Wells beats Winthrop, 30-13, to win first place in D South

WELLS – This time, Wells High really had trouble running the ball against Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale.

But the Warriors showed they can gain big yards with the passing game. Junior quarterback Cal Moody completed 11 of 15 passes for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Riley Murphy as Wells won a battle of undefeated Class D South teams, 30-13, in a crowded regular-season finale Friday at night.

“The passing game was working when we started, so we continued with that,” Moody said.

Wells (8-0) will be the No. 1 seed in the regional playoffs, and both teams will advance directly to the semifinals. In their fourth season in Class D, the Warriors have never lost to a Class D opponent, going 12-0 in both 2017 and 2018, and won a third state championship last season when they returned to the division despite of losing three regular season games. to Class C teams.

Winthrop (7-1) will be the second seed, meaning if both teams win their semifinals, they will meet in the regional final for the second straight season.

“Some things didn’t go the way we wanted. We played well. We came out physical,” said Winthrop senior running back Carter Rivers (15 carries, 56 yards). “We knew we could be with them. They are a good team. A very good team. I think we played well. “We’ll go back to practice and figure out what we need to fix, get better and hopefully meet them again.”

Last season, Wells beat Winthrop 41-0 in the regular season and 35-6 in the regional final, rushing for 390 yards in the playoff game, with junior running backs Dominic Buxton (167 yards, 3 TDs) and Eli Potter (121 yards). have great games after Winthrop had supposedly, at least according to Buxton, made pregame comments about shutting down Wells’ running game..

On Friday, Winthrop completely suppressed Buxton. He was held to 28 yards on 18 carries, and his fumble led to a 40-yard return by Ross Fichthorn for Winthrop’s first touchdown, which cut Wells’ lead to 16-6 with 2:30 left in the second quarter. .

“We feel pretty good about our game plan. I thought the kids played well,” Winthrop coach Joel Stoneton said of his run defense.

Wells had just 44 rushing yards in the first half despite holding a 23-6 lead.

Wells coach Tim Roche said he uncharacteristically “attacked them hard at half-time. I wasn’t happy with the way we played. I mean, give (Winthrop) a lot of credit. It is a physical and tough team. “I’m not going to take that away from them, but I wasn’t happy with our performance.”

Potter, the fullback, was untracked in the second half and finished with 141 yards on 17 carries, including a 50-yard touchdown burst on a third-and-short play to push the lead to 30-6. Possession had been established when Dominic Carbonneau intercepted Winthrop quarterback Braden Branagan (9 of 14, 94 yards).

Winthrop gave Wells its first two points when a punt snap went over Gabe Robinson’s head for a safety. Wells then converted the free throw into a 42-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard run by Buxton for a quick 9-0 lead.

Winthrop responded with a long drive, with Rivers running to the outside, and it looked like Rivers had capped the drive with a sliding catch in the end zone on Branagan’s fourth-and-8 throw from the Wells 22-yard line. ruled incomplete, a decision Winthrop’s band disputed.

“I don’t know what the referee saw. I thought I got it. Maybe he saw something different,” Rivers said. “Reffing is difficult. “Sometimes I do it to play basketball with little kids and it’s hard.”

Wells then turned to the passing game and it paid off. Moody found Buxton open in the middle of the field and turned it into a 66-yard gain. Then it was Murphy running fast enough that he could extend his left hand and make a 27-yard one-handed touchdown reception for a 16-0 lead after Sabin Piatek’s extra point.

“You can always reach out and grab it,” Murphy said. “(Moody) and I are becoming more in sync with each other. “We are always getting better and better in the passing game.”

After Fichthorn’s fumble return, Wells went 75 yards in 2:26, with Moody completing five passes to four receivers, including a 12-yard touchdown to Murphy with five seconds left in the half.

The second half was a relatively even affair, with Potter scoring for Wells and Rivers scoring late on a 1-yard run for Winthrop.