Bees put an end to Viking football season
BLOOMFIELD — There is no arguing that the Wausa Vikings football program may have found its footing this season and an early playoff defeat won’t change that.
Last week, the Vikings returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2018 and with a .500 record in tow as they headed 12 miles over to rivals Bloomfield for a first-round D2 matchup.
In the end, Bloomfield (8-1) came away 66-20 winners, but the Vikings (4-5) had little to feel bad about.
Josh Wattier (20 carries, 89 yards, one touchdown), Jaxon Claussen (56 yards rushing, 84 yards passing, two rushing scores and a 2-point conversion run), Cashe Carlson (seven tackles) and Tucker Wright (two catches for 64 yards) highlighted the Wausa efforts.
“The team’s performance wasn’t what we were looking for but we never quit: We went from the first whistle to the last,” Wausa head coach Adrian Alonzo said. “We had a good season and we learned a lot about who we are and what we can do. We played in a lot of big games and know what it takes to compete and even win those games.
“We let a couple games slip away from us, in particular the Osceola and Wynot games, you change the final score of those games and we are playing for a district title and probably a top eight in the east bracket.”
Claussen was pleased that the Vikings came out feisty after halftime even though the game was essentially decided by then.
“I didn’t get a lot of time in the pocket and when we did make good plays, we had stupid penalties that pulled us back,” Claussen said. “We could have made that game a lot closer. We could have played a lot better for sure. I was excited when we found out we were playing them – we all were. We knew we would have to play one of our best games in order to win. We definitely did not play as we wanted to in the first half.
“Some of us were timid and mentally, I didn’t think they were ready in the first half.”
Claussen said that the program is just starting to learn how to win again and have learned to beat the teams they should while still managing through those of equal strength or better.
“During the summer we worked hard and coming into the first few games we were playing pretty good,” Claussen said. “Personally, it was weird to win games. The last few years we would win against teams that were worse than us. This year, we actually were able to compete with most of the teams we played with.”
Alonzo noted the loss of three seniorsthat have been with the program since the last playoff appearance, but acknowledges the nucleus of the crew will return in 2022.
“We have a solid core of kids coming back next year, so that is exciting for the coaching staff,” Alonzo said.
The junior Claussen said the core of players coming back should do well to build on this year.
“They know what it’s like to win and them coming up is not going to be a big change,” Claussen said of the underclassmen. “We just got to keep working. We found some things that worked for us.”
PASSING
Wausa - Jaxon Claussen, 3-11-84; Josh Wattier, 1-2-12; Tucker Wright, 0-1.
RUSHING
Wausa - Josh Wattier, 20-89; Jaxon Claussen, 15-56; Tucker Wright, 5-17; Tug Dawson, 3-12.
RECEIVING
Wausa - Tucker Wright, 2-64; Cashe Carlson, 2-32.
TACKLES
Wausa - Cashe Carlson, 7; Tucker Wright, 5; Tug Dawson, 5; Josh Wattier, 4; Jaxon Claussen, 4; Brandon Kristensen, 4; Jarrett Andersen, 3; Jaylor Petersen, 2; Brady Bloomquist, 1.
