Orioles outscore Rockets 29-6 in second half to pull out Cloverbelt win

By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

STANLEY — Spencer/Columbus outgained Stanley-Boyd, but five turnovers proved costly as the Rockets fell 29-12 in a Cloverbelt Conference football game Friday night at Forward Field.

The Rockets (2-1 overall and Cloverbelt Conference) lost four fumbles and threw an interception in the loss.

“Turnovers and penalties hurt us,” Spencer/Columbus coach Jason Gorst said. “I was proud of how hard our guys played, but credit Stanley-Boyd for being the better team tonight.”

Spencer/Columbus earned 19 first downs to the Orioles’ 13 and outgained Stanley-Boyd 312-249, but the turnovers were too much to overcome.

The Rockets led 6-0 at halftime as Carson Hildebrandt scored from 1 yard out with only 10 seconds to go in the second quarter.

Stanley-Boyd quarterback L.J. Schmelzer had a 36-yard touchdown run just 1:08 into the second half to give the Orioles a 7-6 lead before the Rockets stormed back.

Hunter Luepke, who ran for 137 yards, scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with five minutes left in the third to put Spencer/Columbus back up on top 12-7.

Stanley-Boyd’s offense proved too tough to stop over the final 17 minutes as it scored three times to win going away.

Schmelzer had a 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and threw touchdown passes to Collin Meyer and Ben Turner in the fourth for the Orioles.

Spencer/Columbus hosts Neillsville at Spencer High School on Sept. 8. The Cloverbelt Conference game will begin at 7 p.m.

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com.)

Orioles 29, Rockets 12

Spencer/Columbus 0 6 6 0 – 12

Stanley-Boyd 0 0 14 15 – 29

Second Quarter

SC – Carson Hildebrandt 1 run (run failed), 0:10.

Third Quarter

SB – L.J. Schmelzer 36 run (Brandon Herrick kick), 10:52.
SC – Hunter Luepke 1 run (run failed), 5:00.
SB – Schmelzer 3 run (Herrick kick), 4:21.

Fourth Quarter

SB – Collin Meyer 14 pass from Schmelzer (Herrick kick), 4:41.
SB – Ben Turner 7 pass from Schmelzer (Meyer run), 1:35.

Team Statistics

First downs: SC 19; SB 13.

Rushing (att-yards): SC 57-255; SB 31-160.

Passing (comp-att-yards-int): SC 4-18-57-1; SB 9-16-89-0.

Total yards: SC 312; SB 249.

Penalties (no.-yards): SC 6-50; SB 6-35.

Fumbles (total-lost): SC 4-4; SB 0-0.

Punting (att-avg.): SC 4-27.0; SB 8-34.8.

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SC, Hunter Luepke 26-137, Carson Hildebrandt 14-75, Hayden Bauman 6-38, Jacob Miller 7-19, Bubba Post 1-minus 3, Jarred Mandel 3-minus 11. SB, Ben Turner 7-65, L.J. Schmelzer 11-57, Collin Meyer 6-21, Matt Nesterick 5-10, Clayton Carlson 1-5, Brandon Herrick 1-2.

Passing: SC, Mandel 4-18-57-1. SB, Schmelzer 9-16-89-0.

Receiving: SC, Lukas Ellefson 3-40, Miller 1-17. SB, Meyer 3-47, Noah Gillingham 2-19, Turner 2-10, Herrick 1-9, Bryce France 1-4.

Interceptions (defense): SB, Herrick.

Punting: SC, Luepke 4-27.0. SB, Gillingham 8-34.8.

Records: Spencer/Columbus 2-1 overall and Cloverbelt Conference; Stanley-Boyd 3-0, 2-0 Cloverbelt Conference.