Sparta football earns delayed win over Mauston

Coming off of a tough match up against a good Baldwin-Woodville team, the Spartan football team was looking to catch its first victory of the season in a week two match up against Mauston.

The game was held on Monday after weather conditions postponed the original Friday matchup. The Spartans held a 20-6 lead at the end of the first half and didn’t step off the gas, winning the home opener 39-14. 

Senior running back, Nick Kent, didn’t have the monster game week one like he is used to. Kent scored the first two touchdowns of the game. His first touchdown was a eight yard run late in the first quarter to give the Spartans a 7-0 lead and the only score of the quarter. His second touchdown came in the second quarter after Kent busted out for a 28 yard run for the second score of the game for the Spartans to extend the lead to 14. Running back Nick Kent finished the game with 13 carries, 113 rushing yards and three touchdowns. 

The next score for the Spartans was a interception returned to the house by junior defensive back Dain Pitsenberger. The junior defensive back picked off Mauston’s Spencer Lehman late in the second quarter for a 22 yard interception return. It was the Spartans second interception of the year and just one of two interceptions for the game. 

The second interception was grabbed by senior defensive back and wide receiver Chris Jacobs. The interception would be Jacob’s first of the year. With the defense adding two more interceptions to their season total and a season first defensive touchdown, the Spartan defense secondary now has three interceptions on the year in just two games! The defense has also not allowed more than 20 points in either of the first two games of the season. 

Another big performer for the Spartans was the first year starter and sophomore quarterback, Thomas Laufenberg, who recorded his first 200 yard passing game and first touchdown of his varsity career. Laufenberg’s only passing touchdown of the game came

in the middle of the third quarter when Laufenberg threw a 53 yard pass to junior wide receiver Carson Kelsey to increase the Spartan lead to 27-6. The 53 yard pass touchdown was the first touchdown of the second half for both teams. 

Quarterback Thomas Laufenberg finished the game with 12 completions on 15 pass attempts, 200 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Laufenberg also added 11 rushing attempts and 61 rushing yards. After a shaky first game where Laufenberg only got to pass the ball eight times and completed just two of those passes, the young quarterback seemed confident when the coach Adam Dow put the ball in his hands and he delivered for his team. Laufenberg’s performance should not go unnoticed. Even though he had a couple mishaps with two interceptions, he seemed to have taken in the coaching from last week and had his best game of his young varsity career. 

The Spartans scored 19 points in the second half and allowed just 8 more points to the Mauston offense. In a bounce-back game and a dominating performance from both sides of the ball, the Sparta football team grabbed its first first win of the 2021 season in dominating fashion. 

WEEK 3 PREVIEW

Conference play begins for the team this Friday as the Spartans will be welcoming the La Crosse Logan Rangers to Memorial Field for their second home game in a row.

Since Adam Dow took over as the head coach, the Spartans are 2-1 against the Rangers over the past 3 seasons. 

The Spartans hope to continue the winning streak with a Logan team that suffered a tough loss to Eau Claire North last week. North held a 14-0 lead late in the first half of the game and went on to claim a 20-14 victory to end a 51-game losing streak - the longest active losing streak in the state.

 Logan has seen most of its success on the ground as the Rangers have recorded 321 rushing yards in their first two games of the season. 

The Spartans will have to execute another dominating performance from both sides of the ball coming into its first game of conference play. No conference opponent is easy and  Friday’s MVC opener will go a long way in keeping early playoff dreams alive. Despite being a short week of preparation, Sparta is expected to put forth its best effort Friday.