Lena/STAA Slips Past Suring in 8-Man ShowdownIssue Date: November 5, 2020 There may have been only eight players on each side of the ball, but it was an old-school football game between Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas Academy and Suring on Friday.
Lena/STAA and Suring battled to a 14-12 finish, with Lena/STAA taking the narrow victory. In the end, a safety and four failed two-point conversions made all the difference.
Early in the first quarter, Sam Marquardt broke away for a 62-yard touchdown run to give Lena/STAA a 6-0 lead. There were no points for the remainder of the quarter, but in the second quarter, a high snap on a Suring punt went out of the back of the end zone to extend the lead to 8-0. Three minutes later, Logan Shallow scored on a three-yard run to make it 14-0 after Lena/STAA's second failed conversion of the game.
Suring scored just before the end of the first half with a four-yard run from Keegan Rattin, but they failed the two point conversion. Neither team would score for over 20 minutes before Suring's Gavin Fredenburgh broke a 61-yard run for a touchdown with 2:59 to play. That gave Suring a chance to tie, but the Eagles failed the two-point conversion to fall 14-12.
"We just didn't convert on our two-point plays, which you have to. That's the whole meaning of eight-man. When those points are available, you have to score them," Suring coach Mitch Taylor said.
Suring has only played three games, while Lena/STAA had played six. Taylor said it showed on Friday, though his team didn't quit.
On the other hand, Lena/STAA was undersized, coach Dale Lange said.
"We were outsized but we fought, we hung in there until the end and we had a couple of mistakes early in the beginning that we should've punched in and got scores but we didn't. It was a well-fought ball game, so take your hats off to Suring," Lange said. "It was an even match. When it's 14-12, it's a battle all the way through and I'm proud of our guys. It comes down to the safety. A bad snap went over their heads."
Bulldogs Battle But Fall to Blue Devils
Caleb Moe had himself quite a ballgame to lead the Oconto Blue Devils to a 30-12 win over the Peshtigo Bulldogs Friday night.
Moe ran the ball 16 times for 166 yards and three touchdowns and completed three of four passes for 43 yards. All in all, he accounted for just over 65% of Oconto's 322 total yards on the day.
The two teams went into the second quarter scoreless, but Moe broke the deadlock with a five-yard run in the second quarter. After a failed two-point conversion, Peshtigo was able to match with a two-yard run from Will Boettcher. A Bulldog failed two-pointer meant the teams went into the half all square.
In the second half, it was more of the Moe show. He scored a four-yard run in the third and ran the two-pointer in himself to take a lead in the third, and Oconto scored again by the end of the quarter to make it 22-6. Preston Rehwinkel caught a 25-yard pass from Boettcher to cut the lead to 22-12 in the fourth, but Moe sealed the deal with a six-yard run and another two-point conversion to make it 30-12.
"He's hard to bring down. Even though we knew he was keeping the ball most of the time, he still made it work," Peshtigo coach Jeff Bayerl said. The Bulldogs have eight players playing both ways, which also doesn't help.
"That kills you when you run out of gas at halftime. We hung in there as long as we could but tackling was an issue again," Bayerl said.
For Peshtigo, Boettcher ran 20 times for 53 yards and a score, throwing eight times and completing three for 40 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Darius Sechen ran 15 times for 66 yards for Peshtigo.
Peshtigo got some things going, but the Oconto defensive line was stout and "the outside just wasn't there," Bayerl said. "
For Oconto, Riley Anderson ran six times for 41 yards and Owen Hansen took four carries for 32 yards.
Coleman Comeback Falls Short Against Oshkosh Lourdes
The Coleman Cougars got their first real test of the season on Friday, facing Oshkosh Lourdes and falling 39-32 in a game where the Cougars just couldn't finish off a comeback.
The Cougars had 21 first downs to Lourdes' eight and 338 yards to Lourdes' 293, but huge plays paved the way for a Lourdes win.
The first big play came with six minutes to go in the first quarter, with a 77-yard touchdown pass giving Lourdes a 7-0 load. Coleman would cut into the lead early in the second quarter.
The big play of the drive came on a fourth-and-nine, with a 11-yard pass from Cayden Bintz to Tyler Blanchard keeping the drive moving deep in Lourdes territory. The drive ended with a three-yard touchdown pass from Bintz to Will Bieber.
With time dwindling in the half, it was Lourdes' turn to convert on fourth down, with four fourth-down conversions on a drive that ended in six to make it 13-7 going into the half.
In the third quarter, Lourdes scored on 42 and 19-yard touchdown passes from Josh Bauer to Preston Ruedinger to make it 26-6 with just over 18 minutes to go. Just when things started to look bleak, Coleman started to stage a comeback.
Bintz tossed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Bieber to make it 26-14 with a two-point conversion successful as well. Less than a minute later, a fumble recovery and 19-yard touchdown run by Peter Kuchta cut the lead to just one score, 26-20.
On Lourdes' next drive, a 40-yard pass helped them get less than five yards from the end zone and they came away with a score to make it 33-20 going into the fourth.
A 72-yard scoring drive that was set up by yet another Bintz pass to Bieber to the Lourdes one yard line leading to an Owen Kinziger touchdown run cutting the lead to seven again with 10 minutes to go. Kuchta recovered a Lourdes fumble on the Lourdes 28-yard-line to give Coleman a shot at the tie. Coleman scored on an Owen Kinziger two-yard touchdown to give themselves a shot, but they failed the two-point conversion to remain trailing.
Unfortunately the Cougars were done in by a couple more big plays down the stretch, including a 67-yard touchdown pass less than 30 seconds after Coleman cut the lead to one.
After an interception on the 18-yard line with less than two minutes to go, Lourdes ran out the clock with a first down to seal the game 39-32.
Coleman coach Jeff Bronson was happy with his team's output against a school that has had some really good teams in recent years, with a large squad and 16 seniors this year.
"We knew we were going to have a great game against them and we were hoping our kids would show up and answer the bell and they definitely did," he said, citing how happy he was to see his young team fight back and state a comeback.
Bintz finished 7-for-14 passing with a trio of touchdowns and two interceptions. Bieber caught four passes for 96 yards and Kinziger led the Cougars with 18 carries for 87 yards.
Lourdes finished with 271 yards passing on the day, throwing 17 times in the game.
That balance is something Coleman will hope to emulate with its team in the future. The Cougars are known for their ground game, but they did a bit of damage through the air Friday.
"We've seen teams try to be balanced, but we haven't quite seen any teams with their balance and their speed. They're very athletic and very skilled," Bronson said.
Wausaukee Dominates Gillett With Big First Half
The Wausaukee Ranger 8-man football team took a powerful 66-0 win over the hosting Gillett Tigers Friday night.
The win saw the Tigers get a massive amount of points over the first half. Starting in the first quarter Wausaukee's Corey Boesen ran in a four yard teedee jaunt followed by another score a short while later where he busted into the end zone form 35 yards out.
Boesen added a 20 yard scoring run and a 21 yard touchdown rush before wrapping up the first quarter scoring with a 10 yard pass reception touchdown. After Boesen's onslaught the Rangers led 36-0.
During the second quarter Kaden Stumbris broke into the end zone off a 35 yard sprint while Brody Hansen posted some points for the defense with an interception return for six points.
After the half Layne Rowley posted the third quarters first points off a 27 yard rush while also scoring the fourth quarters only teedee off a two yard goal line breaker.
Wausaukee posted 294 yards of total offense while Gillett was held to 91 yards on the night.
Through the air Wausaukee's Stumbris passed for 25 yards and one TD on a two of three showing while Gillett's Devin Waranka posted 15 yards off two of his nine passes. On the ground Gillett's Brandon DeBauch rushed for 67 yards off 13 carries while Wausaukee's Boesen got 116 yards and four TDs on seven carries. Stumbles posted 44 yards and one TD on two carries while Rowley had 27 yards and two TDs on four carries.
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