Swifts fall to Wolverines, 78-67

The Nazareth Swifts fell to the Springlake-Earth Wolverines on Friday night, 78-67.

The Swifts dominated the first quarter scoring first on a Luke Betzen 21-yard pass from Luke Schulte, putting the Swifts up 6-0.

Nazareth again scored on a Betzen rush and extra points, widening the lead to 14-0.

The Wolverines got into action with a touchdown on a 48-yard pass and extra points, closing the gap to 14-8.

Swifts Kaden Cleavinger scored on a 26-yard pass from Betzen, with extra points from Betzen, 22-8.

The Wolverines came back with another touchdown on a 30-yard pass, 22-14.

The quarter ended following another score by Naz Betzen on a 1-yard rush and extra points by Trent Gerber, to close the period with a 30-14 Swifts lead.

The Wolverines got the second quarter underway with a touchdown on an 18-yard pass, to close the Swifts lead to 30-20.

Nazareth came back, scoring two touchdowns and extra points by Betzen on a 1-yard rush, 35-20.

Springlake answered with another touchdown, to close the first half with the Wolverines trailing 38- 26.

The third quarter saw both teams battling and scoring evenly. Touchdowns came from Betzen on a 1-yard rush, Trent Gerber on a 26-yard pass, and Kaden Cleavinger on an 8-yard pass, with PAT points by Betzen. The quarter ended with Nazareth maintaining a lead, 60-48.

The Wolverines came on strong in the fourth quarter, scoring four touchdowns, while holding Nazareth to two touchdowns by Cleavinger on a 3-yard rush and Brett Young on a 3-yard pass from Cleavinger. The Wolverines came out on top and claimed the victory, 78- 78.

The Swifts came through with 25 first downs, 38 rushes for 200 yards, and 13 of 28 passing attempts for 286 yards. They had three fumbles and four penalties (32 yards) and 37 tackles.

Passing leaders for the Swifts was Luke Betzen with 8-of-17 attempts for 172 yards, two touchdowns and one interception; and Luke Schulte with 6-of-12 attempts for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

Rushing leaders were Betzen with 30 rushes for 198 yards and four touchdowns; and Kaden Cleavinger with six rushes for 18 yards and one touchdown.

Top Swifts receivers were Betzen with three receptions for 88 yards and one touchdown; Cleavinger with three receptions for 87 yards; Trent Gerber with three for 54 yards; Chance Hockstein with one for 53 yards; and Brett Young with one for 4 yards.

Swifts defensive leaders were Betzen with 10 tackles and one interception; Chance Hockstein with seven tackles; Brett Heitschmidt with six tackles; Cleavinger with 5.5 tackles; Berber with five tackles; Luke Schulte with 1.5 tackles; and Bradyn Bullard and Owen Dyer with 1.0 tackles.

Current 1A District 2 standings (according to MaxPreps):

Springlake 5-3,3-0

Petersburg 6-4, 3-1

Nazareth 4-5, 1-2

Kress 4-5, 1-2

Lorenzo 0-7, 0-2

Remaining games in the district include Lorenzo @ Nazareth and Springlake @ Kress on Nov. 6.