The Guardian Angels Central Catholic Bluejays advanced to the Class D-1 State Quarterfinals again this year by knocking off Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family 53-18 in the second round of the playoffs Wednesday night.
GACC led 14-6 after one and outscored the Bulldogs 18-0 in the second quarter to take a 32-6 lead into the locker room.
The Bluejays won the third quarter 8-6 to go up 40-12 at the end of three.
GACC outscored Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family 13-6 in the fourth quarter to make up the final score.
Nolan Plagge was 11-19 passing for 175 yards and four touchdowns. Andrew Guenther hauled in 4 passes for 109 yards, and scored once.
Jared Minnick carried the ball 19 times for 183 yards, and scored three times. Plagge had 63 yards rushing on 15 carries, and scored once.
Kobe Slaughter had 13 tackles while Connor Klitz registered 12. Cole Kreikemeier and Michael Baumert totaled 11 apiece while Sheldon Disher and Guenther notched 10 and 8, respectively.
The Bluejays racked up 426 yards of total offense, including 251 on the ground, while the Bulldogs had 257 yards of total offense, all but 11 of the yards coming on the ground.
GACC played very well in this game. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the Bluejays' performance. I thought the game would be much closer than it was.
GACC (10-0) hosts Heartland (9-1) in the State Quarterfinals Tuesday evening.
The Huskies downed East Butler 70-42 at home in the second round of the playoffs on Wednesday.
I must say, I was a little surprised Heartland beat the Tigers the way they did.
And given how well they played against East Butler, I can't say I really know what to expect in this game.
I think things could go either way. Both teams are playing at a really high level right now, and nothing would surprise me at this point.
I can see the Bluejays winning, but I can also see them losing.
It just depends on how well GACC plays and how bad they want it.
The Bluejays have to try and slow down Austin Stuhr, who had 334 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns against East Butler.
Stuhr was pretty much a one man wrecking crew, and is a player GACC has to really focus in on.
The Bluejays' have done a good job of shutting other teams' best players down this year, and you can bet Head Coach Dave Ridder will have a really good game plan.
If GACC can shutdown or at least limit Stuhr, then I think they're going to win, but if Stuhr goes off and has a big game like he did against the Tigers, then the Bluejays could lose.
GACC is in the same spot they were at this time last year...10-0 and in the State Quarterfinals.
I would say last year's team was better than this one is, but I would also say BDS was a better team last year than Heartland is this year.
I fully expect Plagge, Minnick, and Guenther to have big games for the Bluejays.
I think Plagge's passing ability could end up being the deciding factor in this game.
If he can be a threat running and passing the ball, GACC will only be that much stronger.
Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. on 107.9 the Bull with pregame at 5:10.
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