Blue Devils beat first-round foe

WYNOT — The Wynot Blue Devils hosted the Silver Lake Mustangs Thursday afternoon in first-round action of the 2023 state football playoffs.

The Blue Devils built a commanding lead in the first half as they rolled to the 42-0 win.

Wynot’s defense gave up some yardage on the ground, but got tough whenever the Mustangs moved into Blue Devils territory.

The Wynot “D” was led by Zack Foxhoven and Andrew Haberman with seven tackles each and Kotner Koch with six stops. Dylan Heine collected five tackles and hauled in two interceptions.

Silver Lake’s defense was paced by Brody Knehans with six tackles and Andrew Knehans with five.

Jaxon tenBensel had an interception for the Mustangs.

On offense, the Blue Devils’ Heine threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns.

Chase Schroeder led the receiving corps with five catches for 125 yards. Joseph Sudbeck helped out with four catches for 91 yards.

Silver Lake’s offense was led by tenBensel with 32 carries for 113 yards.

Silver Lake’s offense received the opening kickoff, but on its first play from scrimmage, it tried to go deep, and Heine fought off the Mustangs tight end for an early interception and returned it to the 28-yard line.

The Blue Devils’ drive stalled out at the 13-yard line.

Wynot’s defense held and on its second possession Heine broke free up the middle and raced 37 yards for the first score of the game. The two-point conversion pass was batted down as the Blue Devils had an early 6-0 lead.

At the 2:52 mark, Wynot’s defense put a score up on the board. A bad snap sailed over the Mustang punter’s head and Kotner Koch pounced on it in the end zone for the Blue Devils. Heine connected with Schroeder for the two-point conversion and Wynot’s lead grew to 14-0.

The Mustangs’ next offensive venture was halted when Heine got his second interception of the game at the 23-yard line. Helped by an interference call on the Mustangs cornerback, Wynot moved across midfield.

Heine found Schroeder up the seam and he made a juggling catch and rumbled 33-yard to pay dirt. The two-point conversion was no good as the first quarter came to an end with the Blue Devils leading 20-0.

Wynot’s defensive unit continued to make it tough sledding for the Mustang offense and it went three and out.

On the first play on offense for the Blue Devils’ next possession, Heine unleashed a 63-yard bomb to Sudbeck for another score for the home team. The two-point conversion was no good as Wynot’s lead ballooned to 26-0.

Silver Lake was able to move the ball on their next possession. A 30yard field goal attempt was wide left as Mustangs were unable to come away with points.

Wynot added one more score late in the half. A 30-yard catch-and-run by Schroeder helped move the ball quickly downfield. Kasen Koch took the option pitch around the right side for the final 25 yards. Koch also caught the two-point conversion as Wynot was rolling 34-0.

Silver Lake attempted a 46-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half, but it came up short. Wynot held the 34-0 lead at the intermission.

It did not take the Blue Devils long to get to the end zone as they opened the second half when Heine connected with Schroeder, who broke free of the Mustangs defensive back’s tackle and raced 62 yards for another Wynot score. Kasen Koch ran in the two-point conversion to give the Blue Devils a 42-0 lead, which implemented the running clock.

Reserves mopped up the rest of the game as time moved along quickly.