Mayville Defense Rises to Occasion
Beaver Dam Daily Citizen Sports staff, October 31, 1985
Sheboygan Falls, Wis. - What Mayville needed here Tuesday night in a WIAA Division III State Football Playoff quarterfinal game, Mayville got.
Mayville's defense - as well as the Cardinal's ability to move the ball in the air when the need was evident - lifted the undefeated Wisconsin Flyway Conference champions past Sheboygan Falls, 10-6.
The Beaver Dam High School gridiron - H.H. Derleth Athletic Field will be the site of a Division III semi-final game Saturday, as the Cardinals face Seymour here at 7:30 p.m. The Indians last night rolled past Nekoosa in Seymour, 35-13.
Trailing 6-3, the Cardinals put the game-winning points on the board with 2:33 remaining against Sheboygan Falls. Mayville quarterback Mike Buchta scrambled until Tim Blair popped open in the end zone, as the pair hooked up on a 43-yard scoring strike.
The reason the Cardinals were passing in the first place, according to first-year head coach Alex Hilber, was because of the fine play of Sheboygan Falls' defense against the Mayville rush. The Falcons shut down Mayville considerably on the ground, as the Eastern Wisconsin Conference champions allowed a total of 87 yards on the ground.
"We ended up having to pass the ball because of their defense," Hilber explained. And when Mayville went to the air, the results justified the means.
Buchta connected on half his 26 attempts in the game, good for 161 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Blair proved to be his favorite receiver on the night as the senior hauled in five passes for 121 yards, and had what would have been a 55-yard touchdown catch called back in the opening frame on a clipping penalty.
And while Mayville's offense got untracked, the defense simply jelled after the opening kick-off.
Characteristic of the 10-0 Cardinals, a slow start allowed their opponents an opportunity to get on the scoreboard first. On the Falcon's second possession of the game, a key third-and-2 play action pass call allowed Sheboygan Falls to complete a 14-yard touchdown pass from Terry Van Engen to Rich Perronne with 3:38 remaining in the first quarter.
It was the first touchdown allowed by the Cardinal's defense in the last half dozen outings. The extra point was missed, and Mayville's defense wrote the rest of the script.
Each team struggled to gain momentum until the Cardinals were able to get on the scoreboard with 7:02 left in the first half. Mayville capped a 45-yard drive with a 27-yard field goal by Burt Buschke, pulling within 6-3 at halftime.
"Our defense really did a job in the second half", said Hilber, adding that the Cardinals aalowed but 20 total yards through the third and fourth periods.
"They just had that one good drive in the first half. We always start off slow for some reason, then we just toughen up.
"We just wanted to keep the ball out of their hands."
Mayville accomplished that task, and complemented the defense surge with Buchta's late-game touchdown pass to advance to the semi-final contst.
"Mike threw a heckuva pass," Hilber noted. "It was at least 45 yards in the air because it was caught in the end zone."
Randy Kloepfer added a bit of frosting to the cake by intercepting a Falcon desperation pass with two seconds remaining on Mayville's 5-yard line.
While Hilber is not acquainted with the likes of Seymour, 9-1 with a Bay Conference championship to tout - he is aware of what the Indians did to the Nekoosa Papermakers Tuesday.
"it sounds like they have a heckuva team," he concluded. "We're going to have to play some really good defense."
And if the cardinals respond as they did here Tuesday, they face the prospects of playing in Camp Randall Stadium yet this season.
Mayville 10, Sheboygan Falls 6
First downs: May 14, SF 7;
Yds Rushing: May 87, SF 114;
Yds Passing: May 161, SF 39;
Total Yds: May 248, SF 153;
Passing (A-C-I): May 26-13-2, SF 16-3-1;
Fumbles-Lost: May 3-1, SF 1-1;
Penalties: May 5-35, SF 6-40;
Mayville 0 3 0 7 - 10
Sheb. Falls 6 0 0 0 - 6
Scoring - Sheboygan Falls: Perronne, 14-yd pass from Van Engen, PAT: kick failed.
Mayville: Buschke, 27-yd field goal.
Mayville: Blair, 43-yd pass from Buchta. PAT: Buschke, kick.
