Crivitz Defeats Coleman For 36-34 Upset Victory

For the first time since 2017, the Crivitz Wolverines have beaten Coleman on the gridiron with a 36-34 victory on Friday night.
Coleman scored on three of its four first-half possessions with drives of 61, 73, and 69 yards, and led 22-13 at the break. Crivitz scored a touchdown to half the deficit but Coleman got one right back on a Micah Kuchta touchdown just before the end of the third.
The first play of the fourth quarter was a Crivitz fourth and four at the Cougars’ 17, and it turned out to be a huge one, with Kaden Klaver finding Brody MacNeil for nine yards. Two plays later, Tegan Werner was in the end zone, and after a converted two-pointer, the game was tied.
Crivitz forced a Coleman punt with the help of a holding penalty and TJ Mueller raced for a 45-yard touchdown on the third play of the ensuing Wolverine drive. Klaver converted the two-point conversion, which would prove to be important when Coleman’s Victor Kostreva scored a touchdown with 3:36 to play but the Cougars failed the two-point conversion.
Another penalty killed the Cougars on the final drive of the game. On second and 25 with 3:08 to go, Crivitz ran for three yards to set up what would have been third and 22, but Coleman committed a personal foul for an automatic first down.
With a fresh set of downs, Mueller ran the ball three straight times to move the chains and seal the deal.
Mueller had a huge day, rushing 26 times for 175 yards and three touchdowns and making six solo tackles, tied with Reece Schad for a team-high.
“Last year he finished really strong defensively, and this year we knew he would have to put the team on his back and do a lot of the work offensively and defensively, and he stepped up to the plate,” Crivitz coach Matt Bernier said. “He’s had confidence, he’s doing the work, and he’s a tough player for us.”
Crivitz went for 449 yards of total offense in the game and when the dust had settled, the Wolverines had scored touchdowns on five of seven drives in the game, not including their final drive that ended in kneel downs.
Werner ran 11 times for 125 yards and two touchdowns and Klaver’s 10 carries went for 70 yards. Klaver completed four of five passes for 84 yards, including two to Jackson Flowers for 56 yards.
Bernier said Friday was “payday” for the Wolverines, saying, “Our rally cry all week was to play physical, match their intensity, and stay close so we had a chance at the end, and our guys bought into that this week, and we came out and got both sides of the ball going, and got big stops when we needed it.”
The Wolverines (2-1, 1-0 Northwoods Conference) will look to keep things rolling at Clintonville (1-2, 1-0) on Friday.
The penalty on the final Coleman drive and the holding penalty that forced a fourth-quarter punt were two of just three committed all game by the Cougars, but they were costly ones.
“They hopefully learned a lesson tonight, what happened when one team shows up ready to play and the other team doesn’t,” Coleman coach Jeff Bronson said. “Kudos to Crivitz, they were the much hungrier team, the much more disciplined team. From start to finish, they took it to us, and our kids didn’t respond. That’s the frustrating part.”
Coleman (2-1 overall, 0-1 Northwoods) was originally scheduled to play Menominee Indian on Friday, but with that game canceled, the Cougars will take on Bark River-Harris at home at 7 p.m.
Coleman has had as much football success as any local school in recent years, but Bronson said this team will have to carve its own path following the departure of so many key contributors.
“We’re not that team. We had a bunch of seniors that played a lot of football that graduated that hated to lose. When they needed to group together and find a way to win, they did,” he said. “Right now, with that vacant leadership, we have the potential to be a whole lot better than we were tonight, but we’ve got have someone step up on the field and be a leader like the group that just graduated.”
Brady Gross ran 19 times for 183 yards and two touchdowns and Kuchta ran six times for 58 yards and two scores. He completed his only pass, a 25-yarder to Kostreva for a touchdown.
Despite Friday’s heart-breaking loss, the Cougars have everything in front of them.
“We did a lot of good things tonight but the bad out-shadows all of them. The penalties were hurtful, the missed tackles, not playing to the whistle, those are things that are not typical of our team, which we need to fix,” Bronson said. “It’s early. If they want to fix it, they can fix it. It really comes down to what they want to do.”

Algoma
Narrowly Defeats
Wausaukee 46-44
Making five of six two-point conversions made all the difference as Algoma beat Wausaukee 46-44 in eight-man football action.
The Rangers made four of their six attempts, but those extra two points gave Algoma the win.
Wausaukee scored the first 22 points of the game with three touchdown passes by Luke Smith, one each to Connor Schroeder, Gavin Thomson, and Jeffery Dunlap.
Algoma would score on a 63-yard run from Grant Vandervest with less than 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter and both teams scored twice in the second quarter. Wausaukee led 36-24 at halftime.
Algoma cut the lead to one score with another big play to open the third quarter, this time a 56-yard touchdown by Vandervest.
The Wolves took the lead on a Vandervest 71-yard touchdown pass to Parker Lischka in the fourth.
After Smith took the lead back with a two-yard rushing touchdown with 5:35 to play, Vandervest found Tyler Challis for a touchdown with 26 seconds remaining to tie the game and the Wolves completed the two-point conversion to win it.
Vandervest had a massive game, completing six of 12 passes for 204 yards and four touchdowns and running 21 times for 214 yards and two scores. Lischka caught four passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
For Wausaukee, Smith ran 24 times for 238 yards and two touchdowns and Schroeder ran 14 times for 69 yards and a touchdown, also catching eight passes for 104 yards and a score.
Smith threw for three touchdowns, all in the first quarter, completing 11 of 17 passes for 140 yards.
Wausaukee dropped to 0-2 in Peninsula Conference action and faces Oneida Nation/GB NEW Lutheran on the road Friday at 7 p.m.

Big Fourth Quarter
Pushes Gillett
Past Sevastopol
Gillett leads the Peninsula Conference in scoring through two games after hanging 51 points in a big win over Sevastopol on Thursday.
The Tigers led just 28-24 going into the fourth quarter but scored 23 straight points in the final period to take a big lead.
Jackson Pecha’s two-yard touchdown with 11 minutes left in the fourth made it a two-score game and Lavonzell Smith returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown 85 seconds later to make it 44-24.
With the win all but secured, Jesse DeBauch threw his fourth touchdown of the game with 2:16 left in the game to make it 51 for the Tigers.
DeBauch was 19-30 for 360 yards and four touchdowns. Two went to Brandon DeBauch, who had nine receptions for 216 yards, and the other two went to Ben Matczak, who had eight grabs for 135 yards.
Jesse DeBauch also ran for a touchdown. Nathan Rowell ran five times for 62 yards and Pecha had 13 carries for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Smith had 18 total tackles to go with four sacks and his interception return touchdown.
Sevastopol had 379 yards of total offense but Gillett was able to limit scoring.
The Tigers are 2-0 on the season going into a matchup with 0-2 Suring on Friday. First kick is at 8 p.m. in Gillett.

Maroon Defense
Locks  Down Hancock
in 46-6 Win
Menominee held Hancock to fewer than 100 yards of total offense while putting up 465 in a big 46-6 win over the Bulldogs on Friday.
Trevor Theuerkauf ran for three touchdowns on seven carries, which went for 34 yards. Landan Bardowski ran 12 times for 117 yards, including two one-yard touchdowns and a 40-yard carry.
In addition to the offensive fireworks, Kaiden Bell returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown. He ran five times for 48 yards.
Theuerkauf passed for 119 yards on eight completions.
Hancock had only 86 yards on 41 offensive plays. Because of the new conference realignment in the Upper Peninsula, this was a conference game in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference (West-PAC) Copper Division.
Menominee (2-0) hosts Ishpeming Westwood on Friday at 6:30 p.m., another conference tilt. Westwood is 0-2 after multiple-score losses to Bark River-Harris and Calumet to begin the season.

Niagara Suffers
Blowout to
Port Edwards
Niagara fell 58-2 to Port Edwards on Thursday to drop to 0-2 on the eight-man football season.
Christian Hedmark was a bright spot for the Badgers, rushing 21 times for 117 yards and making seven solo tackles.
Mason Richtig blocked a punt that was recovered for a safety and the Badgers’ only points. He had three solo tackles.
Aiden Sweig had three carries for 29 yards rushing.
“We came out attempting to establish the run and not give up big plays,” Badgers coach Philip Towns said. “We were able to move the ball at times but we couldn’t stop their offense. Port Edwards’ size and speed was a lot to try and keep up with.”
He praised his team’s effort, which will hopefully carry over into next week’s matchup at Almond-Bancroft, 1-1 on the season after a 52-12 win over Laona/Wabeno last week.
“Our young men battled and never quit,” Towns said. “The players’ efforts will start to show on the scoreboard, of that I’m sure. The second half we got a lot of young players some valuable playing time.”

Panthers Fall in Fourth
Quarter to Grantsburg
Oconto Falls played Grantsburg tough but was defeated 36-20 on Thursday in a game that was a one-score game as late as the fourth quarter.
Grantsburg scored the first 12 points of the game. Emerich Skarban cut the lead in half in the second with a one-yard touchdown, but a 49-yard passing touchdown from Brock Matheny made it 18-6 at the break.
Once again, the Panthers cut the lead to one score with a 30-yard touchdown from Wyatt Laughrin and a two-point conversion, but Grantsburg took the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to the house and cashed in a 32-yard field goal before the end of the third, leading 14 at the final intermission.
The Panthers kept things close with a nine-yard touchdown from Alex Haines, but the Pirates pulled away once and for all with one more touchdown.
The Panthers had 200 yards of total offense. Laughrin ran nine times for 42 yards and a touchdown and Haines took 17 carries for 49 yards and a touchdown. Trent Blazek took eight carries for 53 yards.
The Panthers sit at 2-1 overall. Their original game against Menominee Indian was a forfeit, requiring the Grantsburg replacement.
Their game against Northland Pines on Friday was also canceled, so the Panthers will take on Auburndale at home at 7 p.m. Friday.
Auburndale is 3-0 on the year after wins over Milwaukee Hamilton, Big Foot, and Loyal.

Suring Falls to Gibraltar
in Narrow 35-32 Final
Gibraltar narrowly beat Suring, 35-32, in Peninsula Conference football action on Thursday.
Gibraltar led 21-14 at the half, but Suring scored the only six of the third quarter to cut the lead to one. Another touchdown gave Suring a 26-21 lead in the fourth.
It came down to who would score last and unfortunately for the Eagles, that was Gibraltar as the teams traded touchdowns the rest of the way.
Suring (0-2) faces Gillett (2-0) on Friday. That one will begin at 8 p.m. in Gillett.

Turnovers Propel
Lena/STAA
Past Oneida Nation
Lena/Saint Thomas Aquinas Academy forced six turnovers in a 34-6 conference win against Oneida Nation/NEW Lutheran on Thursday.
Caleb Duvall and Ty Shallow each had interceptions and the Titans recovered four fumbles.
Shallow ran for two touchdowns in the game, one a 19-yarder and the other for 43 yards.
Logan Graef ran for a 57-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and Calvin Peters had two touchdowns – one a 23-yard pass to Graef and the other a one-yard run.
Shallow ran nine times for 105 yards and two touchdowns and Peters ran 19 times for 121 yards and a touchdown. Graef had 94 total yards, with 71 on the ground on five carries and one 23-yard TD catch.
Peters completed four of 10 passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. Max Peterson caught three passes for 37 yards.
“We got our ground game going and started to get the passing game working,” Lena/STAA coach Dale Lange said. “We had a few too many penalties. Defense was strong again and that helped with field position.”
Lena/STAA is outscoring opponents 68-6 through two wins and takes on Sevastopol (0-2) at home next. Kickoff in Lena will be at 7 p.m.

Kewaunee Washes
Out Marinette 43-6
Kewaunee stormed past Marinette 43-6 on Friday behind five touchdowns from Owen Carlson.
Carlson had three rushing touchdowns of six yards or less in the second quarter and a 68-yarder in the third quarter that made it 28-6.
He also caught a 38-yard touchdown from Thomas Stangel in the fourth. He finished with 214 yards rushing on 22 attempts.
Marinette’s Lyric Anthony completed two of three passes for 83 yards and a touchdown, a 76-yard strike to Duncan Jackson.
That 76-yard play contributed about half of the Marines’ offense on the night.
Cooper Smith and Leahland Bertrand each ran for 23 yards.
Marinette (1-2 overall, 0-1 Packerland Conference) hosts Sturgeon Bay on Friday night.
The Clippers are also 1-2 on the year but have proven to have a stingy defense so far, allowing 20 points or fewer in every game this season.