Area Gridiron Teams Open Season With Wins

Cougars Cruise Past Bulldogs to Start 2022 Season
Coleman opened the season with a 44-8 win over Peshtigo on Thursday in what was a similar game to last year’s season opener.

Last year, Peshtigo was beaten 38-12 despite starting the game with a long touchdown drive and leading 6-0 after one quarter.

This year, the Bulldogs started with a drive that lasted nearly nine minutes and ended with a two-yard touchdown run by Kavin Kleikamp. After a two-point conversion, the Bulldogs led 8-0.

Less than 20 seconds later, Coleman flipped the script, however. Trent Mongin took the first play 61 yards to the house, then completed a pass for the two-point conversion.

That run by the first-year varsity quarterback kickstarted the team, Coleman coach Jeff Bronson said.

“Last year he had quite a year at halfback. He had a nice first run that helped us realize it was a game, and we do need to show up a little bit,” Bronson said.

The score sat at 8-8 for about six minutes, at which point Owen Kinziger scored on a two-yard touchdown run, set up by a 33-yard punt return to the Peshtigo 37 by Will Bieber three minutes earlier.

By halftime, Mongin had tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell VanDeWalle on a deflected pass and Coleman led 20-8.

Whatever flame of momentum Peshtigo tried to get going at the halftime break was stamped out instantly in the second half, as Bieber took the opening kickoff and bolted 77 yards to the end zone. After a two-point conversion, Coleman led 28-8.

Kinziger scored on a 65-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, then Dylan VanErmen added the final touches on the win with a 14-yard dash later in the quarter.
Kinziger ran 10 times for 110 yards and two scores. Mongin was 1-for-1 passing for 13 yards and a touchdown and 60 yards rushing on two carries in his first game under center for Coleman.

In total, Coleman ball carriers ran 27 times for 310 yards, an average of 11.5 yards per attempt.

“They’re our strength. It’s going to be hard, at times, to make sure they all stay engaged, because we have so many quality backs,” Bronson said.

Coleman was playing with a banged up offensive line. From last week’s scrimmage, Coleman had four different linemen starting in game one.

With backup fullback Braxton Darga stepping in at left guard and left tackle Peyton Halford shifting to center, the Cougars scraped together a pretty good line in a short amount of time.

“Those two helped solidify our line tonight, so kudos to them for being so selfless for the team,” Bronson said. “That helped, because our backs don’t need a lot of space, as explosive as they all are.”

On the Peshtigo side of things, Kleikamp ran 17 times for 91 yards and a touchdown. The Bulldogs didn’t have the depth, strength, or endurance to hang with the 2021 state runners up.
The Bulldogs have 26 underclassmen and limited substitutes at a number of positions.

“We ran out of gas, and we thought we had it, of course. They’re kids. We are woefully out of shape and we were woefully understaffed. We have 26 underclassmen and we have no subs,” Peshtigo coach Jeff Bayerl said. “We have no kids that are able to go in and fill a varsity role because they don’t weigh 140 pounds.”

While Bayerl can’t make his freshmen gain 20 pounds and grow six inches overnight and rise to the size of Coleman’s varsity football team, he’s hoping his team can improve its endurance in short order.

“Everybody that was going both ways was gassed, so tomorrow, we’re going to have cross country practice. We’re just going to run,” he said with a laugh.
Coleman hosts Bonduel on Thursday, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. Bonduel opened with a 39-14 win over Cuba City in week one.
Peshtigo goes to Oconto Falls, which lost 7-6 to Oconto in its opener, at 7 p.m. Friday.

Wolverines Scratch Out a Win Over Tigers to Start Season
Cashton Mertens and Stephan Allard played the heroes as Crivitz squeaked out a season-opening 28-27 win over Chilton on Thursday night.

With the game tied at 21 with 1:53 left to play in the fourth, Chilton’s Jared Gehl scored the go-ahead touchdown, but the Tigers failed to convert the two-pointer, with Seth Sellen and Sean Christiansen combining to stuff the run for a three-yard loss.

After the kickoff return, Crivitz needed 55 yards in less than two minutes to at least tie the game. The biggest play of the drive came with 1:04 to go, when Mertens tossed a 17-yard completion to Tegan Werner on 4th and 8.

That completion put the Wolverines at the Tigers’ 36, and the next play moved them even closer, with a Chilton unsportsmanlike conduct penalty placing the ball at the 17.

A 13-yard pass from Mertens to Christiansen advanced Crivitz to the Chilton four with 24 seconds to go. Two plays later, Mertens was in the end zone on a two-yard touchdown run, tying the game at 27.

There was still work to be done. Extra points are no certainty in high school football, but Allard, the Wolverines’ kicker, is as solid as they come in the area.

The 2021 Northwoods Conference first-team kicker put home 22 of 27 extra points last season, and he made the deciding kick on Thursday, putting Crivitz up 28-27 with just seconds to play. In the end, he was a perfect 4-for-4 on extra points.

Chilton’s final play made things close, as Zac Halbach caught a pass and took it 31 yards to the Wolverine 29, but the Crivitz defense was able to force him out of bounds to preserve the win.

Mertens ran 19 times for 67 yards and one touchdown and Dillan Gehm scored three times on the ground, taking 20 carries for 69 yards. Sean Christiansen was the most efficient Crivitz runner, going for 76 yards on six carries, and Werner ran six times for 64.

Mertens completed three of five passes for 66 yards. Werner caught two of them for 53 yards.

Sellen, who made a big play to stop the two-point conversion on Chilton’s final touchdown, also recovered a fumble.

Last year, Crivitz beat Chilton 8-6 in the first game of the season, with a 56-yard touchdown from Werner the team’s lone score.

“Going into this game, Chilton had a ton of returning seniors and we’re very senior-dominant, so we knew it was going to be a close game,” Crivitz coach Matt Bernier said. “Last year, we won 8-6, so there was a little bit more fireworks on the scoreboard, but we figured it would be a battle of seniors and a will to do it, and we had some seniors that stepped up when they needed to, so I was proud of those guys tonight.”

Crivitz led 21-13 after one half. The Wolverines let off a little bit in the second, allowing Chilton to score two straight touchdowns and take the lead, but the Wolverines refused to lose.

“That was one of our talks at halftime was just the will to win. We went in at half winning the game, so it was kind of our game to lose,” Bernier said. “We had to focus on that second half of doing what we’re doing, and guys just stepped up to the plate. We had some guys cramping, but the next guy stepped up. They pushed through it, and it was not pretty, but it was a beautiful finish.”

Blue Devils Edge Panthers For Hwy. 22 Bragging Rights
If Oconto and Oconto Falls have proven anything over the last two years, it’s that matchups between the two schools are going to be low-scoring, high-intensity defensive battles. On Friday, it was Oconto that came out ahead, 7-6.

Last season, Oconto Falls won 14-12, scoring a fourth-quarter touchdown with a two-point conversion to get the win. This season, the Blue Devils weren’t going to let that happen again.
Oconto scored two minutes into the second quarter on a 12-yard run by Kyle Bowman, then made the extra point to take a 7-0 lead.

With 1:32 left in the quarter, the Panthers’ Carter Hill punched in a six-yard touchdown run, but a two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful and the Blue Devils retained the lead.

“We worked on that extra point. Last year it cost us, this year it was the difference,” Oconto coach Dave Ruechel said.

Oconto’s defense held serve for the remainder of the game, and the game would finish 7-6.

Last year, the Blue Devils got a little worn down by the end of the game, allowing the Panthers to push forward and pick up the winning touchdown late in the game. This year was a completely different story.

“We don’t have the depth that they do, and last year that played a part at the end,” Ruechel said. “We worked hard this year to make sure at the end, we can make those plays, and they did.”

For the Panthers, five runners combined to carry the ball 38 times for 151 yards, an average of four yards per carry. Skylar Dalton’s nine carries for 55 yards was a team-high.

Hill was 2-8 passing for 39 yards and an interception.

It’s a big win for the Blue Devils in the Battle for Highway 22, a recently renewed rivalry game.
It’s a logical rivalry due to the close geographic location of the schools, and one that was important to players many years ago. Before 2021, the two teams hadn’t played in more than 20 years, however.

Ruechel said his team didn’t really know the significance of the matchup going into last year’s game, but they sure do now.

“Half my coaching staff, we played the Falls. We’re from Oconto, so we know what the rivalry is, and when they started this two years ago, they didn’t know how important this is,” Ruechel said. “After losing last year, that’s all these kids talked about. This was the game. I’m glad to see it back. We’re very competitive.”

Oconto will look to make it 2-0 on the season when it heads to Roncalli Friday night. The Jets held off Manitowoc Lutheran 26-20 in week one.

The Panthers, coming off a 2021 season where they started 5-0, will look to get back on track when they host Peshtigo on Friday. The Bulldogs were beaten comfortably by Coleman last week.

Marines Maul Red Devils 41-0 in Season Opener
Marinette got a dream start to the 2022 football season with a 41-0 road win over Green Bay East on Friday night.

The Marines piled on the points behind a balanced offensive attack while pitching a defensive shutout. Five different Marines attempted a pass and eight different players got a rushing attempt, with none recording more than eight.

Logan Paris made a big impact on the receiving end, catching a 25-yard touchdown from Chase MacGregor in the first quarter. A two-point conversion made it 8-0.

After MacGregor found the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown in the second quarter on his only carry of the game, Paris caught his second touchdown, this one from 46 yards out, on a ball from Ethan Doubek.

With those three touchdowns in the bag, Marinette led 22-0.

Leahland Bertrand ran five times for 38 yards, including an eight-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

Lyric Anthony was perhaps the most successful Marinette player statistically, rushing eight times for 67 yards and a touchdown and going 2-for-3 for 26 yards through the air.

He scored Marinette’s fifth touchdown, a 45-yard scamper in the fourth quarter, to make it 35-0. Braxton Polzin then scored on a 26-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 41-0, where it would finish.

Polzin ran twice for 39 yards and Duncan Jackson ran five times for 34 yards.

On the defensive side, Paris made seven total tackles and Landon Corwin made nine, also recording a sack and a fumble. Evan Berg had a sack.

Marinette will hope to keep its momentum going next week, when it faces Menominee for the annual M&M game, to be played Friday night at 7 p.m. in Marinette.

Menominee will be playing its season opener and its first game under new head coach Chad Brandt.

 

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