Caledonia storms past Pine Island and into postseason play

CALEDONIA — Caledonia's defense scored twice and limited Pine Island to just 15 yards of total offense in a dominant 40-0 defeat of the Panthers in a South District football game on Wednesday night.

It was the final game of the regular season for both teams.

Will Allen and Ben Stemper both had interception returns that found paydirt in the second half, scoring from 30 and 17 yards, respectively. At halftime, the Panthers' yardage total was minus-2.

Ethan Stendel set the tone on offense for the Warriors (6-2), rushing in a pair of touchdowns in the first half to give Caledonia a two-score lead at the break. He finished with a game high 102 rushing yards on 12 carries. Noah Schroeder and Hunter Frank also added rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter to put the game far out of reach.

Pine Island (6-2) ran 41 offensive plays. Just six of them gained more than two yards.

Section quarterfinals kick off on Tuesday.

P 0 0 0 0 — 0

C 7 7 7 19 — 40

First quarter

— Ethan Stendel 9 run (Stendel kick), 5:27.

Second quarter

— Stendel 14 run (Stendel kick), 11:09.

Third quarter

— Will Allen 30 interception return (Stendel kick), 6:49.

Fourth quarter

— Ben Stemper 17 interception return (kick failed), 11:29.

— Noah Schroeder 4 run (Charlie Mauss kick), 6:50.

— Hunter Frank 9 run (kick failed), 1:20.

Individual statistics

RUSHING: PI — Blake Schiltz 3-4, Nick Thein 9-3, Sorren Oberg 1-3, Gavin Twaddle 2-1, Jackson Hudson 1-0, Team 2-(minus 2), Mason Jasperson 2-(minus 4), Alexander Knox 2-(minus 7), Brandon Week 3-(minus 9); — Stendel 12-102, Stemper 9-52, Schroeder 6-47, Frank 5-40, Jack Schmitz 6-39, Fischer Wait 2-28, Allen 2-14, Team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING: PI — Knox 2-9-2-25, Week 0-7-1-0; — Stendel 8-17-0-99.