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Williamsburg defense fast and nasty in a shutout of Iowa City Regina
Raiders hold Regals to 19 yards of total offense, including minus-45 on the ground
Jeff Linder
Aug. 26, 2022 10:21 pm, Updated: Aug. 30, 2022 10:41 am
WILLIAMSBURG — The Williamsburg defense is more than fast.
It’s nasty.
The Class 2A third-ranked Raiders held 1A No. 6 Iowa City Regina to 19 yards of total offense, completely erasing the Regals’ ground attack in a 31-0 non-district football whipping Friday night at Bob Murphy Stadium.
“Everyone stuck together and played their hearts out,” said junior Derek Weisskopf, a University of Iowa recruit who picked off two passes. “Our defensive line played a heck of a game. They had tons of tackles for loss and sacks.”
The final damage on the ground: Regina ran the ball 22 times for minus-45 yards. Yes, that includes a negative-32 on a high punt snap, but still ...
Nasty.
“We see our defense every day,” Williamsburg Coach Curt Ritchie said. “They’re a pretty special group of guys. They move really fast. There’s a lot of speed out there.”
The Raiders (1-0) set the tone immediately. A three-and-out on defense, followed by a short scoring drive.
Carson Huedepohl handled the ball four times in the Raiders’ five-play, 35-yard scoring drive.
Huedepohl missed his junior year due to a torn ACL. Friday, he carried the ball 25 times for 74 yards, and as a second-half quarterback, threw for 96 yards, completing 7 of 13 passes.
“I wasn’t able to play last year,” Huedepohl said. “I was hoping I would be able to get out there and get in the end zone where I belong.”
A short field aided Williamsburg on all four of its touchdown drives — 35 yards in five plays, 11 yards in three plays, 29 yards in 10 snaps and 2 yards in one play after a fumble recovery.
“Last year, they manhandled us,” Ritchie said. “They lost some guys, so we knew we needed to change time of possession and number of plays.”
Williamsburg snapped the ball 65 times, compared to 44 for the Regals (0-1). The Raiders yielded just five first downs and accumulated three takeaways, two on Weisskopf interceptions.
“I saw (Regina QB Gentry Dumont) turn his head,” Weisskopf said. I was able to read his facemask, and when he launched it, I ran to it.”
Huedepohl accounted for two of the Raiders’ four touchdowns, on runs of 6 and 2 yards.
Kellen Cockrell hit Clayten Steckley on an 8-yard scoring slant to give the Raiders a 14-0 advantage at halftime, and Owen Douglas added a 1-yard run in the third quarter.
Logan Rethwisch converted four PATs and nailed a 28-yard field goal.
Williamsburg plays at Van Meter next week; Regina hosts West Liberty.
Williamsburg 31, Iowa City Regina 0
AT WILLIAMSBURG
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs: ICR 5, WILL 14
Rushes-yards: ICR 22-(minus 45), WILL 45-151
Passing yards: ICR 64, WILL 119
Passing: ICR 8-22-2, WILL 8-20-1
Total yards: ICR 19, WILL 270
Fumbles-lost: ICR 2-1, WILL 0-0
Punts-average: ICR 7-36.0, WILL 4-43.5
Penalties-yards: ICR 6-42, WILL 4-30
SCORING SUMMARY
Iowa City Regina 0 0 0 0 — 0
Williamsburg 7 7 7 10 — 31
W — Carson Huedepohl 6 run (Logan Rethwisch kick)
W — Clayten Steckly 8 pass from Kellen Cockrell (Rethwisch kick)
W — Owen Douglas 1 run (Rethwisch kick)
W — FG Rethwisch 28
W — Huedepohl 2 run (Rethwisch kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Regina: Levi Daniel 9-17, Chris Waikel 2-0, Jack Tierney 2-(minus 2), Gentry Dumont 8-(minus 28), Team 1-(minus 32). Williamsburg: Carson Huedepohl 25-74, William Van Dee 4-30, Owen Douglas 10-23, Gable Dayton 3-18, Kellen Cockrell 1-3, Allen Miller 2-3.
Passing
Regina: Dumont 7-18-2-53, Tierney 1-4-0-11. Williamsburg: Huedepohl 7-13-0-96, Cockrell 2-5-1-13, Grant Hocker 1-2-0-10.
Receiving
Regina: Jackson Naeve 5-54, Tierney 1-8, Daniel 1-4, William Aitchison 1-(minus 2). Williamsburg: Clayten Steckly 3-20, Madox Doehrmann 2-9, Zach Glandorf 1-42, Douglas 1-24, Caleb Welsh 1-10, Derek Weisskopf 1-9, Dayton 1-5.
Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com