High school football: Passing game has taken Wrightstown offense to new level ahead of state title game

Posted by Admin November 19, 2024 Football

The Wrightstown football team has evolved since last year’s WIAA Division 5 state championship game appearance.

The Tigers have historically had a power run game that grinds opponents into submission. Following their 32-13 loss to La Crosse Aquinas in the title game last season, head coach Steve Klister felt the team needed to strengthen its passing game.

Enter assistant coach Matt Hintz, who Klister pointed to as having helped Tigers quarterback Trevor Vande Hey realize his potential.

Wrightstown (12-1) battles Stratford (13-0) in this year’s Division 5 title game at 4 p.m. Thursday at Camp Randall Stadium and Vande Hey, a University of Iowa baseball recruit, will be key in the team’s offensive game plan.

“I kind of handed off the offensive coordinator duties to a young guy, Matt Hintz, and he’s done a great job of diversifying our offense and looking at things with as far as being able to throw,” Klister said. “I felt last year that we were a bit limited in that state championship game and thought we had to change things up a little bit and he’s done a great job of getting Trevor to buy in and to be able to see things as far as throwing the ball a little better.”

The improvement has made an already potent Tigers offense that much more explosive. Vande Hey, who threw for 295 yards and a touchdown with six interceptions last season, has 1,429 yards on 82-for-134 passing with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions this season. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Vande Hey had three touchdown passes and 171 yards in a 47-16 victory over Northwestern in last week’s state semifinal and 128 yards and two scores in the team’s 21-20 quarterfinal victory over Kiel.

The rushing game is still there for the Tigers, with Vande Hey rushing for 725 yards on 95 attempts (7.6 average) and eight touchdowns. He had 134 yards rushing against Northwestern and 90 against Kiel.

“I’ve got to give most of the credit to the line. The line was doing fantastic,” Vande Hey said of the team’s performance against Northwestern. “They were finding me holes. They were giving me time to throw the ball. It was just amazing by them.”

Said Klister: “Trevor has really stepped up. He’s starting to make some reads running the ball as well as passing and diversifying our offense a little more.”

Senior running back/linebacker Aiden Humphreys leads the team with 194 carries for 1,378 yards and 24 scores. Bennett Theunis is the team’s leading receiver with 19 catches for 446 yards (23.5 average) and three touchdowns, with Jaeden Kittoe (24-383-3) and Kaden Colwell (18-272-4) also threats.

Stratford a formidable challenge for Wrightstown

Stratford won the Division 6 state title the past two seasons and was moved up a division by the WIAA’s performance factor. Stratford is making its 12th appearance and going for what would be a WIAA record 10th title.

The Tigers have a standout at quarterback with 5-10, 185-pound Jack Tubbs throwing for 2,330 yards and 25 touchdowns. He’s completing passes at a 78% clip (148-for-191). He’s also run for 640 yards and 12 scores.

Brooks Vanderhoof (107 rushes, 744 yards, 12 touchdowns) and Reid Miller (115-696-8) are threats in the run game with Jett Schoenherr (55 catches, 585 yards, six touchdowns) and Alec Chapel (24-556-8) the top receiving threats. Chapel averages 23.2 yards a reception.

Stratford’s plethora of athletes is difficult for teams to prepare for, according to Stratford coach Jason Tubbs.

“That was the plan coming in,” he said. “We knew the kids coming in this year were high-end track kids. We knew we had some athletes with some speed and strength. We wanted to make sure we got athletes the ball and we knew we had a lot of them coming in, so we knew that to make everybody happy was to spread the wealth.”

Humphreys leads Wrightstown in total tackles (106) at linebacker, including 12 for loss with two sacks and an interception. Defensive linemen Riley Feldkamp (48 tackles, 11 for loss, six sacks) and Josiah Coussons (35-9-6) are also key defenders to watch.

“It feels great to go back-to-back,” Humphreys said. “First time in school history. I’m excited. I’m ready to go camping again. It’s going to really feel great. It’s going to feel surreal and amazing, knowing we went all the way two years in a row, especially my senior year.”

Vande Hey agreed.

“There was a lot of unfinished business last year, I will say,” he said. “We knew we had to come back this year and we had to finish business this year. We want a gold ball. We don’t want to settle for silver again.”