Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Alec Wick caught 15 passes against Williamsburg on Friday and Regina needed every one of them to escape with a 42-35 victory at home.

Especially the last one.

Wick caught a three-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ashton Cook in the closing seconds to help secure a dramatic comeback in which the Regals erased a nine-point deficit in the final 7 minutes, 17 seconds of the game.

Wick also ended the game with an interception as time expired.

“You never give up, no matter the score,” Wick said. “We were down two possessions and we just fought, and the (defensive line) made some big tackles for losses. It was big.”

Regina improved to 3-1 and has won three games in a row since losing to Class 3A power Cedar Rapids Xavier 35-0 in the season opener, while Williamsburg fell to 1-3.

Regina had a chance to take the lead after Levi Quinlan scored a five-year run with 1:02 remaining to even the score at 35, but Michael Dunn’s point-after kick was blocked.

Williamsburg took over on offense buried deep in its own territory and the game appeared to be heading to overtime until Raider running back Kaden Wetjen fumbled with 34 seconds remaining.

Ashton Cook then found Wick in the end zone with 6.3 seconds remaining to secure the comeback.

Regina outscored Williamsburg 22-7 in the fourth quarter and scored the final 16 points in the game.

“It’s a big gut check,” said Wick, who finished with 145 receiving yards. “That was a gut-check game. It just showed us what we could do.”

Wetjen’s fumble was one of the few things that the talented senior running back did wrong during Friday’s game.

He had an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage and then broke loose for a 64-yard touchdown run with 7:49 still left in the first quarter.

Wetjen finished with 280 rushing yards, including 195 in the first half.

He also played the entire game at safety on defense.

Regina coach Marv Cook had high praise for Wetjen, and for Williamsburg head coach Curt Ritchie for how he used Wetjen in the running game.

Wetjen had been more productive as a receiver in the first three games and only had 30 rushing yards on 17 attempts before breaking loose on Friday.

“Obviously, we’ve seen him on film, he’s a phenomenal player, and we’ve seen him for a couple years now” Marv Cook said of the 5-foot-9, 160-pound Wetjen. “I love what coach Ritchie did. They put a little bit of a new offense in, and to me, it looked like he was the featured guy, and then the quarterback did a good job of managing the offense.”

Regina was trailing 35-26 when Michael Dunn made a 24-yard field goal with 4:04 left to play.

Marv Cook said he didn’t give much consideration to going for it on 4th-and-7 rather than attempt a field goal.

“Not really,” he said. “We feel good with Mike. And we felt, with four minutes to go, and it was seven yards to get the first down, if it would have been two or three (yards), we might have went for it.

“We just felt like let’s get the three points and we’ll line up and play one more series.”  

After being shredded for much of the game, the Regina defense finally rose to the occasion on Williamsburg’s next possession following Dunn’s field goal.

The Raiders were forced to punt after three running plays that gained just four yards.

“It was huge,” Marv Cook said of the defensive stand. “We always talk about just staying in the next play. Play the next play. Play the next play.

“We’ve just got to line up and play the next snap and that’s what our defense did. They kept us there, and fortunately for us, we got the turnover and then Alec Wick is just incredible.”

Regina took over at its own 41-yard line with 2:11 remaining and then marched down the field for the game-tying touchdown.

As good as Wick was on Friday, he was hardly a solo act.

Quinlan overcame some early cramps on a hot steamy night to rush for 186 yards on 22 carries, while Ashton Cook passed for 257 yards and rushed for 47 yards.

“Levi Quinlan was phenomenal late, and he was cramping up early,” Marv Cook said.

Quinlan, Wick and Ashton Cook are all juniors and have developed a strong chemistry on the field just from playing together for so long.

“It means a lot,” Marv Cook said of the chemistry on the field. “A lot of these kids, Levi and Alec and that class, have been playing baseball, basketball and football, and everything together since kindergarten and before that.

“They’re just real comfortable with each other and almost have non-verbal communication a lot of times. They just know they’re on the same page with each other.”

Ashton Cook threw four touchdown passes, including three to Wick. Cook also threw a 19-yard scoring strike to Nick Hein that gave Regina a 20-14 lead with 8:52 left in the third quarter.

Junior Theo Kolie also scored for the Regals on an 11-yard run with 5:47 left in the second quarter.

Williamsburg coach Curt Ritchie had the difficult task of addressing his team after having come so close to winning a key road game.

“I thought our guys really buckled down this week and got tons better in a week,” Ritchie said. “And that’s all you can ask them to do. Just too many mistakes and a lot of plays by (Regina’s) part.”

Williamsburg    14   0   14    7  –  35

Regina               6    7     7   22  –  42

WIL – Kaden Wetjen 80 run (Kadince Kuesel kick)

ICR – Alex Wick 23 pass from Ashton Cook (kick failed)

WIL – Wetjen 64 run (Kuesel kick)

ICR – Theo Kolie 11 run (Michael Dunn kick)

ICR – Nick Hein 19 pass from Ashton Cook (Dunn kick)

WIL – Riley Holt 35 run (Kuesel kick)

WIL – Draven Williams 27 pass from Brody Wardenburg (Kuesel kick)

ICR – Wick 2 pass from Ashton Cook (pass failed)

WIL – Wetjen 4 run (Kuesel kick)

ICR – Dunn 24 FG

ICR – Levi Quinlan 5 run (kick blocked)

ICR – Wick 3 pass from Ashton Cook (Dunn kick)

                                               WIL                     ICR

First downs                                       14                           26

Rushes-yards                                 41-340                   42-263

Passing yards                                   73                          257

Fumbles-lost                                     5-1                         0-0

Penalties-yards                                 5-35                       2-20

Punts-avg                                        3-35.3                    4-32.8

Individual statistics

RUSHING – WIL: Kaden Wetjen 30-280, Riley Holt 4-44, Broday Wardenburg 4-4, Lucas Spratt 1-1. ICR: Levi Quinlan 22-186, Ashton Cook 15-47, Theo Kolie 5-18.

PASSING – WIL: Brody Wardenburg 5-10-73. ICR: Ashton Cook 23-42-257.

RECEIVING – WIL: Draven Williams 2-42, Egann Hinrichsen 1-23, Austin Burns 1-9, Kaden Wetjen 1-6. ICR: Alec Wick 15-145, Josh Dutchik 4-53, Nick Hein 1-19, Sam Aitchison 1-20.

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