Tigerhawks gain first win of season
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| Colfax-Mingo senior Dylan Berkey runs for a touchdown during Friday’s matchup with Saydel. Berkey ran for three touchdowns and threw a fourth as the Tigerhawks won 30-14. (Ben Frotscher/Daily News) |
COLFAX — Colfax-Mingo senior Dylan Berkey did a little of everything to help the Tigerhawks secure their first win of the season.
Berkey ran for 113 yards, threw for 97 yards, kicked four extra points, punted four times, scored four touchdowns and also had four tackles in a 30-14 win over Saydel on Friday night in non-district play.
“Berkey is just a great athlete, just a great competitor and just a great kid,” Colfax-Mingo football coach Mike Rupert said. “He made some nice plays. The execution was good on the touchdowns.”
All four touchdowns were scored in the second half.
The first half saw both teams struggle offensively, with the two teams combining for three turnovers and six punts.
Colfax-Mingo senior Brandon Kolo got the Tigerhawks on the board in the first half when he sacked Saydel quarterback Dan Breitbarth in the end zone with 7:23 left before halftime.
The safety put Colfax-Mingo up 2-0 at halftime.
“We didn’t execute very well,” Rupert said of the first half. “Obviously we are still making too many penalties and mistakes — poor open field tackling.”
In the second half, Colfax-Mingo scored touchdowns on four of its six drives.
After Saydel attempted an onside kick and it was recovered by senior Ross Husson, the Tigerhawks went seven plays down the field and scored on a 23-yard keeper play by Berkey. He added the extra point to make it a 9-0 lead.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter when Colfax-Mingo started to pull away. The Tigerhawks got an 8-play drive, scoring on a keeper by Berkey from 16 yards out. Berkey added the extra point to make it 16-0 with 11:54 left in the game.
Saydel responded with an 8-play drive where Breitbarth scored on a keeper on first-and-goal and added the two-point conversion on a run to make it 16-8 with 7:55 remaining.
But Colfax-Mingo’s offense responded. After Saydel attempted an onside kick that was recovered by senior Connor McLaughlin, the Tigerhawks needed just four plays to score on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Berkey to senior Mitch Tomlonovic to make it 23-8 after the point after.
“We made a couple adjustments in the offense and obviously executed better,” Rupert said. “I saw some improvement out of the offensive line. They gave Berkey a lot of time to throw the ball — happy with the offensive line.”
Colfax-Mingo extended the lead after an interception by junior Justin Fisher. The Tigerhawks needed just six plays from there to score on a Berkey keeper.
Saydel returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown by Jake Punelli to end the scoring.
Fisher added 72 yards of rushing on 15 carries, while defensively, Kolo had 13 tackles — seven solo and five tackles for a loss — and added a fumble recovery and a blocked field goal.
“At moments our defense looked good,” Rupert said. “We have to improve in some areas from the linebacking standpoint. There were some times on the defensive line where we didn’t penetrate very well, so we have to improve on that as well.”
As the Tigerhawks (1-1) get ready to host rival PCM, Rupert was glad to get the first one under his belt as the team ended a 8-game losing streak.
“We needed to get a win,” Rupert said. “It’s been awhile for our program to get a win. Getting a win was important.”
Colfax-Mingo 30,
Saydel 14
Points by quarter
Saydel 0 0 0 14 — 14
C-M 0 2 7 21 — 30
SCORING SUMMARY
Second Quarter
C-M — Safety, 7:23
Third Quarter
C-M — Dylan Berkey 23 run (Berkey kick), 8:54
Fourth Quarter
C-M — Berkey 16 run (Berkey kick), 11:54
S — Dan Breitbarth 7 run (Breitbarth run), 7:55
C-M — Mitch Tomlonovic 22 pass from Berkey (Berkey kick), 6:32
C-M — Berkey 1 run (Berkey kick), 3:13
S — Jake Punelli 82 kickoff return (pass failed), 2:58
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TEAM STATISTICS
C-M Saydel
First downs 13 10
Rushes-yards 35-195 24-127
Passing yards 97 107
Total yards 292 234
Punts-avg. 4-31.2 5-25.8
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties 9 10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — C-M: Dylan Berkey 15-113, 3 TDs; Justin Fisher 15-72; Colton McKinney 3-14; Chase Russell 2-(-4).
PASSING — C-M: Berkey 8 of 14 for 97 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT.
RECEIVING — C-M: Cameron Hainer 4-35; Mitch Tomlonovic 1-22, 1 TD; Joe Borts 1-20; Russell 1-13; Fisher 1-7.
PUNTS-AVG. — C-M: Berkey 4-31.2
TACKLE LEADERS (solo-assists) — C-M: Brandon Kolo 7-6, Cameron Hainer 6-3, Connor Hainer 5-2, Gary Alexander 4-3, Dylan Day 3-3, Russell 3-2, Fisher 2-3, Berkey 3-1, Mitch Larson 1-3, Steven Weber 2-2.
INTERCEPTIONS — C-M: Fisher 1.
FUMBLE RECOVERIES — C-M: Kolo 1.
