Raiders thump Blackhawks in last regular season game

Four touchdowns before halftime helped the Arcadia football team open up a big lead as they cruised to a 38-0 win over Viroqua on Friday.

The Raiders grouped touchdowns together with two in the final six minutes of the first quarter and two more in the final four minutes of the second to take a 30-0 lead into halftime.

The win put Arcadia at 7-1 overall and 6-1 in Coulee Conference play, behind only undefeated La Crosse Aquinas.

Arcadia earned a home Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association playoff game as they’ll welcome Stanley-Boyd on Friday. Arcadia is the fourth seed and S-B the fifth in their Division Five playoff bracket. The winner will likely play at (1) Aquinas next Friday.

S-B is 6-3 on the season with losses to Durand and Eau Claire Regis — two teams that went a combined 17-1 on the season. Their only other loss was a forfeit to Fall Creek. 

Arcadia 38 Viroqua 0

It took a bit for the Raiders to find the end zone, but they were still in control of the game.

Ryan Sokup gave the team the lead when he scored on a seven-yard run with 5:05 left in the first quarter. He then ran in the two-point conversion, putting Arcadia ahead 8-0.

Arcadia’s defense got the ball back to the offense and Sokup again found the end zone. This time he scored from 14 yards out and Richard Gomez ran in the two-point conversion, putting Arcadia ahead 16-0 with 33 seconds left in the first quarter.

The second quarter was mostly quiet for Arcadia. The teams exchanged possessions until Brett Rebhahn found a hole and scored a 38-yard touchdown. Sokup’s two-point conversion made the score 24-0 with 3:23 left in the first half.

Arcadia got the ball right back and scored again, this time through the air as Kaden Updike passed to Sokup for a 50-yard touchdown. The two-point pass was no good as the Raiders took a 30-0 lead into the intermission.

It was a quiet third quarter for both teams. Arcadia didn’t score again until midway through the fourth when Updike ran for an 11-yard touchdown. Gage McGuire’s two-point conversion put the Raiders ahead by the final.

No statistics were reported to the Times.