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Casey-Westfield advances to championship game
By Terri Cox
Contributing Writer
AUBURN — The walls came crashing down Saturday afternoon for the Casey-Westfield Warriors. Fortunately for the Warriors, it was the walls they’d been trying to get through the past two years when their seasons came to an end in the Final 4 round. This year, however, a solid defensive effort and an offensive spark by seniors Taylor Biggs and Kaleb Brandenburg gave Casey a 27-13 victory over the Auburn Trojans, sending them to their first title game appearance since 1985.
“What a great feeling, to knock down that door,” said Biggs after racking up 159 yards and two scores on the ground for the Purple and Gold. “It’s very exciting, I mean, I don’t even know how to put it into words.”
Head coach Keith Sinclair, who also led Casey teams to the title game in 1982 and 1985, was pleased with the second half effort he saw from his team.
“At halftime, I told them they could either pay or play on Friday (for the state championship game). We weren’t getting very good pressure on (Auburn’s) quarterback and knew that needed to change in the second half. Defensively we really stepped it up and were able to shut down a very talented passing game. We had some key sacks in crucial situations that gave us momentum.
“Offensively, Biggs getting that big run on the first play of the third quarter really set things up for us. The offensive line did a very good job of getting our backs holes to run through and I was very pleased with their effort. We had to change things up a bit after our first offensive series when (Mitch) Snyder took a pretty hard shot. We didn’t want to put him in a position where he’d get hit again so we turned it over to the ground game. This served two purposes for us, it allowed us to keep Snyder from taking any more hits and allowed us to eat a lot of time off the clock.”
The Warriors won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. Sophomore Clinton Scott booted the ball into the endzone, forcing the Trojans to start from their own 20 yard line on their first possession.
Auburn worked their way down the field at a pretty even clip and looked to score the first touchdown of the game as Michael Bates found an open Collin Bushnell in the corner of the endzone. Fortunately for the Warriors, Bushnell unnecessarily jumped up for the ball and it fell to the ground.
The Trojans opted for the field goal attempt on fourth down and junior Tyler Johnson was good from 31 yards out for a 3-0 Auburn lead.
The two teams traded possessions over the next six minutes of the first quarter and the Warriors caught their second break of the day. Faced with a punting situation, Auburn lined up to boot the ball away, however an errant snap gave Casey excellent field position.
The Warriors took full advantage of it, as Biggs found daylight from nine yards out for the score. Scott connected on the PAT for a 7-3 Casey lead.
As the second quarter got underway, the Trojans rallied right back with plays that moved them down the field at a pretty even clip. Junior fullback James Dombacher blasted his way in from four yards out to put Auburn back on top 10-7 after Johnson added the point after.
The Warriors refused to back down from the challenge that Auburn was giving them as they too worked their way methodically down the field. Kaleb Brandenburg then bullied his way across the goal line from 10 yards out with under three minutes in the half. The point after attempt failed, but Casey held a 13-10 lead.
The Trojans would add the final points of the half as Auburn drove deep into Casey territory again, but like their first possession, they would have to settle for a field goal, this time a 33 yarder by Johnson. Heading into the intermission, the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the final poll of the regular season were deadlocked at 13.
Following the intermission, the Warriors came out fired up and firing on all cylinders as Biggs took the opening handoff of the second half and bolted 61 yards down the sideline to set up the go-ahead score.
A great second effort by Brandenburg resulted in the touchdown for Casey and Scott added the PAT for a 20-13 advantage with 9:04 left in the third.
The defense continued to come up big for the Warriors as the pressure forced Bates out of the pocket into the waiting hands of Casey’s defensive ends on several occasions before putting the ball back in the offense’s hands.
Despite the change in game plan due to the earlier hit sustained by Snyder, the offensive line proved to be more than up to the task as the Warriors drove down the field late in quarter. With 2:39 left, Biggs scored from nine yards out, bringing several Trojan tacklers along for the ride. Scott was again good for the point after and Casey held a 27-13 advantage.
From that point on, the defense stepped it up another notch, as Bates was knocked for a loss on his last five attempts as Patrick White and Clinton Scott racked up five sacks between them. The offense, while not finding the endzone, ground out the clock and got the necessary yardage to keep the drive alive and secure the win.
Biggs led all rushers with 159 yards on 21 attempts and two touchdowns while Brandenburg added 53 yards on 10 touches and two scores as well.
Snyder was limited in throwing duties, but did connect on 4-of-5 attempts, hitting Aaron Rhoads twice for 20 yards, Josh Thais on a 17 yard strike and Biggs on an eight yard catch.
Defensively, White finished with four quarterback sacks and Scott two sacks in the win. Nate Sandiford tallied 11 tackles while Brandenburg and Biggs contributed 10 hits apiece.
The Warriors (13-0) will now face the 9-4 Elmhurst (Immaculate Conception) Knights who play in the Suburban Catholic Conference in the Chicago area for the 2008 IHSA Class 2A state title. Kick off is slated for 1 p.m. Friday at Memorial Field on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign.
Score by quarters
Casey 7 6 14 0 -27
Auburn 3 10 0 0 -13
Scoring Drives:
1st Qtr
A: Tyler Johnson 31 yd field goal 7:12
C: Taylor Biggs 9 yd run (Clinton Scott kick) 1:05
2nd Qtr:
A: James Dambacher 4 yd run (Johnson kick) 9:;29
C: Kaleb Brandenburg 10 yd run (kick failed) 2:58
A: Johnson 37 yd field goal :03.5
3rd Qtr:
C: Brandenburg 1 yd run (Scott kick) 9:04
C: Biggs 9 yd run (Scott kick) 2:39
RUSHING:
CASEY: Taylor Biggs 21-159, 2 TDs; Kaleb Brandenburg 10-53, 2 TDs; Billy Seeley 5-44; Jason Clapp 1-3; Mitch Snyder 6-10; TOTALS 39-269, 4 TDs
AUBURN: Ryan Gardner 16-95; James Dambacher 3-11, TD; Michael Bates 13(-15); TOTALS 32-91, 1 TD.
RECEIVING:
CASEY: Aaron Rhoads 2-20; Josh Thais 1-17; Taylor Biggs 1-8; TOTALS 4-45
AUBURN: Collin Bushnell 8-62; Josh Sergent 7-75; Eric Cerve 3-37; Ryan Gardner 1-3; Cole Busch 1-7; TOTAL 21-187
PASSING:
CASEY: Mitch Snyder 4-for-5, 45 yds, 0 TD, 0 Int.
AUBURN: Michael Bates 21-for-29, 187 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int
“What a great feeling, to knock down that door,” said Biggs after racking up 159 yards and two scores on the ground for the Purple and Gold. “It’s very exciting, I mean, I don’t even know how to put it into words.”
Head coach Keith Sinclair, who also led Casey teams to the title game in 1982 and 1985, was pleased with the second half effort he saw from his team.
“At halftime, I told them they could either pay or play on Friday (for the state championship game). We weren’t getting very good pressure on (Auburn’s) quarterback and knew that needed to change in the second half. Defensively we really stepped it up and were able to shut down a very talented passing game. We had some key sacks in crucial situations that gave us momentum.
“Offensively, Biggs getting that big run on the first play of the third quarter really set things up for us. The offensive line did a very good job of getting our backs holes to run through and I was very pleased with their effort. We had to change things up a bit after our first offensive series when (Mitch) Snyder took a pretty hard shot. We didn’t want to put him in a position where he’d get hit again so we turned it over to the ground game. This served two purposes for us, it allowed us to keep Snyder from taking any more hits and allowed us to eat a lot of time off the clock.”
The Warriors won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. Sophomore Clinton Scott booted the ball into the endzone, forcing the Trojans to start from their own 20 yard line on their first possession.
Auburn worked their way down the field at a pretty even clip and looked to score the first touchdown of the game as Michael Bates found an open Collin Bushnell in the corner of the endzone. Fortunately for the Warriors, Bushnell unnecessarily jumped up for the ball and it fell to the ground.
The Trojans opted for the field goal attempt on fourth down and junior Tyler Johnson was good from 31 yards out for a 3-0 Auburn lead.
The two teams traded possessions over the next six minutes of the first quarter and the Warriors caught their second break of the day. Faced with a punting situation, Auburn lined up to boot the ball away, however an errant snap gave Casey excellent field position.
The Warriors took full advantage of it, as Biggs found daylight from nine yards out for the score. Scott connected on the PAT for a 7-3 Casey lead.
As the second quarter got underway, the Trojans rallied right back with plays that moved them down the field at a pretty even clip. Junior fullback James Dombacher blasted his way in from four yards out to put Auburn back on top 10-7 after Johnson added the point after.
The Warriors refused to back down from the challenge that Auburn was giving them as they too worked their way methodically down the field. Kaleb Brandenburg then bullied his way across the goal line from 10 yards out with under three minutes in the half. The point after attempt failed, but Casey held a 13-10 lead.
The Trojans would add the final points of the half as Auburn drove deep into Casey territory again, but like their first possession, they would have to settle for a field goal, this time a 33 yarder by Johnson. Heading into the intermission, the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the final poll of the regular season were deadlocked at 13.
Following the intermission, the Warriors came out fired up and firing on all cylinders as Biggs took the opening handoff of the second half and bolted 61 yards down the sideline to set up the go-ahead score.
A great second effort by Brandenburg resulted in the touchdown for Casey and Scott added the PAT for a 20-13 advantage with 9:04 left in the third.
The defense continued to come up big for the Warriors as the pressure forced Bates out of the pocket into the waiting hands of Casey’s defensive ends on several occasions before putting the ball back in the offense’s hands.
Despite the change in game plan due to the earlier hit sustained by Snyder, the offensive line proved to be more than up to the task as the Warriors drove down the field late in quarter. With 2:39 left, Biggs scored from nine yards out, bringing several Trojan tacklers along for the ride. Scott was again good for the point after and Casey held a 27-13 advantage.
From that point on, the defense stepped it up another notch, as Bates was knocked for a loss on his last five attempts as Patrick White and Clinton Scott racked up five sacks between them. The offense, while not finding the endzone, ground out the clock and got the necessary yardage to keep the drive alive and secure the win.
Biggs led all rushers with 159 yards on 21 attempts and two touchdowns while Brandenburg added 53 yards on 10 touches and two scores as well.
Snyder was limited in throwing duties, but did connect on 4-of-5 attempts, hitting Aaron Rhoads twice for 20 yards, Josh Thais on a 17 yard strike and Biggs on an eight yard catch.
Defensively, White finished with four quarterback sacks and Scott two sacks in the win. Nate Sandiford tallied 11 tackles while Brandenburg and Biggs contributed 10 hits apiece.
The Warriors (13-0) will now face the 9-4 Elmhurst (Immaculate Conception) Knights who play in the Suburban Catholic Conference in the Chicago area for the 2008 IHSA Class 2A state title. Kick off is slated for 1 p.m. Friday at Memorial Field on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign.
Score by quarters
Casey 7 6 14 0 -27
Auburn 3 10 0 0 -13
Scoring Drives:
1st Qtr
A: Tyler Johnson 31 yd field goal 7:12
C: Taylor Biggs 9 yd run (Clinton Scott kick) 1:05
2nd Qtr:
A: James Dambacher 4 yd run (Johnson kick) 9:;29
C: Kaleb Brandenburg 10 yd run (kick failed) 2:58
A: Johnson 37 yd field goal :03.5
3rd Qtr:
C: Brandenburg 1 yd run (Scott kick) 9:04
C: Biggs 9 yd run (Scott kick) 2:39
RUSHING:
CASEY: Taylor Biggs 21-159, 2 TDs; Kaleb Brandenburg 10-53, 2 TDs; Billy Seeley 5-44; Jason Clapp 1-3; Mitch Snyder 6-10; TOTALS 39-269, 4 TDs
AUBURN: Ryan Gardner 16-95; James Dambacher 3-11, TD; Michael Bates 13(-15); TOTALS 32-91, 1 TD.
RECEIVING:
CASEY: Aaron Rhoads 2-20; Josh Thais 1-17; Taylor Biggs 1-8; TOTALS 4-45
AUBURN: Collin Bushnell 8-62; Josh Sergent 7-75; Eric Cerve 3-37; Ryan Gardner 1-3; Cole Busch 1-7; TOTAL 21-187
PASSING:
CASEY: Mitch Snyder 4-for-5, 45 yds, 0 TD, 0 Int.
AUBURN: Michael Bates 21-for-29, 187 yards, 0 TD, 1 Int
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