WILLMAR — Willmar’s ground game was happy to bulldoze its way to the Section 2AAAA semifinals.
Led by a milestone night from junior Ramero Trevino, the third-seeded Cardinals out-rushed sixth-seeded Faribault 294-52 in a 28-12 victory Tuesday at Hodapp Field.
“Faribault’s a tough team; they’re physical and they get after it,” said Willmar head coach Jon Konold. “We attempted to hit some things and the execution wasn’t there in the passing game. We kept pounding away at it.
“In the fourth, we leaned on them a little bit and with how thin they are, we were able to wear them down in the fourth.”
Joe Brown / West Central Tribune
Willmar (6-3) takes on second-seeded Marshall (8-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center in Marshall. The Tigers had a first-round bye in the six-team section.
Rushing 38 times for 184 yards and three touchdowns, Trevino surpassed 1,000 rushing yards on the season. Coming into the game, he needed 162 yards to reach the mark.
Trevino is the seventh Cardinal to reach 1,000 yards, joining Doug Doering (1988; 1,306 yards), Drey Dirksen (2018; 1,261), Pete Stahnke (1982; 1,183), Grant Schow (2010; 1,123), Tom Hagert (1988; 1,034) and Alex Schramm (2020; 1,028).
Trevino put Willmar ahead 14-0 after a 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and a 2-yard TD run in the second. He also ran in an 8-yard score in the third quarter.
“Ramero’s really stepped up his game since week two and now we’ve added linebacker to his plate, too,” Konold said. “The kid is special. He’s been working hard and he’s a physical runner. … He’s really coming into his own. We’ll keep working him and hopefully he can continue to improve and be one of the leaders of our football team.”
Cullen Gregory also broke triple-digit rushing yards with 110 on 21 carries. He also threw for 45 yards.
Both of Faribault’s touchdowns came on touchdown passes from Beau Schrot to Johnny Frank from 23 and 44 yards out.
Joe Brown / West Central Tribune
The Cardinals’ defense forced three takeaways, including a 5-yard pick-six from Mattix Swanson with 47 seconds left to play. Swanson also had a team-high nine tackles (six solo).
Jaxxon Sjoberg had a fumble recovery and Cayden Heverly had an interception at the end of the game.
Willmar also tallied a pair of sacks from Daunte Castellano and Jonathan Ritz.
“I was really, really happy with our run defense,” Konold said. “I thought our D-line played really strong tonight and our linebackers tackled well. They did a couple things they didn’t show on film and the kids really adjusted to them.”
Tuesday’s win avenged a 35-28 loss the Cardinals took to the Falcons in the section semifinals last season.
Elsewhere in Section 2AAAA, fourth-seeded Jordan beat fifth-seeded St. Peter 17-16 on Tuesday. The Hubmen (6-3) face top-seeded Hutchinson (7-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday in Hutchinson.
Joe Brown / West Central Tribune
Faribault (2-7) 0 6 0 6 — 12
Willmar (6-3) 7 7 7 7 — 28
Scoring Plays
W – Ramero Trevino 5 run (Ezra May kick)
W – Trevino 2 run (May kick)
F – Johnny Frank 23 pass from Beau Schrot (pass failed)
W – Trevino 8 run (May kick)
F – Frank 44 pass from Schrot (pass failed)
W – Mattix Swanson 5 interception return (May kick)
Faribault
First downs: 8 … Penalties: 4-50 … Rushing (Individual and team): Braden Schulz 12-48, Isaac Yetzer 4-9, Beau Schrot 9-(-5). Total: 25-52 … Passing (Individual and team): Schrot 5-15-2 126 … Receiving: Johnny Frank 3-73, Schulz 1-35, Owen Nesburg 1-18 … Interceptions: none … Fumble recoveries: none … Tackles (solo-assist): Yetzer 5-11, Frank 8-2, Nesburg 3-6 … QB sacks: Schrot 1-1/2, Jimmy Welborn 1, Frank 1/2
Willmar
First downs: 20 … Penalties: 4-35 … Rushing (Individual and team): Ramero Trevino 38-184, Cullen Gregory 21-110. Total: 59-294 … Passing (Individual and team): Gregory 4-16-0 45 … Receiving: Trevino 1-15, Jacob Streed 1-6, Sam Raitz 2-24 … Interceptions: Mattix Swanson 1, Cayden Haverly 1 … Fumble recoveries: Jaxxon Sjoberg 1 … Tackles (solo-assist): Swanson 6-3, Marlon Fernandez-Munoz 3-3, Jacob Flannigan 3-2 … QB sacks: Daunte Castellano 1, Jonathan Ritz 1