Spencer/Columbus football jumps on Altoona early, rolls to eighth victory

ALTOONA – The Spencer/Columbus Catholic football team put the finishing touches on another great regular season with a 49-20 rout of Altoona in the Cloverbelt Conference and regular-season finale for both teams on Friday night at Altoona High School.

The Rockets ripped off five first-quarter touchdowns on the way to the huge victory. Spencer/Columbus finishes the regular season with an 8-1 record and a 7-1 mark in the Cloverbelt Conference, while Altoona ends its season with at 1-8 and 1-7 in the Cloverbelt.

Spencer/Columbus will be part of the Division 5 field in the upcoming WIAA playoffs, which begin next Friday, Oct. 19. The Rockets’ first-round opponent will be announced Saturday afternoon.

Austin Bacon had a 2-yard touchdown run just 41 seconds into the game, Jarred Mandel completed TD passes of 32 yards to Bacon and 5 yards to Hayden Bauman, and ran in a 16-yard touchdown, and Carson Hildebrandt added a 1-yard scoring plunge for the Rockets as they took complete control early.

Bacon and Bauman added touchdown runs later for Spencer/Columbus.

“”We were very balanced tonight,” SC coach Jason Gorst said. “We were able to stay healthy. I was proud of our effort, execution and composure.”

The Rockets racked up 416 total yards, 220 by Mandel through the air on just six completions, and another 196 on the ground.

Hildebrandt led the rushing attack with 69 yards on just five carries and Leo Rodriguez added 50 rushing yards for the Rockets.

Bacon caught three balls for 108 yards and Eden Jacobson had a 91-yard catch and run to provide SC with the bulk of their passing yards.

Rockets 49, Railroaders 20
Spencer/Columbus 35 7 7 0 – 49
Altoona 0 6 6 8 – 20
First Quarter
SC – Austin Bacon 2 run (Evan Dieringer kick), 11:19.
SC – Bacon 32 pass from Jarred Mandel (Dieringer kick), 10:36.
SC – Carson Hildebrandt 1 run (Dieringer kick), 7:01.
SC – Hayden Bauman 5 pass from Mandel (Dieringer kick), 3:03.
SC – Mandel 16 run (Dieringer kick), 1:09.
Second Quarter
SC – Bacon 12 run (Dieringer kick), 6:38.
A – Jayden Salsbury 30 pass from Nathan McMahon (kick failed), 0:06.
Third Quarter
SC – Bauman 19 run (Dieringer kick), 8:01.
A – Paxton Gluch 7 run (run failed), 0:05.
Fourth Quarter
A – Collin Stuve 25 pass from McMahon (Stuve run), 5:11.
Team Statistics
First downs: Spencer/Columbus 20; Altoona 18
Rushing (att-yards): SC 33-196; A 28-111.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): SC 6-12-220-0; A 9-18-121-3.
Total yards: SC 416; A 232.
Fumbles (total-lost): SC 2-2; A 1-1.
Penalties (no.-yards): SC 1-15; A 4-30.
Punting (no.-avg.): SC none; A 4-23.5.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: SC, Carson Hildebrandt 5-69, Leo Rodriguez 7-50, Hayden Bauman 3-26, Jarred Mandel 4-22, Austin Bacon 2-14, Tyson McDonald 3-14, Andres Rodriguez 3-2, Gage Stratman 2-0, Will Gorst 2-0, Brock Bennington 2-minus 1. A, Paxton Gluch 13-90, Collin Stuve 2-9, Jayden Salsbury 2-5, No. 1 (no name provided) 1-3, Bryan Tran 1-3, Nathan McMahon 9-1.
Passing: SC, Mandel 6-11-220-0, Stratman 0-1-0-0. A, McMahon 9-17-121-2, Salsbury 0-1-0-1.
Receiving: SC, Bacon 3-108, Eden Jacobson 1-91, Ethan Meece 1-16, Bauman 1-5. A, Salsbury 4-58, Reese Martin 2-30, Stuve 1-25, Gluch 1-25, No. 1 1-minus 17.
Interceptions (defense): SC, Bauman 2, Mandel.
Punting: A, Mark Evans 2-27.0, Gluch 2-20.0.
Records: Spencer/Columbus 8-1, 7-1 Cloverbelt Conference; Altoona 1-8, 1-7 Cloverbelt Conference.