The Audubon Wheelers made just enough plays down the stretch to edge out the CAM Cougars 40-32 in the 8-Man Football Quarterfinals on Friday night at Chis Jones Field in Audubon. Both teams had big plays on both sides of the ball throughout the bitter cold night. It was everything you could want in a playoff football game.

The Cougars struck first, building a 12-0 lead on a Lane Spieker 21 yard touchdown run and a Nate Hensley 1 yard score. The Wheelers responded late in the half and got on the board with a 19 yard Kaiden Smith touchdown run with 4:13 left in the half. 3 plays later Ethan Klocke gave the Wheelers the lead on a 15 yard interception return for a touchdown. The two teams then traded big plays before the half was done. CAM struck on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Nate Hensley to Jacob Holste. The Wheelers would score with :08 left in the half on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Smith to Ethan Klocke, giving them a 20-18 halftime lead.

Ethan Klocke

Audubon then had the first two scores of the second half. The Wheelers forced a fumble as the Cougars were going for it on a 4th and 1 at their own 21. Ethan Klocke got that recovery and the Wheelers cashed the turnover in on a Skyler Schultes to Kaiden Smith 26-yard touchdown pass on a broken play in which the ball was snapped over the head of Schultes. CAM then had a turnover on downs at midfield giving the ball back to Audubon. The Wheelers then scored on a 5 yard run by Kaiden Smith to lead 34-18. CAM struck back with a 60-yard touchdown pass from Nate Hensley to Lane Spieker, getting them within 10. Audubon got another TD run from Kaiden Smith to push the lead to 40-24. CAM would drive 9-plays and 56 yards to make it a one score game early in the fourth quarter. That drive was capped off on a 10-yard Lane Spieker halfback pass to Jacob Holste, followed by a two point conversion run by Ethan Arp.

The score was 40-32 with 10:48 left in the game. The Cougars were able to force a turnover on downs for the Wheelers at the CAM 30 to get the ball back with 7:11 left. After getting into Wheeler territory, a holding call pushed the cougars back and ended up stalling at midfield. Pressure forced Nate Hensley out of the pocket on 4th down and he couldn’t get off a pass in bounds, turning it back over to Audubon with 4:17 left. The Wheelers then got two first downs to seal the victory, the first on an encroachment call on a fourth down.

Audubon improves to 11-1 on the season and will head to the Semifinals for the first time since 1989. The Wheelers will get a chance to avenge their lone loss of the season with a rematch with Remsen, St. Mary’s in the Semifinals on Thursday, November 14th at 12:00pm.

The Wheelers were led by Kaiden Smith on the ground with 26 carries for 203 yards and three touchdowns to go along with one receiving score. Ethan Klocke had 3 catches for 34 yards and a touchdown to go along with his pick-6 and fumble recovery.

CAM ends a terrific season with a record of 8-3. Stat leaders for the Cougars included Lane Spieker with 100 yards rushing on 19 carries. He added five catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. He also threw a 10-yard touchdown pass. Jacob Holste finished the night with 6 catches for 91 yards and two scores. Nate Hensley was 11-20 passing for 203 yards and 1 touchdown toss.

Listen to postgame interviews with the Wheelers’ Ethan Klocke and Head Coach Sean Birks below.

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