2 weeks Ago By Tom Elliott
LITCHFIELD — Jim Jackman was thankful for the bye his Litchfield football team earned this week. It gave the Dragons, who were hurting a bit after a loss to Holy Family Catholic in the regular-season finale, a chance to heal. They looked fresh on a splendid Saturday.
Second-seeded Litchfield ran past No. 3 Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 44-27 in the Section 2AAA semifinals. “It’s obviously nice to have the first Tuesday off and not having to play,” said Jackman, the Dragons’ head coach.
“That first series against Holy Family (a 42-21 loss) defensively I felt that we were a little beat up. “So to get that bye — you know you want to play as many games as possible — that was nice. .
..” The Dragons (6-3) play top-seeded Dassel-Cokato for the section championship and a berth in the state tournament at 7 p.
m. Friday in Buffalo. DC beat fourth-seeded Watertown-Mayer 46-16.
“It’s awesome,” Litchfield junior quarterback Alex Medina-Lizarraga said when asked about playing the Chargers for the championship. DC (8-1) beat Litchfield 28-14 on Sept. 27.
And while thoughts of a rematch with the Chargers enticed the Dragons, they were focused on the task at hand against a big, physical Lakers team coming off a couple of thrilling wins, including 16-15 over Rockford on Tuesday and a 20-18 victory to wrap up the season over Pierz. “They were a tough team,” Medina-Lizarraga said. “We knew that they’d come swinging.
They weren’t going to back down. I think we did what we had to do.” Leading the way was Anthony Taylor.
The 6-foot, 185-pound sophomore running back ran for 153 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. “I could say a lot of things about him,” Medina-Lizarraga said. “He’s a special kid.
” Taylor rambled behind an offensive line that more than held its own against HLWW. The Dragons piled up 279 yards rushing on 43 carries, getting a 56-yard touchdown run from Brandon Jansky. Center Grant Dengerud (6-0, 180, Jr.
), guards Deagan Weatherholt (5-9, 190, Jr.) and Evan Behnke (6-3, 285, Sr.) and tackles Noah Dietel (6-7, 300, Jr.
) and Josh Ostvig (6-0, 305, So.) where able to handle a front defensive line that included Lawrence Dinehart (235 pounds, Jr.), Logan Diers (230, Jr.
), Jesus Gutirerrez (220, Jr.) and Leo Duske (275, Sr.).
“It’s awesome,” senior tight end Ethan Holtz said of the victory. “It’s a great atmosphere. It was a very physical game.
Howard Lake and us, we’re both good teams. It was very physical, both sides.” Litch led the entire way.
The Dragons were up 29-0 at one point and took a 29-7 lead into halftime. HLWW cut it down to 10 points at one point, 37-27, before the Dragons had one last TD drive from the 50-yard line after recovering their third straight onside kick attempt by the Lakers. The key play was a 24-yard Medina-Lizarraga to Ben Olson pass to the HLWW 4-yard line.
Taylor traipsed in untouched on the next play. And with Bladimir Becerra-Serrato’s extra-point kick, Litchfield had an insurmountable 44-27 lead with 2:03 to play. “I believe in our offense,” Jackman said.
“We’re going to move down the field. We did a good job of doing that. We had a couple of (defensive) stands early to allow us to jump ahead early.
“Hat’s off to those guys. Those guys returned (to) the battle in the second half.” The victory puts Litchfield back in a section championship and playing DC again.
The Chargers beat the Dragons 27-20 last year on their way to state and also knocked off Litch 14-7 in ‘22 in the section semifinals and 45-10 in ‘21 in the section final. “It means a lot,” Medina-Lizarrago said of the opportunity to play for another section title. “A lot of people doubted us since we lost so many amazing seniors.
But I think the senior group now, they stepped up. They kept our heads up. They motivated us.
And we worked really hard. It means a lot to us for sure.” Section 2AAA Litchfield 44, HLWW 27.
