No slowing them down
Wolverines remain unbeaten with victory over Hillman
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HILLMAN -- Through the first three weeks of the season, none of Au Gres' opponents have been able to slow the Wolverines down.
That trend continued Friday as the Wolverines traveled to Hillman with redemption on their mind after the Tigers ended their season last year.
In a battle between two undefeated teams, Au Gres left no doubt who the more dominant team was when they rolled past the Tigers by a final score of 50-12.
"Au Gres is a very good team, very well coached and are disciplined. We just didn't match their intensity tonight," Hillman coach Cody Allen said. "We just didn't make the big plays we usually make. We didn't have the intensity level and didn't respond after getting punched in the mouth early."
Hillman struggled to do much offensively early in the game and was missing an important piece of its offense as leading rusher Caleb Sanders was unavailable for the matchup. The Wolverines' defense gobbled up Hillman's ground attack much of the night.
The Tigers were forced to punt on their opening possession and four of six drives in the first half ended with Hillman punting. Au Gres put together a strong first drive and marched 89 yards on 10 plays, including a huge fourth down deep in their own territory to keep the chains moving. The drive ended with quarterback Caden Zeien hitting Zander Forton for a seven yard touchdown to open the scoring.
It was the start of a huge night for Zeien and Au Gres' offense, which came into Friday's matchup averaging 55 points per game.
Leading 8-0 after one quarter, the Wolverines began to put their foot on the gas offensively.
Au Gres (4-0) converted on three of four fourth downs in the first half, two of which were deep in their own territory, but coach Chad Zeien had faith in his team to get the job done.
"They stacked the box and sent the world at us and we just couldn't quite get a push up front," Allen said. "Not having out starting running back did hurt, but I have faith in my other guys and we just couldn't put it together tonight."
Au Gres took a two-score lead early in the second quarter when Zeien raced into the end zone from 35 yards out.
After forcing a three and out on Hillman's next possession, the Wolverines scored again and took a 20-0 lead into the break when Zeien found Isaac Beardsley for a score. Beardsley's size, strength and leaping ability on the outside was a problem for the Tigers all game as the 6-foot-4 wide receiver hauled in five passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns.
"I just kept telling the kids to fight for it and to have heart. I told them I didn't care what happened in the second half and I just wanted them to play with heart and I think they did for the most part," Allen said. "We'll learn from this and I fully expect us to rebound from this, work hard and get better next week."
The Wolverines continued pouring it on and took a 28-0 lead when Ryan Schwiderson took a handoff on the first play of the second half and went 65 yards untouched to reach pay dirt.
Zeien hit Beardsley for a 28 yard touchdown midway through the third quarter to give Au Gres a 36-0 lead.
The Tigers got their first score of the night when quarterback Kory Henigan powered his way into the end zone from a yard out and Hillman's other score came early in the fourth quarter when Nash Steinke scampered in from five yards out. Gage Steinke set up Hillman nicely on both scoring drives as he caught a 50-yard pass on the first scoring drive and later hauled in a 60-yard catch down the sideline. Gage Steinke finished the game with three catches for 115 yards.
Zeien added another touchdown on the ground and Schwiderson broke free again for a 54 yard touchdown which ended up being the final score of the game.
Schwiderson had 14 carries for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Zeien threw for 187 yards and three touchdowns and also ran 14 times for 97 yards and had a pair of scores on the ground.
Hillman falls to 3-1 overall on the season and will travel to St. Helen to take on Charlton Heston in Week 5.