Levi Johnson hit Austin Ballhagen for a 20-yard touchdown pass in overtime to give the Minnewaska Area Lakers an 18-12 victory at Howard Lake-WW, Friday night.  It was the first win of the season for the Lakers and also the first win for head coach Jared Lyle.

The Lakers had a chance to win the game on the last play of regulation after Kearri Dickens returned a kickoff 61 yards, but Zach Gugisberg’s 32-yard field goal was just off the mark, forcing overtime.

There was plenty of action during the game with a safety, field goal, long returns, over 20 pass completions and overtime; in other words, it was a great high school football game.

“It was a great game; our kids played hard and battled through some adversity,” coach Jared Lyle said.  “The kids deserved to win and I was just happy to leave the field with a victory.”

The Lakers, who improved to 1-2 in the sub-district and 1-3 overall, are set to host Rockford this Friday at 7 p.m. for the annual Homecoming game.

•  HLWW scored the first touchdown in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead, but the Lakers answered back on a four-yard touchdown pass from Levi Johnson to Luke Danielson.

HLWW increased its lead to 9-6 when Minnewaska had a miscue on a punt attempt with the ball rolling out of the end zone, but the Lakers took a 12-9 lead early in the fourth quarter when Johnson connected with Gugisberg for a 10-yard touchdown pass with under six minutes left in the game.

HLWW proceeded on a 15-play, 72-yard drive before settling for a 20-yard field goal to tie up the game with 31 seconds left in regulation.

Kearri Dickens returned the kickoff 61 yards from his own 24 to the HLWW 15, giving the Lakers time for a possible field goal.  After two incomplete passes, the Lakers’ 32-yard field goal fell short, forcing overtime.

“Kearri made a nice move and gave us a chance to win in regulation,” coach Lyle said.  “Our defense came through in overtime and Levi made a nice pass to Austin for the gamewinner.Great win for us!”

In OT, the Lakers stopped HLWW three times before a field goal attempt was botched by the home team. With Minnewaska taking over possession, the Lakers were called for a 10-yard penalty before an incomplete pass on first down.  

Facing second-and-goal from the 20, Johnson dropped back to pass and hit Austin Ballhagen for the winning touchdown, giving the Lakers the exciting win.

Waska 18, at HLWW 12, ot

Waska (1-3) 0 6 0 6 6 — 18

HLWW (1-3) 7 0 2 3 0 — 12

Team stats Min HLWW

First downs 11 15

Rushes-net yards 27-108 42-176

Pass-cp-int-yds 20-12-1-136 15-11-1-90

Total yards 244 266

Fumbles-lost 1-0 4-0

Punts-average 2-33 3-30.7

Penalties-yards 8-80 6-50

Minnewaska statistics

Rushing — MIN-Jack Majerus 18-83, Asante Adams 4-13, Levi Johnson 1-5, Austin Ballhagen 1-2 . . . 27-108 team . . .  HLWW-Heber 11-11, Benjamin Gatz 10-84, Colton Long 11-44, Cameron Jones 1-24, Hayden Brown 3-19 . . . 42-176 team

Passing (att-comp-intercept-yrds) — MIN-Levi Johnson 20-12-1-136 . . . HLWW-Steven Heber 15-11-1-90

Receiving (catches-yds) — MIN-Ballhagen 5-59, Luke Danielson 3-42, Tristan O’Neill 3-26, Zach Gugisberg 1-10 . . . HLWW-Marcus Burau 4-39, Mason Mochinski 2-23, Jones 2-1

Punts-ave — MIN-Riley Dell 2-33

Returns — MIN-Kickoff-Kearri Dickens 1-61, Adams 1-16 . . . Punt returns-MIN-UA

Defense — Tackles-UA . . . Sacks-UA . . . Interceptions-MIN-Marc Gruber 1; HLWW-Alex Zimmerman 1 . . . Fumble recoveries-MIN-Connor Frey 1

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