Wiedenmann’s big plays help Wildcats to first win

Louisburg running back Ben Wiedenmann looks for an opening during the Wildcats’ 38-12 win over Baldwin on Friday.

BALDWIN CITY – Louisburg was nowhere near healthy when it entered Friday’s road contest at Baldwin.

The Wildcats were missing nine combined starters on both sides of the ball due to injury, they had to shuffle guys in different positions and change things up offensively. It wasn’t exactly the perfect recipe for success.

Whatever the Wildcats did, worked like a charm.

Louisburg ran all over Baldwin as it amassed almost 400 yards of rushing on its way to a 38-12 victory over the Bulldogs at Listen Stadium on the campus of Baker University. In the process, the Wildcats picked up their first win of the season, which helped erase the bad taste they had the previous two outings.

“It was a little different for sure,” Louisburg coach Robert Ebenstein said. “The look was different, what we could do was different and what we thought we would be good at is different than normal. That is just coaching. Every week is different and we want to give the kids the best opportunity each week to have success and put them in position where they can succeed. You could tell they wanted this one and they came out and played really hard. It was a good win.”

Ben Wiedenmann provided the lift the Wildcats were looking for as he recorded three touchdowns of 30-yards or more in the first half and finished the game with 231 yards on the ground on 26 carries.

He got it thanks to the blocking up front as Brayden White, Ian McGuire, Garrett Harding, along with two new starters in Andrew Krause and Sam Kratochvil, shined on the offensive line. Tight end Michael Waldron, along with blocking backs Brandon Doles and Kolby Kattau, also broke Wiedenmann free on several plays.

“Anyone that knows me, knows that I want to run the ball,” Ebenstein said. “Situations in our last two games kind of took that away from us early and forced us to throw a little bit more and this one was different. In the first quarter, we established what we wanted and Ben ran hard and we blocked well. Then with our two running backs out, I thought Brandon and Kolby came in and blocked really well.”

Wiedenmann wasn’t the only Wildcat to eclipse the century mark in rushing as quarterback Andy Hupp also added 106 yards on the ground, threw for a touchdown and ran in three 2-point conversions. Hupp replaced starting quarterback Madden Rutherford, who was one of the Wildcat starters out with injury.

“Andy is a monster,” Ebenstein said. “He runs hard, he blocks hard, he tackles well and he was just all over the place for us. I was really pleased with him as well.”

The Wildcats (1-2) got things going on their first possession as Wiedenmann broke free for a 35-yard touchdown run, and after a Hupp 2-point conversion, went up 8-0.

On Louisburg’s next drive, it was Wiedenmann again as he found the endzone on a 36-yard scamper and went up 16-0 after another Hupp 2-point run.

Baldwin went on to score to begin the second quarter, but the Wildcats returned the favor as Wiedenmann scored on a 31-yard run. Louisburg drove down the field before halftime and Hupp found Waldron on a 1-yard touchdown in the back of the endzone and the Wildcats went up 32-6 at the break.

Justin Collins provided the only score in the second half for the Wildcats on a 41-yard run to seal the win.

Other than one big play, the Wildcat defense was sound all evening as Baldwin recorded just 89 total yards of offense, including minus 22 yards rushing.

“Defensively I was really pleased with what we were able to do considering some guys were in different spots,” Ebenstein said. “We gave up the one big pass play, but other than that I thought we did some good things out there.”

Hupp led the Wildcats with eight tackles on the night, while Harding finished with seven and Eli Johnson added six. Konnor Vohs also recorded an interception.

Louisburg returns home Friday as it will try to get its second consecutive win against Piper. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. During halftime of the contest, Louisburg will also recognize its newest hall of fame inductees – Dennis Stiles, Krystal Bowes (Grojean), Jason Burk and John Lohse.

LOU               16           16           0             6 – 38

BAL                0             6             6             0 – 12

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST QUARTER

L: Ben Wiedenmann 35 run (Andy Hupp run)

L: Wiedenmann 36 run (Hupp run)

SECOND QUARTER

B: Gavin Lang 26 pass from Connor Quick (run failed)

L: Wiedenmann 31 run (Hupp run)

L: Michael Waldron 1 pass from Hupp (Wiedenmann run)

THIRD QUARTER

B: Trysten Heck 80 fumble return (run failed)

FOURTH QUARTER

L: Justin Collins 41 run (kick failed)

STATISTICS

RUSHING – Ben Wiedenmann 26-231; Andy Hupp 23-106; Justin Collins 1-41

PASSING – Hupp 2-6-minus 2

RECEIVING – Michael Waldron 1-1

TACKLES – Andy Hupp 8, Garrett Harding 7, Eli Johnson 6, Brandon Doles 5, Michael Waldron 5, Brayden White 5, A.J. Reed 5, Kolby Kattau 3, Tom Koontz 3, Terrance Foster 2, Konnor Vohs 1, Ben Guetterman 1, Justin Collins 1, Andrew Krause 1.

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