By,
Rob Reischel
Middleton Times-Tribune
The Middleton starters turned in early, which only seemed fair seeing it was a school
night.
The Middleton student section chanted for third-string quarterback Ross Hammer and
eventually got their wish.
And even fiery head coach Kurt Gundlach was seen cracking a smile or two.
Yes, it was a night of joy and merriment as the Cardinals closed out their regular season
in style Oct. 18. Thanks to 43 unanswered first half points, Middleton rolled over
Madison West, 50-13, and headed into the postseason with a head of steam.
The Cardinals, who won their final two regular season games by a 91-39 count, ended
the regular season 7-2 overall and finished in a third-place tie with Madison La Follette
at 6-2 in the Big Eight. West, meanwhile, ended its year at 1-7 in the league and 1-8
overall.
''It was a fun night and it's always fun to play in a blowout,'' senior left guard Andy
Reuter said. ''Our focus might not have been great in the second half, but we did what
we had to do early.''
Did they ever.
The Regents gave the home folks an early scare when Peter Weiden
took the opening kickoff 93 yards for a 7-0 West lead. But from there, it was all
Middleton.
An overmatched West team threw everything in its defensive arsenal at Middleton,
using a wide-array of blitz packages and coming from virtually every angle. But the
Cardinals held up nicely, as quarterback Jeremy Ziegler burned the Regents and the
Middleton backs continually ran past blitzing defenders.
''That was the most blitzing we saw all year,'' Middleton coach Kurt Gundlach said.
''They threw a lot at us.''
In reality, that was the only way the Regents stood a chance. Had they stayed back in
their base defense, the more talented Cardinals would have punished them a bit more
patiently.
As it was, the Cardinals dropped the hammer on West by halftime.
''We went out there and played pretty good,'' said senior tailback-wideout Matt
Meinholz. ''We got on a roll and things kind of snowballed.''
And how.
After West's score, a 55-yard kick return by Kyle Brodd set up a two-play, 30-yard
drive capped by a 13-yard scoring strike from Jeremy Ziegler to Dustin Ziegler. A
30-yard draw play to Meinholz set up Middleton's next score ‹ a four-yard Brodd run
that gave the Cardinals a 14-7 lead.
But that was just the start. In the final nine minutes of the second quarter, Brodd found
the endzone twice, Jeremy Ziegler snuck in from a yard away and Ziegler hit Meinholz
for a four-yard score. By intermission, Middleton led, 43-7, and the Parents Night crowd
was treated to a rout as well as some running clock.
''Our goal was to shut them out,'' said senior linebacker Kevin Buechner, who led a
strong defensive effort. ''But that's OK. We still played well.''
Because of the comfortable nature of Middleton's lead, it was able to experiment with
several things that could come in handy.
For example:
• A fake punt. The Cardinals executed a perfect one midway through the first quarter.
Facing a fourth-and-two from the West 46, the snap went to Buechner, who was the up
man, and he rumbled for seven yards to set up Brodd's first score.
• A pooch kick. After going ahead, 28-7, late in the first half, Brandon Hellenbrand's
kick was perfectly placed between a group of West defenders around the Regents 40.
When West couldn't immediately recover, Middleton's Dan Morris was on the spot to
corral the loose ball at the West 29.
• The two-minute drill. While some may have scoffed at Gundlach for calling a pair of
timeouts late in the first half with his team in front, 35-7, the Cardinals coach did it to
give his offense a chance to work against the clock.
And Middleton passed the test, nicely, driving 66 yards in 10 plays, capped by a 33-yard
Hail Mary pass from Ziegler to Brodd.
''We felt as a staff we wanted to lay it out there and try some things that are very time
consuming in practice,'' Gundlach said. ''There's some different philosophies on that. But
we wanted to make sure whoever we play had a lot to prepare for.''
And after a game in which the Regents threw everything at the Cardinals ‹ and
Middleton threw plenty back ‹ they feel very prepared and confident heading into the
postseason.
''I'm pretty confident,'' Buechner said. ''We need to keep getting better and staying
focused. And if we do that, we can have a lot of success.''