Photo Credit: gbalcomphotography
The West Catholic Falcons won just one game in 2019. As MSR broadcaster Dave VanNoord mentioned on this Friday’s postgame show, the “Comeback Team of the Year” continued their remarkable turnaround with a fifth win in the shortened 2020 campaign. On Friday night, they hit that plateau with a 35-7 win over the Hamilton Hawkeyes.
Tim Kloska scored the lone touchdown in the first quarter, as he plunged across the goal line from a yard out. His touchdown, paired with the Chris Corey extra point made it 7-0 West Catholic after twelve minutes.
Hamilton would open the second quarter scoring with an equalizing touchdown. Spencer Vandenbrink capped off their drive with a one-yard run. This lead would hold for just seventy-five seconds of game time, as Noah Arsulowicz broke off a five-yard keeper for a touchdown. Before the first half ended, Kloska was off to the races for his second score, this one a sixty-one yard sprint across the goal line. West Catholic would take a 21-7 lead into the locker room as a result.
In the second half, there were only two touchdowns scored. Both of these took place in the third quarter, and they came as a result of the rushing attack of West Catholic. Defensive menace Travis Zdanowski got things going with a five-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. Two minutes later, Kloska scored for the third time in this contest.
Turnovers haunted Hamilton all night long. They lost four fumbles that thwarted drives and allowed for the Falcons to seize the momentum. Spencer Vandenbrink led the Hawkeyes with 21 carries that turned into 120 yards. Grant Goodpaster added twenty-five yards, while Adrien Sanchez gained twenty-three of his own.
West Catholic was led offensively by Tim Kloska, who took sixteen carries and made 192 yards out of them. Arsulowicz led the passing attack with 94 yards, and he added twelve more on the ground. Jack Hipp was the leading receiver with 44 yards, while Collin Roth was just behind him at 40 yards.
Next week, both of these teams will start their playoff journeys. Their matchups will be announced on Sunday, and shortly after the MHSAA releases them, you can find all of the insight on MSR.
