Prep football: West powers to 30-7 win over Memorial (with photos)
Julius Starlin knew what it felt like to put points on the scoreboard while playing fullback on the Madison West sophomore team last season.
So when Starlin had an opportunity to make a play on defense and go the distance against Madison Memorial in their Big Eight Conference and season-opening game Friday night, the 6-foot, 210-pound junior defensive end didn't have to be told what to do.
"I wasn't really looking at the yard-line. I was just looking for the touchdown," said Starlin after he picked up a Madison Memorial fumble in the third quarter and turned it into six points to help the Regents earn a 30-7 victory over the Spartans at Mansfield Stadium.
"I played fullback last year and made a lot of big runs, so the run didn't bother me. I've scored plenty of touchdowns -- just never on defense before."
Leighton Settle picked up where he left off a year ago when he rushed for 272 yards and three TDs against the Spartans on his way to earning All-Big Eight Conference first team honors as a sophomore. Settle was a workhorse for West Friday night, rushing 34 times for 209 yards and a pair of TDs.
Settle gave West a 7-0 lead with 7 minutes, 48 seconds left in the first quarter when he capped a 10-play, 76-yard drive with a 4-yard TD scamper around right end.
"Last year, he used to try to bounce everything outside. Now he just tries to get yards," West quarterback Sam Daly said of Settle, who is the son of UW running backs coach John Settle. "The coaches emphasize that this year. It's a pleasure to hand the ball off to him."
Meanwhile, the West defense was treating the Memorial offense rudely, holding the Spartans to minus-five yards in 15 plays in the first half. That included 12 carries for a minus-19 yards rushing.
"Defensively we were great. The guys were aggressive all night," West coach Greg Valaskey said of his defense, which held Memorial to minus-9 yards rushing in 26 carries all night and allowed just 102 yards of total offense.
"That was the plan coming in, to attack. The defense really put the game on their shoulders for us tonight."
Memorial caught a break when Chris Houden blocked a punt in the waning seconds of the first half and Jerome Scott picked up the ball and returned it to the Regents' 9-yard line with 2 seconds to play.
But defensive lineman Will Rothchild made a key stop when he sacked Memorial quarterback Nick Groves for a 10-yard loss as the first half clock expired.
Settle extended West's lead to 14-0 when he capped a 10-play, 53-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown burst up the middle on a fourth-and-four call with 5:08 left in the third quarter.
"Settle is an outstanding back. If you don't get 11 hats on him and make a sound tackle, he's going to hurt you," said Memorial coach Rick Saenz, who was making his head coaching debut. "He hurt us tonight."
However, on Memorial's ensuing possession, the Spartans quickly got back in the game when Groves connected with Quentin Badger with a short pass on the left sideline.
Badger, who qualified for the WIAA Division 1 track and field meet last spring in several sprint events, used his track speed to complete the 71-yard scoring play and pull West within 14-7.
It appeared that Memorial had firmly snatched the game's momentum away from West when Lechein Neblett, who also competes in track and field for the Spartans, pounced on a loose ball at midfield on the ensuing kickoff.
But on the next play, pressure from the Regents' defensive line caused a fumble on the exchange from Groves to tailback Ron Covington and Starlin picked up the loose ball and sprinted 47 yards for the game-clinching score.
"I'd like to say that was in the playbook and we planned that one, but no," Saenz later admitted of the apparent on-side kick. "Ace Davis just hit it and the kid turned to go back and it came off of him. We were fortunate to get it. We had momentum going our way, and on the next play we fumble and they score. That's the breaks."
Valaskey agreed.
"We got some pressure on the quarterback, and it looked like they recovered it. But it kicked back out like fumbles always do, and we made a play," he said. "We really needed that. We had so many opportunities that we didn't capitalize on. That got the energy back on our side.
"They had just gotten done making a big play on us and getting the momentum turned around. We got it back with that play. It was key for us."
Memorial couldn't muster any semblance of an offense the rest of the way, going three-and-out on its next four possessions.
Meanwhile, West tacked on two more scores when Rothchild sacked Groves for a safety with 2:58 to play. Seth Hatfield then took the free kick that followed 55 yards for a TD to wrap up the scoring.
"It's one of our biggest games of the year. It feels great to get them right away," Settle said of the win over Memorial that allowed West to retain possession of the coveted Burt Hable Traveling Clipboard award that has been presented to the winner of the annual game for the past 14 years.
"No better way to start your senior year," added West senior offensive lineman Steve Hoerning, who helped pave the way for 235 rushing yards for the Regents. "We played very well on defense, OK on offense, and we need to come to play next week."
Greg Dixon photo
8 total imagesview them here
Madison West's Trevor Sellers (left) and Will Rothchild (right) converge for a sack of Madison Memorial quarterback Nick Groves.
