LAND O’LAKES — When the Springstead and Sunlake defenses forced three-and-outs on the opening drives of Friday’s district game, it appeared as if each offense would have to scrap for any yards it could muster, let alone points.
Springstead running back Dan Wright had a different plan
Taking advantage of a hole his coaches warned him might be open all night, Wright took the ball on first down and ran until he had nowhere else to go.
“I broke two arm tackles and I just saw the green,” Wright said. “I ran until I got to that goal line.”
The Eagles missed the extra point, but they wouldn’t need it to beat the Seahawks, as Wright’s 95-yard touchdown run, the longest of the senior’s high school career, was enough to lift Springstead to a 6-0 win.
Knowing his team’s defensive strength, coach Mike Garofano breathed a sigh of relief after Wright’s score with 5:55 remaining in the first quarter.
“I was talking to the defense at the time, I turn around and he’s running out in the open,” Garofano said of Wright. “It allowed us to relax a little bit.”
Maybe on offense, but the Springstead defense didn’t get that memo.
The Eagles played lights out in the first half, holding Sunlake to just two first downs and 41 yards of offense before the break. Even Nathan Johnson, who rushed for 1,504 yards a year ago, couldn’t get anything going, and he finished the game with 45 yards on 16 carries.
Sunlake had its chances in the second half. The Seahawks started their second drive of the third quarter on the Eagles’ 45-yard line. Sunlake even moved the ball a little, with quarterback Dayton Feiden and Johnson combining for 9 yards on the first two plays of the drive.
But on fourth down and inches, Sunlake lost the rain-soaked ball, and their best shot at putting points on the board.
With just more than six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, still a one-possession game, Springstead fumbled near midfield. As it had done all night, though, the Eagles defense stepped up, stopping Sunlake on back-to-back fourth downs after the turnover. After his team held Sunlake to just 95 yards of offense, Garofano couldn’t say enough about his defensive line.
“We have the capability of doing it any night,” he said of his defense’s lights-out performance. “I feel like any night we can take on anybody.”
And even though Wright, who finished the game with 145 rushing yards, was the game’s big hero for putting the only points on the board, he refused to take any of the credit.
“I’m always biting my fingernails, but I know I can trust (our defense),” he said. “They drove this game, and they’re the reason we won.”
Stars of the game
RB Dan Wright, Springstead: Led Springstead with 145 yards rushing on 21 carries, scoring the only points on a 95-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
P Eric Stevens, Springstead: Had eight punts for 230 yards, helping Springstead win the field position battle. Only once did Sunlake begin its drive on Springstead territory, and the Seahawks capped that drive with a fumble.
LB Conor Ross, Springstead: Anchored a linebacker corp of which Garofano said he was especially proud. Ross made some big stops, including on third down when the Seahawks had he ball in Springstead territory late in the fourth.