The Sheboygan Press

WIAA Level 3 Football Playoffs: St. Mary's Springs expresses healthy respect for Rockets
By Michael Rogers
Gannett Wisconsin Media

FOND DU LAC — It had been almost inevitable for the past month that both teams would arrive at today's Division 5 state quarterfinal unbeaten. It had been almost inevitable that the two teams would meet since the WIAA released its football playoff brackets two weeks ago.

St. Mary's Springs and Cedar Grove-Belgium both expect to be hoisting the gold ball at Camp Randall, but on Saturday afternoon at Fruth Field one team will have its dream season end.

"They knew the first round or two were teams that were not the top-notch teams, and they looked forward from day one to go against Cedar Grove," Springs coach Bob Hyland said of his players being excited for a challenge."

Springs, ranked second in Division 5 by the coaches, continued to run through its schedule by beating Random Lake 45-20 and Greendale Martin Luther 47-7.

Cedar Grove, ranked fourth by the coaches, has playoff wins of 42-7 against Kenosha St. Joseph and 31-0 against Oostburg.

With each team 11-0 and being legitimately challenged just once all season, both know they have to be prepared, and coach and players from Springs say it's been evident in practice.

"Yeah this week especially, since we watched film, it's been very serious," senior linebacker Chris Meyer said.

"Cedar Grove is going to be the best team we've played so we've been really anxious."

The Ledgers know what to expect on Saturday. Cedar Grove's not one for trick plays or much variety.

The Rockets will pound their opponents with tailback Nic Vrubley and a pair of fullbacks, especially Spencer Jacque (5-10, 201 pounds). They'll run behind an offensive line with four three-year starters who average 226 pounds. Springs' defensive line weighs in at 199 per starter.

"Stopping their running inside the tackles, they like to run a lot between the tackles," Phil Willis said of what Springs' defense needed to do. "If we stop that they're going to have a hard time scoring."

It's a very predictable offense, but that doesn't mean it's easy to stop. Against Laconia (Cedar Grove's closest game to date), the Rockets ran 53 times for 317 yards. And that was one of its worst games.

"As I look at it, we're pretty god at run stopping," Chris Meyer. "We have weakness, but with the way we play, [the predictability] should help. They don't pass at all, so we're going to be looking for the run."

Saying that Springs is pretty good against the run is quite an understatement. The Ledgers defense has allowed just 381 net yards rushing all season.

Cedar Grove's defense may not be as stingy in terms of yardage, but it has done the same job in keeping opponents out of the end zone surrendering 51 total points. For Springs to break that trend, Hyland said it will be important to keep its opponent off guard.

"We need to hit a pass or two early to get them to back off. If we start off and not hit passes it's just going to play into their hands," Hyland said of Cedar Grove's defensive line that averages 233 pounds.

There's one other thing Hyland hopes to use to his advantage. Only two or three guys get serious playing time on both sides of the ball for the Ledgers. Cedar Grove won't have that luxury.

"You don't talk about conditioning much at this time of the year, but they have nine or 10 guys go both ways," Hyland said. "I think that right now we played four games in 15 days and that can wear on you. They're a little sore and beat up. When you have kids play both ways, you spend a lot of energy, and you don't play very fast.

"We are healthy and I think looking forward to a slugfest."

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