(Audubon, IA) – The Wheelers march further into the playoffs after their win last week over Boyer Valley as they came out on top 30-6. Audubon was able to add on the score early as they didn’t even score late in the game, but the defense held strong while the early momentum of the offense pushed them further to being one of the top teams in the state as they now enter the round of 16 in the playoffs.
Audubon has seen the defense step up as they gave up no points against Boyer Valley as the only touchdown scored by the Bulldogs was on a special teams play. Austin Christensen had one of the biggest impacts on defense last week with 15 total tackles and had half a tackle for loss. The sophomore has started to take a leadership role and jump into the holes by taking advantage of every opportunity. Audubon’s secondary has also been stepping up on every play as Ezekiel Konkler and Jack Stanerson played very well deep and didn’t allow Boyer Valley to march downfield and kept them in tight coverage.
Jumping into the game underneath the lights this week, Audubon is taking on Lenox a team that also only has one loss this season to Bedford. Lenox relies on their quarterback Gabe Funk who went 8-13 for 160 yards and four touchdowns. Lenox may not throw a lot, but when they do, it results in a big play. Funk also is good on his legs as he leads the team in rushing yards with 923 yards this season while Jordan Martin-England has rushed for 858 total yards. They may rely on these two for the offense, but there are multiple players on this Tigers team that come in and play some good football.
While Audubon didn’t score in the fourth quarter, the Wheelers were able to hold on for the win over Boyer Valley. Head coach Sean Birks doesn’t want to just rely on the early score but rather maintain their consistency and create holes to push through. He doesn’t want to see the same thing happen to them that occurred in their first game against CAM where they were forced to throw the ball. Audubon needs to keep up the blocking game and not play into Lenox’s hands.
Audubon takes on Lenox this Friday night in playoff action with a kickoff at 7:00 p.m. KSOM 96.5 will be live at Audubon with Zach Collins and Austin West on the call with a pregame show at 6:30 p.m. You can also find the audio stream of the broadcast right on our website at Western Iowa Today.
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