Audubon spoils Senior Night, postseason berth for Baxter football

BAXTER — The Baxter football team’s Senior Night was spoiled by Audubon on Friday night.

The undefeated and fourth-ranked Wheelers also eliminated the Bolts from postseason consideration following a 50-26 road win in Class 8-man District 9 action.

Audubon used a fast start to grab an early advantage and never trailed in the victory. The Wheelers rushed for 289 yards in the game.

The Wheelers head to the postseason as the top seed from District 9. They’ll open at home against East Mills on Oct. 25 and the final playoff berth from the district goes to Collins-Maxwell, which finished one game ahead of the Bolts in the final standings.

Baxter (3-5, 2-4 in the district) trailed 30-6 at halftime and couldn’t recover. The season is over for the Bolts as they will not play an extra game in Week 9.

Perrin Sulzle finished with 111 passing yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions and rushed for 64 yards on 11 carries to lead the Baxter offense.

Eli Dee caught six passes for 46 yards and two scores, Cainan Travis caught four passes for 45 yards and Jack Anderson gained 43 yards on seven carries.

Cade Robinson gained 15 yards on his only catch and Aiden Johnson rushed one time for 10 yards and one touchdown. It was Johnson’s first career varsity touchdown.

Cael Wishman led the Bolts’ defense with a career-high 15 tackles, one sack and 6.5 tackles for loss. He also recovered a fumble.

Sulzle contributed eight tackles, Johnson tallied six tackles and two tackles for loss and Stadan Vansice added six tackles. Travis finished with 5.5 tackles, Anderson had three tackles and Skyler Stoll registered 2.5 tackles.

Carson Wessel led the Wheelers (8-0, 6-0) with 129 yards and one TD on 14 carries and 25 passing yards on five completions.

Aaron Olsen gained 107 yards and scored four TDs on 14 carries and Mason Kasperbauer grabbed eight passes for 63 yards and two scores.

Colin Hartl registered 8.5 tackles and Olsen picked off two passes.