Spartans Beat Blue Devils, Secure One Seed in AFC
Wauwatosa – In Ironman Football League (IFL) action, the Wauwatosa Spartans Football Club hosted the only team between them and a regular-season, first-place finish in the American Conference. That team: the Southern Lake Blue Devils. At 5-1, the Blue Devils possessed a better overall record than the Spartans (4-2), but the Spartans held a 3-0 conference mark, while the Devils sat at 2-1. The game was held at Wisconsin Lutheran College’s Raabe Field on another hot and muggy night in Wauwatosa. In a low-scoring, hard-hitting battle, the Spartans emerged victorious, 17-12.
Much like a heavyweight prize fight, both teams came out somewhat cautiously; trying to feel each other out. The Blue Devils received the opening kickoff, and were promptly held to a three and out. The Spartans responded with a three and out as well, but then a short punt gave the ball back to the Blue Devils with good field position on the Spartans’ side of the field. But Southern Lakes was unable to take advantage when they attempted a 30-yard field goal and missed.
After a conservative first series, the Spartan offense needed only three plays for the game’s first score. Quarterback Tony Henner dropped back to pass, then found wide receiver Raymon Porchia over the middle who ran untouched for a 75-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Blue Devils answered right back with a 55-yard touchdown drive, capped with a 25-yard run by running back Jamie Marton, to make it 7-6 after a botched extra point.
“I thought that first touchdown to Porchia might break the game open a little bit,” says Wauwatosa Spartan Head Coach Brandy Spoerl. “But then to their credit, they came right back and scored to take away the momentum.”
After a good kick return by cornerback Nate Heard, the Spartans began another scoring drive from their own 40 yard line. It culminated in a 25-yard field goal by kicker Charlie Henke, making it 10-6. The Blue Devils looked to answer again, but the drive was stopped when cornerback Dave Earl came down with an interception, and returned it 15 yards, giving the Spartans the ball at their own 35 with a little more than two minutes remaining in the half.
A series of rushes by Spartan running back Bobby Windom, and catches by Porchia and wide receiver Greg Rebella saw the Spartans sitting inside the Blue Devils five yard line with 45 seconds to work with. Henner again dropped back to pass, but this time saw Blue Devil cornerback Kevin Barrett step in front of the intended receiver for an interception in the end zone.
With 40 seconds still remaining before the half, the Blue Devils offense wasn’t content with taking a knee, and drove frantically down the field and was quickly into scoring position. But the threat was extinguished when Heard intercepted a pass at the goal line as time expired.
“Anytime you fail to score when you’re in a position like that, it can have a devastating effect on an offense,” says Spoerl. “And it would have been even worse had they been able to then turn that turnover into points right before the half – but our defense stepped up big again.”
At the start of the third quarter, the Spartans offense managed little with its first possession, and had to punt the ball away. On the punt, the Southern Lakes’ returner mishandled the ball, which was promptly recovered by Greg Rebella at the Blue Devils 25 yard line. From there, Windom pounded the ball to the one on consecutive runs, setting up a first and goal. From there, Henner called his own number and snuck in for a 17-6 lead.
But the Blue Devils rallied again, and drove down the field with a series of long runs by Marton, only to come up short when a field goal attempt sailed wide right. The teams went then went back and forth with three consecutive punts, as both defenses dug in. However, offensive penalties backed the Spartans to inside their own 10 yard line on their last punt, resulting in the Blue Devils getting excellent field position at the 50, with 6 minutes left in the game.
Southern Lakes took advantage and put together a quick scoring drive, with Jamie Marton running in from 15 yards out for the score, and tightening the Spartan lead 17-12. The Blue Devils elected to go for two, but the attempt was stopped. With over four minutes still remaining, the Spartans needed to put together one last drive to cement the win. Thing didn’t start well when a penalty on the kickoff saw their drive start at their own 10 yard line.
Spoerl called on fullback Timmy Beuth, who rushed six straight times, getting two first downs to keep the chains moving and the clock running. The Spartans were able to take a knee and watch the clock run out to hold on for a 17-12 win.
The Spartan offense has been efficient in recent weeks, a trend that continued on Saturday night, and was also able to dominate time of possession. Henner was 8-15 for 198 yards, 1 INT and had 1 passing and 1 rushing touchdown. His top target was as usual Porchia, who grabbed 5 catches for 127 yards and 1 touchdown. Wide receiver Greg Rebella added 2 clutch catches for 54 yards. The Spartan running game was key and running back Bobby Windom punished the Blue Devils to the tune of 20 rushes for 94 yards. Fullback/tight end Timmy Beuth finished with 10 rushes for 34 yards.
On defense, the Spartans produced turnovers, with a fumble recovery on a punt and two interceptions. Cornerbacks Dave Earl and Nate Heard each grabbed an interception, and Rebella added the fumble recovery on the punt. Defensive end, Justin Morrow, registered the night’s only sack.
“The temptation is to now shut it down the next two weeks leading into the playoffs since we have everything secured,” says Spoerl. “But we don’t want to lose all our momentum, so that’s not the plan at all.”
The Spartans improve to 6-2 overall, and 5-2 in IFL play, now on a three-game winning streak. Wauwatosa travels across town to Charles Hart Park where they will be hosted by the Milwaukee Venom. The game is scheduled for Saturday, August 6th at 7:00 p.m. The Venom were winners last week for the first time in IFL play this season, defeating the Fond du Lac Crusaders 12-6 to improve to 1-6.
