By Fred Solis
Hutchinson Tribune
ANDALE—The Andale Indians pounced on the El Dorado Wildcats early and shook them every way but loose as they put up 49 points through the 10:10 mark in the second quarter, leading to a running clock a couple of minutes later and a 73-7 pounding of the visitors last Friday.
Less than 10 seconds into the game, junior Luke Seiler recovered a Wildcats fumble, setting up the Indians’ first score at 10:34 on senior Afton Allaire’s 1-yard run. On Andale’s very next possession, junior quarterback Cruz Kaiser cracked into the end zone from 3 yards out at 7:27 for a 14-0 lead.
Kaiser was back in the end zone less than a minute later, when he scored on a pick-six to put the Indians up 21-0.
The Wildcats couldn’t get anything going on the ground and ended the night with -18 rushing yards and spent most of the night on their side of the field. They picked up just three first downs all night, while the Indians tallied 26 as they ran for 277 yards.
Ten Indians posted gains of at least 10 yards, with senior Hudson Ungles picking up a game-high 51 yards on nine carries.
“We got a ton [of talent] in the backfield,” Andale coach Dylan Schmidt said. “We got some really good guys up front, offensive line-wise. We’re really good on defense and special teams. I’ve been proud that we’re taking the ball away a bunch and scoring on defense and scoring on specials.”
El Dorado threw for 99 yards and one touchdown on 4-for-11 passing, while Andale was 4-for-7 in the air for 45 yards and one touchdown. Senior Wyatt Becker led the Andale receivers with one catch for 15 yards.
Sophomore Jayven Dansel’s interception at 5:20 in the first quarter set up the Indians’ next score, a 10-yard run by Dansel to up the advantage to 28-0. Brother Jrayton, a senior, then ran it in from the 5 with 1:50 left in the opening frame to push the score to 35-0.
Andale got the ball back with six seconds to go in the first quarter on sophomore Luke Fowler’s fumble recovery that put the Indians on El Dorado’s 6-yard line. Jayven paid it off with a scoring run with two ticks left on the clock, giving the Indians a commanding 42-0 lead.
On their first possession of the second quarter, the Wildcats gambled on fourth-and-8 but came up short, giving the ball to the Indians on the El Dorado 22. A moment later, at 10:05, Kaiser hit junior Brayden Spexarth for a 10-yard touchdown and a 49-0 lead.
When Andale got the ball back following El Dorado’s three-and-out on their next possession, the running clock took over with 7:45 still to go in the second quarter.
The Indians put the ball in the hands of the second-and third-team players, who rewarded the confidence with a 16-yard touchdown run by sophomore Jax Smith at 4:53. A successful two-point conversion upped the score to 57-0.
The Wildcats finally got a break on their next series, when they connected on a 53-yard pass to Hunter Conrad that put seven points on the board with just under three minutes to go in the first half.
A determined Andale then took the ball on their own 39 and picked up five first downs to put the ball on the El Dorado 9-yard line, where senior Konnor Bretthauer took it in with two seconds on the clock, giving Andale a 65-7 halftime lead.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Indians began rotating the freshman team into the lineup. The underclassmen didn’t disappoint, as Dayton Spexarth’s 6-yard touchdown run put the finishing touches on the Indians’ 73-7 victory.
“It’s a lot of hard work from a lot of people,” Schmidt said. “We got a good system, got a good process, and we got good kids, and we got great coaches, and we put all that together and things come together.”
The Indians are next in action Friday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. at Wellington.
