Middleton rallies past La Follette
MADISON — Ben Lashuk knew he was in the middle of something special.
So as Middleton’s junior quarterback was helping lead the Cardiac Cards on a memorable comeback on Oct. 2, Lashuk pushed the pause button for a brief moment.
“That fourth quarter was probably one of the most fun quarters of football I've ever played,” Lashuk said. “I mean, I was hyped. I had so much adrenaline. I just wanted to stop for a minute and soak it all in.”
With good reason.
Middleton trailed host Madison La Follette, 35-21, heading to the fourth quarter. The Cardinals responded with 22 unanswered fourth quarter points and stunned the Lancers, 43-35.
Middleton improved to 4-3 overall, 4-1 in the Big Eight Conference and took a big step towards securing a playoff berth for the 30th consecutive season. The Lancers fell to 3-4, 2-3.
“This is huge,” said junior tight end Carter Parks, who had seven catches for 73 yards. “We still have to win these next two games for us to go on, but winning this makes it a lot easier for us to get into playoffs.”
First-year Madison La Follette coach Toren Young, a former Monona Grove standout who played at Iowa, has the Lancers trending in the right direction. And for much of the night, La Follette had Middleton on the ropes.
The Lancers gained 371 yards through three quarters, scored touchdowns on five of their first seven drives and raced to a 35-21 lead midway through the third quarter.
“That program is really good and we knew it,” Middleton co-coach Joe Poehls said of La Follette. “They've always had talent, and now (Young) knows his stuff. He's motivated, and you could see they're just a different team.”
Middleton was a different team in the fourth quarter, though.
The Cardinals scored on all three of their possessions, held the Lancers to just two first downs and an average of 2.5 yards per play.
“This is a completely different La Follette team,” Lashuk said. “Obviously their head coach has done a fabulous job with. They're really good. They're definitely a playoff team in my opinion. But yeah, we just executed really well tonight, especially at the end.”
And how.
Trailing, 35-21, Middleton took advantage of a 13-yard La Follette punt and began at the Lancers’ 28-yard line late in the third quarter. The Cardinals then fed sophomore running back Regin Kalscheur on four straight carries, and he finished the drive with a 2-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter.
“He's only a sophomore and he's very, very talented,” Lashuk said of Kalscheur. “He's gotten so much more experience this year, and he's gotten so much better.”
Poehls then opted to go for two points, a move that paid dividends when Parks made a terrific catch over a defender to pull the Cardinals within 35-29 and put some pressure back on the Lancers.
“They had a lot of momentum and that's part of the reason I went for two,” Poehls said. “We always ask kids to get better at things. And one of the things I'm constantly trying to get better at is just the analytics of the game.
“So when it's a momentum thing like that, when your offense is moving the ball and you score, the analytics would tell you to go for two because now you're putting a little bit of pressure on their offense.”
Middleton forced a three-and-out and MHS junior speedster Jaeden Solomon fielded a punt at his own 48-yard line. Solomon headed left, faked a handoff and got to the corner.
From there, Solomon had a convoy with him and used his 4.60 speed in the 40-yard dash to run away from the Lancers’ defense. Solomon had two punt returns for touchdowns with the JV team this season, but his first as a varsity player gave MHS its first lead of the night at 36-35 after a Caymus Roberts extra point with 9:40 remaining.
“What I saw is a lot of people going to the left, and then once I caught the ball, they all came to the right, and I knew I couldn't do it without my team,” Solomon said. “I have to listen to my coach — fake the punt, take it all the way. I couldn't do without my blockers.”
Middleton’s defense, which struggled to match the speed and athleticism of La Follette much of the night, answered the bell again and forced a second straight Lancers punt. The Cardinals’ offense then delivered the knockout blow.
Lashuk engineered an eight-play, 79-yard drive that included a 38-yard pass to Kalscheur. Senior running back Derion Hawkins finished that march with a 4-yard TD run that gave the Cardinals a 43-35 lead.
The Lancers had one final chance, but could only pick up one first down and the Cardinals exited with a huge win.
“What I think this says is that we're a strong team,” Solomon said. “As long as we stick together, don't put our heads down, and pick up each other we can do this. We did it other times, and I just have a great team.”
For much of the night, though, La Follette was the better team and built a 35-21 lead after three quarters.
On the Lancers’ first play from scrimmage, they showed they were different than past La Follette teams.
Quarterback Patrick Toomey — who had 267 total yards — threw deep for wideout Jamario Morgan, but his pass was slightly underthrown. Morgan adjusted and beat MHS cornerback Anthony Pelliterri to the ball, then when Pelliterri slipped and fell, Morgan went the distance for a 72-yard TD that gave the Lancers a 7-0 lead.
Middleton answered with a 12-play, 92-yard drive of its own, capped by a 4-yard touchdown run from Kalscheur that tied the game, 7-7. Lashuk was 6-of-7 on the drive for 79 yards, Parks had two catches for 43 yards and Kalscheur finished things off.
The Lancers answered right back, though, with an 11-play, 74-yard march that sophomore running back Bry’shaun Dillard — who had 117 rushing yards on the night — capped with a 1-yard TD run that gave La Follette a 14-7 lead.
Once again, Middleton responded — this time with a seven play, 75-yard TD march. Hawkins capped that drive with a 16-yard touchdown reception from Lashuk in which the gifted running back ran a wheel route, beat his defender, and Lashuk delivered a strike that tied things, 14-14.
The dynamic Dillard ripped off a 32-yard TD run off right tackle with 8 minutes left in the second quarter to give MLF a 21-14 lead. Lashuk answered right back, though, with a 20-yard TD strike to junior wideout Brett Henrickson that tied the game, 21-21, with 5:45 left in the first half.
By halftime, the Lancers had piled up 302 total yards and were averaging 9.4 yards per play. On the flip side, Middleton had 230 total yards and scored on three of its five possessions.
“I mean, we had to help our defense out,” Lashuk said. “There's been games where our defense had to help us out, and we just did the same here. You know, they were obviously struggling for a little bit, and we kept pushing, and that gave them momentum. And then they got big key stops at the end and we just executed really well.”
While the Cardinals certainly executed well down the stretch, it was the Lancers who took control in the third quarter.
First, Dillard opened the period with a 53-yard kickoff return to the Middleton 46. The Lancers needed just five plays to cover that ground and Toomey capped the short march with a 22-yard TD run that gave MLF a 28-21 lead.
The Cardinals tried a fake punt on their next possession and Lashuk was intercepted by Morgan. The Lancers then covered 60 yards in five plays and Dillard finished that drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that gave La Follette a 35-21 lead with 6:15 left in the third quarter.
“Well, third quarter didn't start off the best,” Parks said. “But we came back in the fourth quarter. Just had to move the ball quickly. That was our game plan.”
It worked like a charm, as Middleton took control during its dominant 22-0 fourth quarter. And that strong finish could go a long way towards helping the Cardinals land a home game to begin the playoffs.
The latest WIAA Division 1 playoff matrix has Middleton as a No. 4 seed hosting fifth-seeded Madison Memorial. That potential matchup is still more than two weeks away, though.
First, the Cardinals know they need to take care of business against Madison West Friday at 7 p.m. at Mansfield Stadium, and vs. visiting Janesville Parker on Oct. 16.
“I think winning games like this is really good for us,” Poehls said. “At the beginning of the season, I thought a lot about the fact that we weren't very experienced group, and I think the different types of games that we've had week in and week out is just giving these guys so much experience.
“Last year we put a lot of teams away at certain times, so it's good for them to win games in this manner. I just think it makes them better football players and better people all around, just having to deal with adversity and learning to never give up.”
Oct. 2
Middleton 43, Madison La Follette 35
Middleton ………. 7 14 0 22 — 43
Madison La Follette …….. 14 7 14 0 — 35
MLF – Jamario Morgan, 72, pass from Patrick Toomey (Sasha Tolstov kick)
M — Regin Kalscheur, 4, run (Caymus Roberts kick)
MLF — Bryshaun Dillard, 1, run (Tolstov kick)
M — Derion Hawkins, 16, pass from Ben Lashuk (Roberts kick)
MLF — Dillard, 32, run (Tolstov kick)
M — Brett Henrickson, 20, pass from Lashuk (Roberts kick)
MLF — Toomey, 22, run (Tolstov kick)
MLF — Dillard, 6, run (Tolstov kick)
M — Kalscheur, 1, run (Parks pass from Lashuk)
M — Jaeden Solomon, 52, punt return (Roberts kick)
M — Hawkins, 4, run (Roberts kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs – M 16, MLF 16. Rushing (Att-Yds) – M 29-166, MLF 48-267. Passing yards – M 241, MLF 154. Passing (Comp.-Att.-Int.) – M 20-30-2, MLF 7-15-0. Total plays-yards – M – 59-407, MLF 61-421. Fumbles-lost – M 1-1, MLF 2-1. Penalties-yards – M 6-65, MLF 12-95.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing (Att.-Yds.) – Midd — Derion Hawkins 19-118, Regin Kalscheur 7-36, Ben Lashuk 3-12. MLF: Bry’Shaun Dillard 24-117, Patrick Toomey 17-113, Shaun Peelr, 7-37.
Passing (Att.-Comp.-Yds-TD-INT) – Midd — Ben Lashuk 19-27-211-2-2, Eli Breunig 1-3-30-0-0. MLF — Patrick Toomey 7-15-154-1-0.
Receiving (Rec.-Yds.) — Midd — Carter Parks 7-73, Regin Kalscheur 4-56, Brett Henrickson 2-50, Eli Anderson 2-26, Logan Thompson 1-20, Derion Hawkins 1-16, Isaiah Nehring 3-0. MLF — Jamario Morgan 2-92, Cooper Hermanson 2-43, Bry’Shaun Dillard 2-8, Henry Luehmann 1-11.
