By TIM IRVING
Victor fumbled the opening kickoff in their Class AA semifinal game against Hilton Sunday afternoon, giving the Cadets a first down at the 17-yard line.
It just wasn’t the way the Blue Devils game planned it all week.
Victor’s defense stopped the Cadets, not just from scoring in the opening seconds but the rest of the first half and ran away with a 55-7 victory en route to Saturday’s Class AA Final.
Senior running back Rushawn Baker ran through a massive hole created by senior center Connor Williams and senior guard Nick Fronczak and ran 52 yards for a score in the first series.
“Our line put on a clinic out there and I’d look stupid if I didn’t hit those big holes, so, they did all the dirty work, “ Baker said.
Six minutes later, with Baker getting a breather, Nick Benetti hit the same hole from 42 yards out with the same result, 14-0 Victor after one.
The defense continued to give the Blue Devils a short field and early in the second quarter, Baker took a hand-off, started right, cut it back to the left hash marks and went 48 yards for another score.
The Cadets tried to pass their way back into it and two plays later, Baker got an interception and then scored again, this time from 49 yards out.
“We put a couple of wrinkles in that they hadn’t seen (the first time they played) and our guys up front were dialed in, got bodies on people and once he (Baker) gets to the second level, he either makes people miss or runs away from them, “ Head Coach Geoff Mandile said.
Hilton pinned the Blue Devils deep on the next possession, on second down, Baker busted free up the sideline, running over tacklers at the end of a 75-yard burst that set up Benetti’s second touchdown of the game and a 35-0 lead.
With two minutes left on the first half clock, Baker had 303 yards rushing, Benetti another 76.
Special teams got another for Victor at the end of the first half as Isaiah Couser forced Hilton’s punter to double clutch on his punt, he got off a short kick that Codey Jensen caught and returned for a 41-0 halftime advantage.
Baker and Benetti watched the second half as Connor Bowman took over in the backfield, scoring two third quarter touchdowns, sandwiching Jason Bedford’s one yard run, capping off a long drive for the Cadets.
“I’m as shocked as anyone at the result, “ Mandile said. “They’re heavy run just like we are but our guys up front took care of the down linemen and let our linebackers flow and they just played really well.”
The Blue Devils travel to McQuaid to face the defending champion Knights in the final with both games heading into Saturday’s match-up undefeated.
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