Matt Coss

Your Prep Sports

WILTON – Regina has relied on air transportation to maneuver its way through most of the football season.

But faced with unfavorable weather conditions for the first time Friday night and a muddy grass field, the Regals had to change their mode of delivery.

Class 1A sixth-ranked Regina accumulated 232 rushing yards in the first half as it cruised past fifth-ranked and previously unbeaten Wilton 35-0 in a steady rain at Wilton High School.

“That’s the most well-oiled we’ve been all season,” Regina offensive and defensive lineman Jack Clark said. “The combination of energy, emotion and pure want, that was our best. This was a massive game for us and we really showed out.”

Regina, Wilton and West Branch tied for first place in District 5 at 4-1.

The Regals, however, have the best 17-point differential among the three teams and will be the top seed from the district going into next week’s playoffs.

Coach Jason Dumont’s squad will learn its first-round opponent Saturday for a game to be played next Friday night at Regal Field.

It was a stark contrast from the four-point setback to rival West Branch two weeks ago.

“The (West Branch loss) was tough, but we’ve accomplished everything we wanted to do right now,” Dumont said. “We wanted to come out district champs, get the top seed and get into the playoffs and see how it goes.

“If we can stay healthy, I think we can make a run.”

The Regals (7-1) overwhelmed the Beavers in all phases.

They scored touchdowns on five of their first six possessions, averaged 8.3 yards per rush in the opening half and limited Wilton (7-1) to 106 total yards.

The second half was a continuous clock because of the 35-point rule.

“These guys are a good team and had a good win against West Branch last week, so this was huge,” Clark said. “A lot of people were doubting us, but this team has worked together and I don’t think anybody had any doubts going into this game.

“Honestly, it was the biggest statement game I’ve been involved with in my entire career.”

Regina has the leading passer and receiver in 1A with Gentry Dumont and Jackson Naeve.

As a result, the Regals have averaged only 119 yards a game on the ground. They were held below 100 rushing yards in four of their last five outings.

The run game was needed Friday. And it thrived.

Led by Clark, John Devery, Matt Colony, Ian Udell, Drew Streb and Noah Clark in the trenches, Regina had Wilton’s defense — which came in yielding only 6.9 points per game — on its heels all night.

“Our biggest improvement from last year to this year has been our offensive and defensive lines,” Coach Dumont said. “That’s what you’re going to need to make a long run.

“I told the kids tonight, I’m putting it on the (offensive) line and they did a great job.”

Gentry Dumont, Naeve and William Aitchison reaped the benefits of Regina’s blocking.

Dumont had two rushing touchdowns and a 39-yard screen pass to Naeve for a score.

Naeve recorded a 46-yard scoring run out of the wildcat, and Aitchison plowed his way in for a 2-yard score.

“We were pretty dialed in,” said Gentry Dumont, who ran for 70 yards and completed 10 of 16 throws for 119 yards. “We didn’t let the rain affect us too much.”

“It feels like we finally pieced it all together in that first half,” Naeve noted. “To score on five of six (possessions) against that defense, everything was clicking. Guys were doing their jobs and we were playing great.”

The Regals admitted it was important to have that consistency with their ground attack going into the postseason.

“What I like now is you’re going to have to defend us all over the field,” Coach Dumont stated. “We came out tonight and ran a lot of (quarterback) stuff, something we haven’t done a lot because we’ve wanted to keep (Gentry Dumont) healthy.

“This time of the year, all the cards are on the table. We were holding those cards in our pocket. I thought that paid off with Gentry and Jackson running stuff at the quarterback position.”

Regina was just as dominant on defense.

The Beavers tallied only three first downs in the opening half and were never inside the Regals’ 40-yard line until the final possession of the game.

Wilton standout tailback Owen Hassell was limited to 36 yards on 14 carries.

“We really wanted to make him run sideline-to-sideline and not get downhill,” Coach Dumont said. “Other than a couple runs, I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”

In hindsight, the Regals were in agreement the loss to West Branch was the best thing for their season.

Naeve called it a wakeup call after the Regals faced minimal adversity in the first five games of the season.

It required Regina to refocus and address some concerns.

“We took it as the best thing that could have happened to us instead of making it the worst thing to happen to us,” Gentry Dumont said. “We took that loss, saw the mistakes, fixed them and flushed it down the toilet that Sunday.”

Now, the Regals are humming going into the playoffs.

“This is the most dangerous team we’ve had in the last couple of years,” Clark said. “I think we’re going to do some damage and make a good run.”

                                      ICR                 WIL

First downs                17                    6

Rushes-yards             37-228             26-72

Comp-Att-Int.           10-17-0           4-8-0

Passing yards             119                  34

Total yards                347                  106

Punts-avg.                  1-35.0              5-23.6

Fumbles-lost              0-0                   2-1

Penalties-yards         4-25                 0-0

Regina                        14        21        0          0  –  35

Wilton                         0          0          0          0  –   0

ICR – Gentry Dumont 9 run (Emiliano Herrera-Sinnwell kick)

ICR – Jackson Naeve 46 run (Herrera-Sinnwell kick)

ICR – William Aitchison 2 run (Herrera-Sinnwell kick)

ICR – Naeve 39 pass from Dumont (run failed)

ICR – Dumont 3 run (Naeve pass from Dumont)

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Regina: Jackson Naeve 6-84, Gentry Dumont 16-70, William Aitchison 11-66, Edwin Gangba 2-7, Savion Miller 1-1, Jack Clark 1-0. Wilton: Drew Keith 9-42, Owen Hassell 14-36, Hayden Hill 1-12, Jaxson Drayfahl 1-(-6), Team 1-(-12).

PASSING — Regina: Dumont 10-16-0, 119 yards; Colin Baker 0-1-0, 0 yards. Wilton: Keith 4-8-0, 34 yards.

RECEIVING — Regina: Naeve 3-56, Tate Wallace 2-28, Ty Joss 2-22, Aitchison 2-7, Alex Jensen 1-6. Wilton: Cade Souhrada 2-26, Kale McQuillen 1-6, Gatlin Rogers 1-2.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.