Week 6: Galena vs East Dubuque
The first East Dubuque/Galena matchup for East Dubuque head coach Joe Edler was one that saw many fireworks and that started on the opening kickoff as an onside kick by the Warriors gave East Dubuque the early possession. The Warriors were able to march their way into the red zone, but a fourth down stop by the Pirates put an end to the early drive.
The Pirates would not gain any traction themselves as they lost ten yards on the drive and gave the ball back to the Warriors at the Galena 35 yard line after a short punt.
The Warriors and the Pirates would both go four-and-out on their next possessions as the Warriors would begin their third possession at the Galena 48-yard line. It was a short lived one play drive that saw Dawson Feyen take the ball around the left tackle for a 48-yard touchdown scamper, a failed extra point gave the Warriors the early 6-0 lead with 4:32 left in the opening quarter.
On the next Pirate possession, an answer was needed and the answer was fulfilled as the ground attack by Bauer was able to pick up steam to bring the Pirates into Warrior territory. The Pirates’ possession would end with a 20-yard touchdown pass from junior Ethan Hefel to junior Brady Schemehorn. An extra point by Kevin Trinidad gave the Pirates a 7-6 lead with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.
On the ensuing Warrior drive, the visitors would go four and out to give the Pirates possession at the 11:02 mark of the second quarter. The Pirates were unable to answer on this drive as a false start penalty and the sack backed the team back to a third and 22 and a punt on the next play.
East Dubuque would have a three-play drive on their next possession that resulted in an interception by senior Khalid Newton.
The Pirates would only need two plays on their next possession to find the end zone as a 28-yard touchdown pass from Hefel to Schemehorn at the 5:48 mark of the second quarter gave the Pirates a 14-6 lead.
The Warriors would go four and out once again to set the Pirates up for another possession at the end of the second quarter at the 2:37 mark of the second quarter.
The Pirate possession began with a 21-yard run by Bauer and capped once again by a Brady Schemehorn touchdown, this time a 35-yard run allowed the Pirates to find the end zone and a 21-6 lead with 2:21 left in the half.
The Warriors were unable to gain any traction and an interception by senior Ryan Holland gave the Pirates the ball right back at the East Dubuque 47-yard line. Two passes by Hefel is all the Pirates needed to get back to the end zone, the first a pass to senior Conor Behr and the second, a 24-yard touchdown reception by Schemehorn, his fourth score of the half.
The half would end with fireworks on the next Warriors possession as a run by Feyen on second down at the East Dubuque 19-yard line saw flags fly including a pair of personal fouls against the Pirates that gave the Warriors the ball at midfield. A late hit out of bounds called on the Pirates would be called on the next play to give the Warriors the ball at the Galena 20-yard line, however an incomplete pass to end the half would send the teams to the locker room with a 28-6 Pirate lead.
The teams had a defensive battle in the third quarter with neither team finding the end zone until the 11:19 mark of the fourth quarter when Dawson Feyen ran for a 20-yard touchdown to cut the Pirate lead to a two-possession game, 28-12.
Momentum seemed to be inching towards the Warriors, however another two-play scoring drive by the Pirates put the end to the momentum shift as a 56-yard touchdown pass from Hefel to senior Will Nack gave the Pirates a 35-12 lead with 10:32 left in the fourth quarter.
The Pirates got a fourth down stop on the next Warrior possession at their own 39-yard line to set up the home team’s final scoring drive of the season.
A three-play drive by Galena was capped by a 77-yard touchdown run by Newton to put the Pirates up 42-12.
The Warriors were able to respond and score on their final drive of the season with a 20-yard run by senior Ben Tressel to cut the Pirate lead to 42-20.
The 42-20 win by the Pirates was the fifth of the season, the most for the Pirates in a season since 2015 and what head coach Ed Freed hopes to be the turning point for the program that has achieved the greatest of highs and the lowest of lows over the past 17 seasons under Freed.
Edler is hoping this season has helped the Warriors and allowed him to introduce his playbook and system prior to the upcoming fall season. The Warriors had many challenges to deal with including season-ending injuries to key players, however they were able to end their season with a successful touchdown drive.
By the numbers
The win was the second straight for the Pirates, however the Warriors have won six of the previous ten, dating to 2009. The Pirates lead the series 46-16, which dates back to 1943.
The 42 points scored by the Pirates were the most put up by a team in the series since 2015 when the Pirates won 42-16.
The win gave Ed Freed his ninth win of his career over East Dubuque and brings his overall record against the Warriors to 9-7. The 16 career games against East Dubuque broke a record for most games coached in the series by either team. The record was held by Coach Chuck Korte who had coached 15 games in the series. The East Dubuque record is 13 held by Terry Breitbach. Joe Edler is the third coach that Freed has faced in the series (Sirianni, Breitbach, Edler).
The Pirates scored 158 points this season, which is the most in a season since 2015. The team’s 26.3 ppg average on offense is also the most since 2015 when the team averaged 31.9 points.
The Pirates allowed 54 points this season, giving the team a 9.0 average. The lowest defensive ppg average for the Pirates since the 2007 state championship team that allowed a 7.0 ppg average.
The game was Freed’s 150th regular season game since 2004, he has won 91 of those games.
The final touchdown scored, by Khalid Newton, gives Freed over 4,000 points of offense scored during his tenure as head coach, including playoffs. There have been 4,006 points scored by Galena since the 2004 season. The second most by a Galena coach behind Chuck Korte, who saw 4,457 points scored by his offenses between 1988-2003, including playoffs. To put it into perspective, the East Dubuque Warriors program has scored approximately 5,000 points, including playoffs since 1988.
Stats
Total Offense: GAL 384, ED 299
Rushing: GAL 22-213, ED 51-243
Individual Rushing (Pirates): Peyton Bauer 14 carries, 83 yards; Khalid Newton 2 carries, 78 yards, 1 TD; B. Schemehorn 1 carry, 35 yards, 1 TD; Spencer Crawford 3 carries, 23 yards; Ethan Hefel 2 carries, -6 yards.
Individual Rushing (Warriors): D. Feyen 23 carries, 131 yards, 2 TDs; B. Tressel 13 carries, 82 yards, 1 TD; S. Huntington 7 carries, 37 yards; Thomas Mai 3 carries, 7 yards; Ben Montag 1 carry, 3 yards; Parker Shireman 2 carries, -17 yards.
Passing (Galena): E. Hefel 8/14 171 yards 4 TD 0 Int.
Passing (Warriors): P. Shireman 5/15 83 yards 0 TD 3 Int.
Receiving (Pirates): Brady Schemehorn 4 rec. 78 yards, 3 TD; Will Nack 1 rec. 55 yards, 1 TD; C. Behr 1 rec. 24 yards; K. Newton 1 rec. 14 yards.
Receiving (Warriors): Dawson Feyen 3 rec. 22 yards; Ben Montag 1 rec. 19 yards; Ben Tressel 1 rec. 15 yards.