Rally falls short as Waukon edges Cadets, Crestwood to face Alburnett in playoffs

CRESCO - An impressive fourth quarter rally by the Crestwood varsity football team fell a few points short on Friday, Oct. 17 as the Waukon Indians held on to post a 36-34 win over the Cadets in the final regular season game.

The loss dropped Crestwood’s overall record to 4-4 (3-2 in Class 2A District 3). The Cadets will take on Alburnett (6-2) in Alburnett on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs. The winner will advance to the second round on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. at a site to be determined.

Early in the fourth quarter of Friday’s contest, Waukon scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to build a 36-21 lead. However, the Cadets refused to go down without a fight.

With 5:08 left in the fourth quarter, Cadet senior Jose Lievano burst through the line of scrimmage and raced 50 yards to the end zone to cut Waukon’s lead to 36-27. The two-point pass was no good.

Less than one minute later, Waukon fumbled the ball. Crestwood defender Awnan Skoda scooped up the ball and rumbled 49 yards to the Indians’ eight yard line. One play later, Cadet quarterback Tate Cummings completed an eight-yard touchdown pass to Nate Mahr with 4:11 left in the game. The extra point kick by Mitchell Williams sliced Waukon’s lead to 36-34.

The Cadets forced Waukon to punt on its next possession, which gave the Cadets the ball back at their own 23-yard-line with 1:23 left. Unfortunately, four straight incomplete passes gave the ball back to the Indians with 1:07 left as Waukon ran out the clock.

Crestwood Head Coach Justin Denner noted that big plays by the Indians, including a kickoff return for a score, proved to be too costly for the Cadets.

“Of the 28 points Waukon scored in the first half, they had one kickoff return (for a touchdown), another kickoff return to the four yard line, an interception they returned to the eight yard line and they scored on fourth down,” Denner said. “We didn’t make them work very hard (for their points). They also hit a few trick plays.

“But our guys never quit. We put ourselves in a position late in the game to either score a touchdown or kick a field goal, which is all you can ask for. We just didn’t do enough things in all three phases of the game (offense, defense, special teams) in a row to win the game," Denner said.