Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Warriors gun down Musketeers; Casey-Westfield takes charge from the outset

RED BUD -- Casey-Westfield's destruction of Red Bud on Saturday was handled in such an efficient manner there was virtually no drama the entire afternoon.

Running back Billy Seeley piled up 143 yards and three touchdowns and Casey's defense collected five sacks in a 43-7 Class 2A second-round playoff win.

"We try not to be too fancy," said Seeley, whose teammates spent the day building a brick wall the Musketeers (8-3) could never crack.

Red Bud managed only 27 yards rushing on 23 carries, with leading rusher and quarterback Jake Hoffman limited to nine yards on 19 carries. He was sacked five times and also tackled in the end zone for a safety in the second half as Casey improved to 11-0 and reached the quarterfinals.

"We thought we could run a little bit and that didn't happen," said Red Bud coach Dave Lucht, whose team also lost 17-0 to Casey in the third round of the 2007 playoffs. "We thought we could spread them out and be able to run Jake, but they did a great job. They basically corralled our running game and forced us to get into a pass mode with a lot of coverage.

"It was a great game plan on their part."

Casey's other plan was to control the line of scrimmage, which the Warriors did in dominant fashion. Eleven of Seeley's 25 carries were for seven yards or more.

"A lot of the press has gone toward the passing game this year and today was a day where (Seeley) stepped up and did a great job," said Casey coach Keith Sinclair, whose team had outgained Red Bud 225-70 at halftime. "Kudos to the offensive line. Without them and the defensive line, none of this would have happened today.

"It's easy to run through a hole when there's a hole there and to me, our line did a great job."

A bounced punt snap on Red Bud's first possession proved to be a bad omen. A short punt into the wind allowed Casey to take over at the Red Bud 43 and Seeley's scored on an 8-yard run.

Casey took advantage of another low punt snap late in the first quarter, hauling down Red Bud punter Stefan Gregson at the 16-yard line. Three plays later, Seeley bounced into the end zone from 4 yards out and for all intents and purposes, the game was over.

"We had a lot of confidence and there's no doubt we thought we could win this game," Lucht said. "It's obvious that it didn't play out that way, they just took it to us offensively and defensively.

"You get a bad snap and all of a sudden they're playing on a short field. When you can play on a short field, it makes things a lot easier on your offense and defense. They just put the screws to us the whole first half and we never came out of it."

Casey quarterback Brett Livvix hit Chris Unzicker over the middle early in the second quarter. Unzicker sidestepped a defender, then raced 52 yards into the end zone as Casey took a 21-0 lead.

"If we were going to beat Casey today, we were going to have to get on them early and score," Lucht said. "If we could have gotten an early score or a big stop when we needed it, maybe the game would have been different."

Instead, the Warriors put the Musketeers in an early hole and kept backfilling it with dirt the rest of the game.

Hoffman, who entered the game with more than 1,918 yards passing and 23 touchdowns, was 12-of-28 for 132 yards. Of that total, 65 yards came on a late drive against the second-string defense.

In fairness, Red Bud receivers dropped several balls including a would-be touchdown pass in the second half. Tyler Magruder had seven catches for 65 yards, while Hoffman threw a 25-yard TD pass to Tyler Henry with 1:41 remaining.

"Red Bud's a great football team and I would say that next year a lot of things are going to be pointing their way," Sinclair said. "The quarterback, receiving corps, the backfield ... they have a lot of great players out there.

"I could foresee Red Bud going deep in the playoffs next year."

This year, it's the Warriors.

"Nobody thought we'd even make the playoffs," Lucht said. "Nobody thought we'd even get five wins -- and we finished with eight and making the second round. I'm proud of the kids."