The West Fork football team rallied to win their first playoff game in program history in thrilling upset fashion 25-23 in overtime over #10 (A) Nashua-Plainfield in a Class A first round matchup on Friday.
This was the Warhawks first IHSAA recognized playoff game since 2010. The Warhawks won a first round playoff game in 2020 but it was not recognized by the IHSAA as every team statewide qualified for the field.
West Fork led 8-7 after 12 minutes of play. Nashua-Plainfield scored 10 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 17-8 advantage into the half. Zander Hansen connected on a field goal in the third quarter to get the Warhawks within a touchdown at a 17-11 deficit heading to the fourth. The Warhawks tied things up at 17 with a receiving touchdown by Dax Suntken in fourth to force overtime.
The Warhawks possessed the ball first in overtime and took the lead with a pair of trick plays. The Warhawks scored the touchdown on a fullback pass by Suntken to Tyler Fessler in the endzone. The Warhawks converted the two-point conversion with the “Philly Special”, as Connor Swenson found Zander Hansen to take a 25-17 lead. The Huskies on their possession scored a touchdown to get within 25-23 deficit. The Warhawks defense stood its ground denying the two point conversion try to hang on for the win. Head Coach Dan Westhoff shares how the team responded to secure the comeback.
“It’s pretty surreal, just a wild game. We had to come back there in the second half and we really had to dig deep. It’s a good thing we got players with the resilience and the mental toughness that we do because it took all of it. We knew we weren’t out of it at halftime, but we were down two scores there. At halftime, we were down 17-8,” says Westhoff. “We knew we had to dig out of a hole. We pitched a shutout in the second half till we got to the overtime there. Our defense did a great job of keeping us in the game. Our offense got in rhythm there in the second half. A great, gritty win. We knew it was going to be extremely tough, a really hard fought game and that’s exactly what we got.”
The Warhawks produced 376 yards of offense (229 rushing and 147 passing). Suntken had 134 rushing yards, 103 receiving yards, and had a passing and receiving touchdown. Hansen had 140 passing yards and a touchdown. Fessler also found the endzone twice for the Warhawks.
West Fork (7-2) will travel to #2 (A) Saint Ansgar for a second round matchup on Friday, October 31. That game will air on 104.9 KLMJ.
