Aquinas defense smothers Arcadia
Arcadia’s Ted Teske broke a pair of tackles before turning upfield during last Friday’s 56-0 loss to Aquinas at UW-La Crosse. (Times photograph by Benjamin Pierce)
La Crosse Aquinas’ defense intercepted Arcadia quarterback Kaiden Rotering seven times and the host Blugolds got touchdowns from its offense, defense and special teams in a complete 56-0 victory over the Raiders last Friday at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Arcadia (2-5 overall, 0-5 Coulee Conference) is scheduled to host Altoona (3-4, 2-3 Coulee) this week and will end the 2023 season by visiting rival G-E-T next week.
Aquinas (6-1, 5-0 Coulee) had last Friday’s game in run-time before the first half ended and led 36-0 at halftime thanks to three offensive touchdowns — two on throws from quarterback Jacob Thornton — in the first quarter.
Walter Berns returned a punt 69 yards for a score to extend Aquinas’ lead in the second quarter, and Thornton threw his third touchdown of the half minutes later.
Max Blaschko led Arcadia with six tackles on defense, and senior Maverick Drazkowski had the Raiders’ best play on offense with a 45-yard catch-and-run.
The Aquinas defense limited Arcadia on offense for much of Friday’s contest by securing multiple turnovers—including one returned 40 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter—and holding the visitors to 156 total yards.
Walter Berns and Logan Becker each contributed two touchdowns for Aquinas on a day Thornton threw for 162 yards and three scores.
Arcadia—
Rushing (att./yds.)—Baier 4/15, Blaschko 3/1, K. Rotering 2/-1.
Receiving (rec./yds.)—Drazkowski 1/45, Teske 2/29, J. Rotering 1/26, Baier 3/15, Pronschinske 1/15, Conrad 1/11, Bremer 1/11.
Passing (comp./att./yds.)—K. Rotering 8/19/130, Wegman 1/1/11.
Tackles—Blaschko 6, Sobotta 5, Wegman 4, P. Scow 3, J. Rotering 2, Baier 2, Drazkowski 2, Pronschinske 2, Barrientos 1, Breska 1, L. Scow 1, Anderson 1, Gomez 1, Wozney 0.5, Terrazas 0.5, Luna 0.5.
