The Stanton Mustangs earned a playoff berth with a 13-7 home upset of Battle Creek Thursday night.
After neither team scored in the third quarter, both teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter, and the game was tied at 7 at halftime.
The Mustangs added 6 third quarter points to lead 13-7 at the end of three. That was the final score as neither team scored in the fourth quarter.
Hunter Stallbaum was 7-14 passing for 208 yards with two touchdowns.
Myles Nickolite hauled in 5 passes for 144 yards.
Mason King racked up a game-high 21 tackles while Henry Bohac registered 16. Dylan Hunt added 14 while Nickolite Gauge Erickson, and Beau Wilke totaled 13, 11, and 10, respectively. Trey Erbst and Gannon Tighe notched 9 apiece while Nathan Arens and Stallbaum recorded 8 and 7, respectively.
Stanton registered 298 yards of total offense, including 208 passing.
The defense gave up 255 yards of offense, including 202 rushing.
Head Coach David Stoddard says his team played a great game.
"Our kids made plays on offense and played bend, but not break on defense. Battle Creek is a great team, they do so many things well. We were able to get timely stops. We knew that we were going to have to be great at all levels and that the secondary was going to have to come up and make some tackles. We have a group of kids that played every play and they finished the game."
The Mustangs (6-3) take on Wilber-Clatonia (9-0) in the first round of the playoffs in Wilber Friday night.
The Wolverines won 56-0 at Freeman this past Friday night to end the regular season.
Wilber-Clatonia made the semifinals in C-1 last year before losing to eventual state champion Columbus Scotus.
Stoddard says his team will need to play well throughout on both sides of the ball to have a chance.
"Wilber-Clatonia has the ability to run the football in many different ways. It will be much like every week. Our defensive line will have to use their hands and feet and get off blocks, the linebackers must continue to fit off lineman and kickout blocks with precision, and the secondary will have to fill to their keys and also get to their drops. Offensively, the gameplan is always determined by what the defense shows. We will once again need to play 4 quarters of great football."
As great as the win over Battle Creek was, beating the Wolverines might be even tougher.
Stoddard says his team is definitely battle tested.
"The team has been confident in their abilities throughout the year. They learned the hard way on occasion that you have to finish the game each week to ensure a victory. It's through trials that the grew and matured to earn a spot in the playoffs."
Wilber-Clatonia QB Tanner Sand has 515 yards passing and 428 yards rushing on the season for the Wolverines while Coltin Rezabek is the team's leading rusher with 650 yards on the year.
This is going to be a tough game for Stanton without a doubt.
With that said, it's the playoffs, and anything can happen.
Stoddard says it's nice to be back in the playoffs after getting left out last year.
"Our kids are very excited that they earned a spot in the playoffs. The road to the playoffs was very difficult this season. We knew that we had to prepare each week to the fullest to have a chance to win each game. "
I think being battle tested gives the Mustangs a shot at the upset.
Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
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