-Fonda Fumble at the Mustang 14. But on their next possession the Wheelers cut the lead to 2 with a 33 yard field goal from Roope Niskanen. After another Mustang fumble the Wheelers would drive in from the 15. Tyler Reibhoff grabbed the lead for Audubon with a 1 yard touchdown plunge followed by a 2 point conversion pass to
Josh Lange to make it 39-33 Audubon with 1:54 left. After a turnover on downs Audubon got another touchdown run from 5 yards out from Reibhoff to secure the win. The Wheelers led 45-33 at that point with 1:02 left. Newell-Fonda ran the clock out on their last possession.
Newell-Fonda sees their season end at 8-2 with their losses coming to Remsen St. Mary’s and Audubon.
The Wheelers get the monkey off their back with a playoff win after being knocked out in the first round the last 3 seasons. The Wheelers improve to 10-0 and will now play host to another top 5 team next Friday night in Remsen St. Mary’s. The Hawks beat Boyer Valley in the first round 58-13. That quarterfinal game will kickoff at 7:00pm at Chis Jones Field in Audubon and we’ll have it on KJAN with a pregame starting at 6:00pm.
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