Hutchinson closed the home portion of its regular-season schedule with an impressive 40-7 win over Delano Friday.
Hutchinson, 6-1 overall, currently stands second to Becker in the North Central White Conference, while Delano fell to 3-4 overall.
Delano took a surprising lead when a “bubble-screen” pass from quarterback Cade Bruett to receiver Cole Schmidt went for 73 yards and a touchdown on the visitor’s first possession. Caden Connor kicked the extra point and Delano led 7-0.
Hutchinson responded with a five-yard touchdown run by Levi Teetzel in the first quarter, then three consecutive touchdowns by senior fullback A.J. Ladwig in the second. Ladwig dove in twice from five yards and once from one yard. Teetzel tacked on two-point conversions after Ladwig’s last two TDs, and suddenly Delano was on the ropes, trailing 28-7 at halftime.
“It’s amazing, you know, seeing all of those fans there, knowing that it’s our last guaranteed home game of the season, it just means a lot,” Ladwig said. “You know, you work so hard to get that moment and it comes? That’s awesome.”
In the third quarter, senior linebacker Alex Elliott got a great jump on a pass Delano’s Bruett likely wished he could have back. Elliott picked it off and rumbled down the home sideline 46 yards into the end zone for a defensive touchdown.
“We had three interceptions, (Elliott, senior cornerback M.J. Flores) a fumble recovery, and shut ’em down the rest of the game,” coach Andy Rostberg said. “We’re very proud of our defense.”
Ladwig capped Hutchinson’s scoring and his own big offensive night with his fourth touchdown, a run off right tackle that he rambled 59 yards for, in the fourth quarter.
Hutchinson’s dominance is easy to see in statistics, where the Tigers have outgained opponents an average of 304-66 on the ground and 327-59 in total yards.
Hutchinson closes the regular season at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the road at Chisago Lakes, 2-5 overall.
“We got some key players back, now healthy,” Rostberg said. “It’s nice to be a little bit closer to full strength out there. It’s a short turnaround, for Wednesday, and then we’ll find out how the section will be like on Thursday.”
Rostberg said junior receiver Charlie Renner, still isn’t feeling 100% after a leg injury earlier in the season, but is playing and contributing well.
“We got (junior guard) Bennett Neppl back and (senior tackle) Logan Hoppe back. Hopefully, we can get (senior) Dane Thovson back.”
