NEW LONDON - By inserting two new offensive sets into its game-plan Saturday, New London-Spicer scored 45 more points than its first meeting of the season with Staples-Motley.
The outburst allow-ed senior quarterback Austen Had-ley and the Wildcats to gain 460 yards of offense and earn a 53-30 win that moved the Wildcats into the Section 6AAA championship.
The Wildcats (8-2) will now square off against top-seeded Litchfield (9-1) at 5 p.m. Friday at St. Cloud State.
Hadley threw three touchdown passes -- all to junior tight end Wade Powers -- and ran for two other scores, including a 50-yarder in the fourth quarter in which he nearly got sacked before spinning out of another tackle en route to putting the Wildcats up 53-22.
"I didn't expect a game like this," said Hadley. "I thought it would be a defensive battle because in the first game (against Staples-Motley) we had only one drive that started past our 30-yard line."
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All 12 of the Wildcats' drives on Saturday started past their own 30-yard line.
The Cardinals (6-4) beat NLS 16-8 on Oct. 13 in Staples by rushing for 300 yards and limiting the Wildcats to just 193 yards on offense. Staples-Motley gained five more yards on the ground in Saturday's contest, but quarterback Derek Peterson amassed 197 of those yards in three carries, two of which that went for scores in the fourth quarter that covered 72 and 74 yards.
Both teams scored on their first possessions with the Cardinals striking first. The Wildcats answered back on Hadley's one-yard plunge. Staples-Motley was forced to punt on its next series, but it got the ball back two minutes later when Hadley was picked off. The Cardinals couldn't capitalize as senior Matt Dreier picked off Peterson, setting up Mike Bonynge's 22-yard TD run nearly four minutes into the second quarter.
Bonynge scored again later in the quarter as the senior returned a interception 26 yards that gave NLS a comfortable 26-8 lead at halftime.
Hadley then threw two scoring strikes to Powers, both covering 20 yards, in the third quarter to put the game away. Hadley amassed 181 yards through the air after completing 7-of-13 pass attempts while Powers hauled in four receptions for 120 yards.
"Right now this is a real team that doesn't care about stats and they go after the victory," said NLS coach Dan Essler.
Senior Blake Williamson also scored on a one-yard run for the Wildcats, who also had Jacob Reiter and Joe Stenzel recover two Staples-Motley fumbles.
New London-Spicer 53, Staples-Motley 30
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Staples-Motley (6-4) 8 0 0 22 -- 30
NL-Spicer (8-2) 8 18 13 14 -- 53
SM - Tom Roline 12 pass from Derek Peterson (Kodeiy Lind run)
NLS - Austen Hadley 1 run (Wade Powers pass from Hadley)
NLS - Mike Bonynge 22 run (run failed)
NLS - Wade Powers 67 pass from Hadley (run failed)
NLS - Bonynge 26 interception return (kick failed)
NLS - Powers 20 pass from Hadley (kick failed)
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NLS - Powers 20 pass from Hadley (Blake Williamson kick)
SM - Peterson 10 run (run failed)
NLS - Williamson 1 run (Williamson kick)
SM - Peterson 72 run (Peterson run)
NLS - Hadley 50 run (Williamson kick)
SM - Peterson 74 run (Lind run)
Staples-Motley
Team statistics
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First downs: 7 ... Rushing: 37-305 ... Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 4-13-57-2 ... Fumbles lost: 2 ... Penalties: 8-70
Individual statistics
Rushing: Kodeiy Lind 12-51, Caleb Nurnberger 10-10, Derek Peterson 13-236, Ryan Halvorson 2-8 ... Passing: Peterson 4-13-57-2 ... Receiving: Tom Roline 1-12, Cole Richta 3-55 ... Punting: Jose Alba 3-31.0 ... Interceptions: Cole Buchta 1 ... Fumble recoveries: not available ... Tackles (solo-assist): not available
New London-Spicer
Team statistics
First downs: 14 ... Rushing: 42-279 ... Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 7-13-181-1 ... Fumbles lost: 0 ... Penalties: 9-85
Individual statistics
Rushing: Mike Bonynge 17-67, Blake Williamson 18-106, Austen Hadley 4-59, Shawn Halliday 3-47 ... Passing: Hadley 7-13-181-1 ... Receiving: Skylar Wachter 2-47, Wade Powers 4-120, Matt Dreier 1-14 ... Punting: Hadley 3-32.1 ... Interceptions: Dreier 1, Mike Bonynge 1 ... Fumble recoveries: Jacob Reiter 1, Joe Stenzel 1 ... Tackles (solo-assist): Blake Williamson 5-1, Reiter 3-5, Sam Steffl 4-4, Dreier 6-1, Stenzel 3-0, Ben Koch 5-4 ... QB sacks: none
