LENA, Wis. — Florence stayed with undefeated Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas into the second half, but three special teams scores lifted the Titans to a 44-14 win in a WIAA 8-player tournament opener Friday.

“Take those three scores away, it’s a 20-14 game,” said Florence coach Kent Walstrom. “They didn’t throw the ball well on us.”

The Bobcats, minus two starting running backs, rode the arm of William Kelley for 145 passing yards. He completed 8 of 21 passes with no interceptions and added 40 rushing yards on 12 attempts.

Kelley, a sophomore, had both of Florence’s TDs on runs of four and three yards.

“We’re a young team and we took a lot of pride in qualifying for the playoffs again,” Walstrom said.

Florence senior Trent Watkins led the defense with 14 tackles. On offense, he collected four Kelley passes for 100 yards.

Other defensive leaders were Cole Sweig and Bryce Leffler, with seven tackles each, and Will Sipple, six tackles. Dustin Williams and Kelley each had an interception, along with five tackles apiece.

Williams caught three passes for 33 yards.

The Bobcats (5-4) surrendered a kickoff return for a touchdown and had a pair of punts blocked for TDs. Two onside kick recoveries by the Titans (9-0) were also in the mix.

Florence 0 8 0 6 — 14

Lena/STAA 24 0 14 6 — 44