Saturday Afternoon Lights: Willmar at Delano
DELANO– On a beautiful afternoon in Delano, we saw, in my opinion, a massive shift in the North Central White district. Willmar, a 3-7 last year program, pounded Delano, who were state football participants last season, 42-0.
It took some time for this game to break open with some back and forth possessions. One essential play in the first quarter was when Robbie Knight (2021) of Delano got an interception, but the Tigers could not make ground off of it. At around the 2-minute mark after driving down the field, Willmar RB Michael Price (2022) punched the 1-yard run to make it 7-0 Cardinals. The Tigers finally threw at the target we came out to see in Trey Longstreet Trey Longstreet 6'7" | TE Delano | 2021 State MN , who used his 6’6 and leaping ability to haul in a big gain for the Tigers. With Delano in the red zone, Willmar’s Brandt Sunder got a good read on the ball and got the Cardinals’ interception and took it back to their 30-yard line to end the quarter. Willmar 7, Delano 0
Willmar QB Alex Schramm was the Cardinals option quarterback and provided a quick burst in the second quarter, and multiple times yesterday. After Schramm’s quick scamper, Michael Price took the ball in from 8 yards out and made it 14-0 just past the second quarter’s midway. Delano then went on a decent drive with a Cade Bruett Cade Bruett 6'3" | 215 lbs | QB Delano | 2023 State MN (2023) pass to Robbie Knight going for a big gain, and then Trey Longstreet Trey Longstreet 6'7" | TE Delano | 2021 State MN brought in another first down for Delano. Their momentum, however, got stopped quick. On back-to-back plays, Willmar got a sack by Aidan Donelan (2021), and then Eli Jorgenson (2021) got the interception killing all momentum for the Tigers. After Willmar moved the ball quickly down the field, they tried to sling one into the end zone, but it was picked off by DB Trey Longstreet Trey Longstreet 6'7" | TE Delano | 2021 State MN , who by far had the best game for Delano on defense yesterday. Delano gets the ball back with very little time left in the half, and Willmar gets another sack, this time from the very active Michael Price, which would close the half. Willmar 14, Delano 0
Willmar again came out threatening to start the second half with another big gain by Michael Price to start the half. The Cardinals got picked off by Trey Longstreet Trey Longstreet 6'7" | TE Delano | 2021 State MN again but would get the ball back quickly. A big 50 yard run by Alex Schramm followed up by a Michael Price 11 yard gain put the Cardinals on the Delano 4 yard line. In the end, on a 4th and one situation, Michael Price walked into the endzone, making it 21-0 Willmar. Willmar 21, Delano 0
The fourth quarter was undoubtedly when you knew Willmar was going to win this one. A new name popped up for Delano’s rushing attack in Tate Gallus (2022) as he ran for a significant gain getting down the Cardinals 35-yard line. That is when the Kaden Streed show started happening: on back to back plays, Streed got a sack and then followed it up with an interception on the next play. Alex Schramm wasted no time bursting thru the Tigers tired defense for a 70-yard rushing touchdown making the score 28-0. After a tough three and out for the Tigers, they had to punt deep in their territory, which was more bad news for Delano as Brandt Sunder ran back the punt to the Delano 3 yard line. The Streed family came in clutch again, as QB Jacob Streed (2023) punched one in to make it now 35-0 Willmar. With the running clock now in play, the Cardinals would score again with around 3 minutes left when Simon Radermacher put in a touchdown on his own.
Final. Willmar 42, Delano 0
Coming up next: We will break down who will be on our “Big Dogs of the Week” list for the Saturday edition of Nate’s Big Dogs column.