NEW LONDON - With 11 minutes, 11 seconds to go in the fourth quarter Saturday night, New London-Spicer's offense didn't just stay on the field to attempt a fourth-down conversion from two yards out, they demanded it.
A five-yard rush later, the offense remained on the field with a 20-0 lead.
The Wildcats' confidence was at an all-time high Saturday night as they dispatched Albany for the second time in 10 days, this time winning 27-0 to clinch a spot in the Section 6AAA championship with Pierz, the two-time defending state champions. The section championship is set for 5:30 p.m. Friday at St. Cloud State University.
"This is as confident as we've been offensively and defensively since I've been here," said senior lineman Patrick Schimerowski. "Everyone stepped in and did their jobs."
On Saturday, though, grappling with an all-time great team like the Pioneers wasn't at the top of mind. What was, however, was a dominant defensive performance over a longtime rival in the Huskies. Also on top of mind was a well-orchestrated rushing attack in front of a home crowd for the last time in 2018. Okay, and a second-straight trip to a section final may have crossed the mind of a few Wildcats.
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Payton Madison continued to shoulder the load for the high-scoring Wildcat offense, scoring on a pair of three-yard runs in the second quarter to put his team up 14-0 by halftime. Dating back to the 27-22 victory over the Huskies in the regular season finale Oct. 17, Madison scored four straight touchdowns. Though his two scores came in the first half, he was excellent in the second half, too, breaching the 1,000 yard rushing mark in the third quarter as part of his 27-carry, 147-yard day.
Madison missed his backfield pal, Sam Stageberg, yet again, but Gideon Mische continued to shine as a secondary option, running for 75 yards on 19 carries.
Brandon Adelman connected with Nick Perkins twice in the second half for a pair of touchdowns in both quarters to push the Wildcat score to 27 for the second time against the vaunted Albany defense. Albany allowed 54 to the Wildcats, despite allowing 47 points in their eight other games combined.
"We threw the ball well to the open receivers and Payton Madison was amazing. He runs people over all the time," said NLS head coach Dan Essler. Overall, we were just outstanding tonight."
New London-Spicer's offense gets a ton of deserved credit but the Wildcat defense stole the show. Albany struggled to break through the first level at any point and defenders hawked the ball at every opportunity. NLS finished with a pair of interceptions and two fumbles recovered while also only allowing 89 total yards.
"We came into the game knowing we needed to stop every inside run and we did that really well," said NLS lineman Brandyn Harlow. "We didn't give them anything."
The Wildcats allowed just three first downs all game, including one that came via a pass interference call.
For a stretch during the first half, the only yardage the Wildcats allowed were thanks to the yellow hanky. Referees called eight penalties for 50 yards on the Wildcats, many of which came in the first half, including a holding call that brought back a would-be Madison touchdown in the second quarter. Albany went on to stuff NLS on the goal line and force a turnover on downs.
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That Albany momentum didn't last long, though. The Huskies forced a neutral zone infraction to get some breathing room but Mische picked off a failed halfback pass to regain possession in the red zone. Madison went on to score the game's first touchdown and the Wildcats never looked back.
Looking back is exactly what the Wildcats, now 9-1 with a nine-game win streak, will try not to do as they look ahead to Pierz. The Pioneers defeated Melrose 50-13 Saturday night for their 22nd win in a row, a streak that dates back to a 2016 and includes a 40-14 victory against NLS in last year's Section 6AAA final.
"We're excited to play against a two-time defending state champion," Essler said. "If we play as hard as we can, play like we did tonight, we'll beat a lot of teams."
NLS 27,
Albany 0
Albany (7-3) 0 0 0 0 - 0
NLS (9-1) 0 14 6 7 - 27
Scoring Plays
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NLS - Payton Madison 3 run (Griffin Duininck kick)
NLS - Madison 3 run (Duininck kick)
NLS - Nick Perkins 25 pass from Brandon Adelman (Kick failed)
NLS - Perkins 17 pass from Adelman (Duininck kick)
Albany
First downs: 3 ... Penalties: 2-20 ... Rushing (Individual and team): Gage Zierden 5-19, Carter Kotzer 9-17, Will Mergen 5-25, Alex Seiler 3-3, Ezra Noska 1-0, Nolan Rueter 1-2, Ben McLachlan 1-2. 26-65 ... Passing (Individual and team): Seiler 5-12-24-1, Kotzer 0-1-0-1, Cameron Gaebel 0-1-0-0. 5-14-24-2 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Noska 2-10, Gaebel 1-16, Rueter 1-(-2), Zierden 1-0 ... Interceptions: None ... Fumble recoveries: None ... Tackles (solo-assist): NA ... QB sacks: NA
New London-Spicer
First downs: 11 ... Penalties: 8-50 ... Rushing (Individual and team): Payton Madison 27-147, Gideon Mische 19-75, Brandon Adelman 5-22. 51-244 ... Passing (Individual and team): Adelman 5-12-88-0 ... Receiving (Individual and team): Perkins 3-62, Kelly Bennetts 1-18, Madison 1-8 ... Interceptions: Mische 1, Bennetts 1 ... Fumble recoveries: Jacob Homen 1, Brandyn Harlow 1 ... Tackles (solo-assist): Nate Ogdahl 6-1, Jackson Wangen 4-2, Jack Novak 5-0, Jake Schmidt 5-0, Mische 4-1 ... QB sacks: None
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