Football: Wausau West scores last second touchdown to rally past Rice Lake to stay unbeaten.

For about five seconds nobody at Thom Field knew if Wausau West or Rice Lake had won their non-conference match up. With :12 left in the game and trailing 21-20, Wausau West had the ball inches from the goal line but had no timeouts. Foregoing a field goal attempt, the Warriors had quarterback Jackson Riley attempt a sneak. For about five seconds both linesmen looked and then discussed whether or not Riley broke the plane of the goal line as the clock ticked down to :00. Finally, the arms went up and the Warriors celebrated a 28-21 victory.

The Riley sneak culminated a 65 yard scoring drive that started with 1:30 left in the game after Rice Lake had taken the 1 point lead on a 31 yard touchdown pass from Ben Vandevoort to Collin Hurtler on 4th and 5. There were six lead changes in a game that never saw more than a 6 point lead for either side.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Warriors (the Wausau West version) got on the board first when Miles Waldvogel ran it in from 4 yards out with 11:09 to go in the 2nd quarter. However, the extra point was blocked and it was 6-0. Rice Lake responded immediately and took the lead on a 5 yard run by Vandevoort plus a two-point conversion to lead 8-6 with 6:56 remaining in the half. The Warriors (Rice Lake version) gave West a chance to get the lead back late in the 2nd quarter when they fumbled and it was recovered by West DL Cam Tipple at their own 45. West was able to convert the opportunity as Riley hit Waldvogel on a 4 yard touchdown connection with :25 left in the half to lead 12-8 after a missed two-point conversion.

The 2nd half turned out to be very exciting and very odd. The odd aspect was the Wausau West offense would not have their first snap of the half until past the midway point of the fourth quarter. Menomonie would take the 3rd quarter kickoff and possess the ball for 8:55 before Carter Kennen would score from 5 yards out to regain the lead for Rice Lake at 14-12 with 3:05 left in the third quarter.

The Wausau West offense would not get a chance with the football because Taeden Moua would take them ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown, with a 2 point conversion putting the Warriors up 20-14. However, the Rice Lake offense went right back to work with another drive that would last more than 9 minutes off the clock. This time, though, Rice Lake was unable to finish the drive as they were stopped on downs inside the Wausau West 10 with just under 5 1/2 minutes left in the game.

After a Wausau West punt, Rice Lake was able to drive the ball 54 yards to the touchdown that put them back ahead 21-20 on the Hutzler reception with 1:30 to go. Big plays on the Wausau West winning drive included a 27 yard reception by Marcus Koenigs and 19 yard connection to Miles Waldvogel.

Wausau West will take a 2-0 record into their Wisconsin Valley Conference opener Friday night at D.C. Everest. Catch that game live on Wausau Area Sports starting with the pregame at 6:30 pm and kickoff at 7.