Hampshire blanked by Winnebago

HAMPSHIRE – It's hard to score when you don't have the ball.

And Hampshire didn't have the ball very much Friday night. Visiting Winnebago held the ball for 65 offensive plays to the Whip-Purs' 33 as the Indians dominated the time of possession and ground out a 10-0 non-conference victory.

And Hampshire didn't have the ball very much Friday night. Visiting Winnebago held the ball for 65 offensive plays to the Whip-Purs' 33 as the Indians dominated the time of possession and ground out a 10-0 non-conference victory.

Hampshire (0-2) managed just 91 yards of total offense against Winnebago (2-0).

Hampshire (0-2) managed just 91 yards of total offense against Winnebago (2-0).

"Our offense was just not clicking tonight," said Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh. "(Winnebago) had a lot to do with that. They had some big boys up front who just beat us off the line of scrimmage."

Winnebago drove 80 yards on its first possession of the game to take a 7-0 lead with 6:10 left in the opening quarter. Seth Gustafson scored the touchdown on a 33-yard run. He went for 148 yards on 28 carries in the game.

The Indians drove deep into Hampshire territory three other times, but the Whip-Purs' defense was able to hold them to just a field goal in the third quarter.

"Our defense played their hearts out," said Cavanaugh. "We made some big strides from Week 1 (a 32-6 loss at St. Edward). Our heads were more in the game and we were much more physical."

The Whips' best scoring chance came in the third quarter as defensive lineman Ryan DeChant recovered a fumble at midfield. However, Hampshire could not capitalize as the offense went three and out.

"That hurt us," said Cavanaugh. "We needed to make something happen there and we couldn't. They came right back and held the ball for a while."

The Whips had the ball for just 10 offensive plays in the second half and failed to gain a first down. Winnebago, on the other hand, converted nine first downs.

"We can take a lot from this game," said Cavanaugh. "We knew coming into the season we had a lot of holes to fill. I think at this point we have everybody where we need them to be and we'll just try to move forward from here."

Mike Kuefner led Hampshire with 33 yards rushing on six carries. Ron Laramie had two receptions for 33 yards.

It marked the first time Hampshire had been shut out since a 27-0 defeat at Driscoll in the second round of the state playoffs in 2005.

Winnebago 10, Hampshire 0

Winnebago  7    0   3   0 -- 10
Hampshire   0    0   0   0  -- 0

W -- Gustafson 33 run (Posley kick), 6:10
W -- FG Posley 33, 0:45

Team Statistics   Winnebago          Hampshire

First downs                16                            5

Comp-Att-Int         8-14-0                    2-10-1

Passing yards             63                           33

Rushing Atts-Yards  51-238                   23-58

Total yards                301                           91

Fumbles-lost              1-1                           0-0

Penalties-Yards        5-45                         2-10

Individual Statistics

RUSHING

Winnebago: Gustafson 26-148, Sojka 14-71, Posley 7-21.

Hampshire: Laramie 6-7, Kuefner 6-33, Lundry 2-8, Sabate 3-6, Peralta 3-(minus 8), Kendrick 3-12.

PASSING

Winnebago: Sartorious 8-14-0-63.

Hampshire: Peralta 2-10-1-33.

RECEIVING

Winnebago: Gustafson 4-30, Thomas 3-26, Sojka 1-7.

Hampshire: Niccum  2-33.