High School Football: Toledo swats away Onalaska to claim C2BL East crown
'Playing Like Idiots' – Riverhawks remain undefeated with 32-0 win over Loggers
Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com
Prep Football / Report
TOLEDO — Toledo heard all the rumblings.
They weren’t tough enough. They were paper tigers. The Onalaska Loggers had their number.
Yes, the Riverhawks heard all of that. Then they internalized it. And then they made fools out of all their doubters with a 32-0 win over Onalaska, Friday, at Hippi Stadium in order to claim the Central 2B League (East) championship.
All that chatter didn’t just come out of thin air, of course. Toledo had been shutout in two straight seasons by those Loggers from Grtiville, USA. But the Riverhawks flipped that narrative on its head on Senior Night by handing Onalaska its first shutout in league play in nine years.
But the victory didn’t come out of nowhere, and it was by no means an upset. The Riverhawks are ranked No. 3 in the state, and have no held their opponents to fewer than 10 points in four straight games for the first time since 2018.
So what was the secret to that runaway victory? It’s really quite simple, especially if you don’t think about it. Just ask Toledo junior lineman Nico Acosta and he’ll confirm what the Toledo gang was focused on from the opening kick.
“Out-physical-ing them. Playing like idiots. Don’t think; just do,” Acosta said. “We had a set game plan to shut down everything and it worked like a charm.”
Toledo head coach Mike Christensen didn’t disagree with his biggest punisher in the trenches, declaring the performance as the Riverhawks’ best defensive effort of the season. However, he did phrase his assessment slightly different.
“They executed the game plan basically flawlessly,” Christensen said. “A couple of breakdowns, but not huge ones.”
— Highlights for both the Riverhawks and Loggers from Toledo’s 32-0 win over Onalaska to claim the C2BL East title, Friday, Oct. 24, at Hippi Stadium. / Video by Jesse Smith for Blast Zone Media —
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