With a cloak of intrigue, it was the undisputed best 1A football program, Lena-Winslow, going on the road to face 4A state-ranked Rochelle. In a surprise ending to that mystery, the Panthers upset the Hubs, 20-7.

Or, was it an upset?

Rochelle was legitimately beaten at its own game – physicality. Behind 178 yards rushing on 35 carries by Aiden Wild, the Panthers put Rochelle in an early 12-0 hole and never allowed the Hubs back in the game.

“Wild was just a man out there,” Le-Win coach Ric Arand said. “After the debacle (38-14 loss to Stockton) last week, we wanted to come out here and be able to play with a larger school. I didn’t know what to expect or whether we had a chance of winning. In the end, our kids played outstanding.”

It was Wild putting his team in position for its first score by recovering a botched fourth down handoff on Rochelle’s first possession. Taking over on Rochelle’s 29-yard line, it was Wild crossing the goal line five plays later on a 1-yard score.

“We had a players meeting on Monday,” Wild said. “That (Stockton) loss really hurt us and was a bunch of motivation. It was next man up.”

Actually, it was next man for both teams. Le-Win lost quarterback Kasch Lessman and RB/LB Koby Kearns to injury in the Stockton game. Sprint star Alec Schlichting was also hampered and sat out the final three quarters of the Rochelle game, leaving Wild to carry to load.

Rochelle’s quarterback Van Gerber broke his collarbone last week and the Hubs were also missing its starting left guard and tackle.

“The story of the game was they were more physical than us and their backs ran harder,” Rochelle coach Kyle Kissack said. “I didn’t have our kids mentally, physically and emotionally ready to go against the culture that coach Arand and Le-Win has built up.”

Using rotating quarterbacks of defensive back Mark Green and sophomore Cohen Haedt, the Hubs (2-1) were stuffed on fourth down again on their next possession. Taking over at midfield, it soon became a 12-0 second-quarter lead for the Panthers (2-1) on a Wild touchdown off a 12-play drive.

“We’re very disciplined and do what the coaches tell us,” said Panther senior center Duncan Nevel, the smallest lineman at 195 pounds.

After Gannon Dunker hammered Rochelle star running back Dylan Manning for a 3-yard loss on Rochelle’s next offensive play, it was the 5-foot-7 Haedt finally giving his team some life with perfectly thrown 30-yard pass to 6-7 tight end Warren Schweitzer.

Manning, who had 95 yard rushing, burned the Panther defense for a 22-yard TD and the large home crowd who had been sitting in stunned silence finally had something to cheer about. Aaron Hernadez’s PAT made it 12-7 and it looked like the 4A power was roaring back to life.

Quickly, the Hub defense forced a 3-and-out and Rochelle took over with hopes to regaining the lead before halftime.

Le-Win, who in no way seemed intimidated by playing a much larger school on their home field, immediately shut down the vaunted Hubs ground game and got the ball back on a punt with 3 minutes left in the half.

Not content to nurse a 12-7 lead into second half, it was back-up quarterback Brendyn Smith lofting a 63-touchdown pass to Miles Mahon. Ashton Gerber ran in the PAT and it became 20-7.

“We were running the ball down their throat until their defense all went into the box and bit on the play,” Nevel said. “Then we hit Miles with the pass.”

Not a single Hub defender was within 15 yards of Mahon and the pass comfortably fell into his arms for the easy score.

“I didn’t even know that was the play called,” Arand said. “That was offensive coordinator Kyle Benson’s doing. Unlike Rochelle, we had nothing to lose and were able to play loose.”

With less than a minute left before halftime, Green had five straight completions to move Rochelle into the red zone before time ran out.

It was emblematic of Rochelle struggles to make the game close, as the pressure of big school losing to small school kept compounding as minutes ticked away.

On Rochelle’s first possession of the third quarter, Roman Villalobos rambled 16 yards. That was it, though, as Mahon stood up Manning shot of the marker on a third straight failed fourth down, a rare occurrence for a program well-honed on converting them.

“Miles came out of nowhere to stop Manning,” Arand said.

It was Mahon returning the compliment.

“Our coaches had us prepared and we knew what they were going to run,” Mahon said. “It took all 11 of us on defense.”

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Rochelle finally converted a fourth down, with Manning zig-zagging for 30 hard-earned yards. The drive stalled at the 4-yard line with Manning gang-tackled for no gain on fourth down and most of the large home crowd already gone.

Wild then ran roughshod over the Hubs to end the game and sending the home team looking for answers.

“This is real adversity we’re facing,” Kissack said. “If you fear that, you are destined for a hard go of it. We are going to find out what we are made of.”

It is highly unusual for Rochelle to lose the statistical rushing game, but that was the case with 187 net yards for the Panthers to 164 for the Hubs.