Suring football coach Mitch Taylor and his staff didn’t have to think too hard to come up with an offensive game plan for the Eagles in their 8-player playoff matchup with Sevastopol.
The plan? Hand the ball off to running backs Kroix Kempka, Grant Thomson and Dyllan Flynn and let them work their magic.
That magic included six rushing touchdowns — three each from Kempka and Thomson — and Flynn’s interception return for another score in a 42-22 win over Sevastopol on Oct. 23.
The second-seeded Eagles will now face top-seeded Wabeno/Laona in a Level 3 playoff game tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 30 in Wabeno.
“We’ve got it to the point where we’re in a good rotation with our backs,” Taylor said. “We had to take a step back. We had some injuries later in the season, but now we’ve got pretty much the full team back.”
One of those injuries to Taylor Booth-Stoffregen caused the senior quarterback to miss three games, but he was back on the field against the Pioneers.
The three games he missed with a knee injury were nonconference losses to Valley Christian and Phillips and a Level 1 playoff win over Elkhart Lake/Glenbeulah.
Taylor was happy to get Booth-Stoffregen back.
“I think having Taylor back is a calming influence,” he said. “He’s a captain and a leader out there and would have been our third guy with a knee surgery, but it was a slight tear to his MCL. Will (Seibert) did a nice job of stepping in for him. He was a little nervous in the Phillips game, because he had to step into that role, but he really picked it up in that first playoff game.”
Suring got off to a shaky start to start the game and trailed 8-6 at one point.
The Eagles’ first drive ended after three plays and Flynn fumbled the ball on a punt return that gave the Pioneers the ball at the Suring 47-yard line.
After Sevastopol turned the ball over on downs, Thomson capped a 75-yard drive with a 7-yard run and the Eagles headed into the second quarter with a 6-0 lead.
Sevastopol answered on its next drive with a 4-yard run from Ray Johnson and took an 8-6 lead after Johnson added a 2-point conversion run.
The lead didn’t last long, however, as Suring scored on its next drive on Kempka’s 3-yard run with 4:18 to go in the first half.
Suring started its next drive at midfield later in the half, but the drive ended with an interception. The Eagles had one more chance for points after starting a drive at the Sevastopol 45-yard line following a punt, but Flynn’s field goal attempt was blocked on the final play of the half.
Suring scored on all four of its possessions in the second half.
Sevastopol opened the third quarter with a long drive, but it ended after Flynn picked off Bo Tanck’s pass and returned it 80 yards to give the Eagles an 18-8 lead.
Thomson’s 3-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter added to the Eagles’ lead, but Sevastopol made it 24-14 with Tanck’s 85-yard touchdown pass to Johnson.
A 2-yard touchdown run from Thomson in the opening minute of the fourth quarter gave Suring a 30-14 lead and found the end zone again four minutes later after a fumbled kickoff return gave the Eagles the ball at the Sevastopol 37-yard line. Kempka’s 19-yard run with just over seven minutes left in the game made it 36-14 and after the Pioneers turned the ball over on downs, found the end zone for the third time with a 41-yard run.
Sevastopol’s final points came with less than two minutes remaining on Tanck’s 6-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion run.
Kempka led the Eagles with 164 rushing yards and also led the defense with 11 tackles.
Suring will now turn its attention to Wabeno/Laona, which defeated Northwood/Solon Springs 42-0 Oct. 24 in the Rebels’ Level 2 playoff game.
“They have a heck of a player up there in Cooper Albrecht,” Taylor said. “He’s all-state material, a man among boys. (Ryder) Cronauer is a really good player. It’s a good team, so we’re going to have to play better than tonight.”
Taylor said Suring is fortunate to be able to field an 8-player team, unlike other local programs like Gillett and Bowler/Gresham that cancelled their varsity schedules this season because of low participation numbers.
“Our enrollment is going to be well under 100 (students) next year,” he said. “We’ll be in the 20s again next year for (football players). That’s nice, because they know they get a chance to at least play and they’re part of the Suring school. We’re not combined with anybody.”
Having a successful program doesn’t hurt, either. The Eagles won the Marinette & Oconto Conference-8 championship and started the season with five straight wins.
