Scoring four first-half touchdowns put International Falls’ football team well on its way to avenging an early-season loss and winning Tuesday’s Section 7AAA quarterfinal game against Virginia, 35-8, on a damp night at Sports Stadium.
“The guys fired out with a lot of heart,” said Broncos head coach Jay Boyle. “We got the job taken care of pretty well on defense not giving up a touchdown until the fourth quarter.
“I’m very proud of the guys. We took the first step that we wanted to take. Any 0-6 mentality is totally behind us. We’re out here to do the best that we can in the playoffs and show up to play every game.”
The No. 4-seeded Falls, which won its third consecutive game to improve to 3-6, advances to Saturday afternoon’s Section 7AAA semifinal at Proctor, the Section’s No. 1 seed. Virginia, which received the Section’s No. 5 seed with its only regular season victory coming against the Broncos, ended the year 1-8 overall.
The Falls got on the scoreboard just over 2 minutes after receiving the opening kickoff when quarterback Gunnar Anderson connected with sophomore end Ben Humbert for a 47-yard touchdown pass. Running back Nick Janttie then tossed to Humbert for the 2-point conversion to extend the Broncos’ lead to 8-0.
“We tried to keep the ball on the ground as long as it was working, so we didn’t go to the pass too much, but when they’re keying on one player like they were keying on Nick, that’s how you get Ben open for that first passing touchdown that we had,” Boyle said.
Falls stayed on offense after the ensuing kickoff by recovering a squib kick on the Blue Devils’ 40-yard line. An 11-play drive capped off by Janttie’s 2-yard touchdown run gave the Broncos a 14-0 lead with 5:00 left in the opening quarter. This time Janttie’s toss on the 2-point conversion failed.
A defensive stop by the Falls led up to the team’s third touchdown of the game in the second quarter.
The Broncos forced Virginia to turn the ball over on downs on Falls’ 28-yard line after an incomplete pass. Janttie capped off the subsequent scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 4:28 left before halftime. A pass from Anderson to Humbert for the two-point conversion extended the lead to 22-0.
The Broncos’ final touchdown of the half came 21.5 seconds before intermission when Humbert hauled in a 35-yard scoring strike from Anderson. Falls led 28-0 at halftime after Anderson’s pass for the 2-point conversion failed.
Humbert, who hauled in two touchdown passes, hadn’t been in the lineup when the Broncos lost their regular season game, 32-26, in week two at Virginia.
The Blue Devils played Tuesday without their star quarterback, senior Cade Stackpool.
Janttie, who ran for 151 yards on 28 carries, recorded his third rushing touchdown of the game by running the ball into the end zone from 5 yards away with 2:37 left in the third quarter. Hope Dunn kicked the extra point to extend Falls’ lead to 35-0.
Virginia’s only touchdown came in the final quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Mitch Sella. The Blue Devils’ Kyle Maki completed the 2-point conversion to Cole Skadsem to cut Falls’ lead to 35-8, but that was the closest Virginia would come before time expired.
Boyle said the Broncos are looking forward on Saturday to playing Proctor, a team Falls hosted in week three and led by 12 points at halftime before losing, 19-12.
“We’re excited for the semifinal game. We think we can play them very well,” Boyle said. “We actually were short (without offensive ends) Ben (Humbert) and Luke Spilde for that (regular season) game, so we’re going have some more weapons that we didn’t have the first time around.
“But Proctor’s a good team. They’re a fast team. We’re really going to have to take care of our job on defense and make sure we’re getting where we have to be.”
Virginia 0 0 0 8 — 8
I. Falls 14 14 7 0 — 35
Scoring: IF: Ben Humbert, 47-yard pass from Gunnar Anderson (Nick Janttie pass to Humbert); IF: Janttie, 2-yard run (pass failed); IF: Janttie, 1-yard run (Anderson pass to Humbert); IF: Humbert, 35-yard pass from Anderson (pass failed); IF: Janttie, 5-yard run (Hope Dunn kick); V: Mitch Sella, 3-yard run (Kyle Maki pass to Cole Skadsem).
Team statistics: IF: 248 yards rushing, 113 passing, 361 total. V: 186 yards rushing, 13 passing, 199 total.
Rushing: IF: Nick Janttie, 28-151, 3 TDs; Gunnar Anderson, 7-17; Jakob Ettestad, 12-47; Nehemiah Olson, 4-18; Cody Hallin, 1-7; Wes Gunnerson, 2-5; Lane Skallman, 2-4; Cole Miggins, 1-1; Wyatt Helgeson, 1-0; Clay Tomczak, 1- (-2).
Passing: IF: Anderson, 4-6, 113 yards, 2 TDs.
Receiving: IF: Ben Humbert, 3-108, 2 TDs; Janttie, 1-5.
