Maroons Pull Away From Marines in Annual M&M Tilt

The Chad Brandt era of Menominee football is underway with a signature win over Marinette in the 116th annual M&M game on Friday, with the Maroons thrashing Marinette 40-6.
Marinette started brightly. Just 54 seconds into the game, Marinette opened the scoring, taking a 6-0 lead.
The Marines used a big play on the first play of the game to get deep into Menominee territory and then put the ball in the end zone courtesy of a Nick Baldwin touchdown pass to Logan Paris.
“To start the game defensively, we had a guy go in the wrong gap and then a guy step in and not contain, so that big play opened things up for them early,” Brandt said. “Then they came out with some trickery. They definitely came out roaring, but I think we answered.”
The Maroons answered quickly. Trevor Theurkauf scored the first of his four total touchdowns, a rushing score, five minutes later, and a two-point conversion tied the game up. With 2:49 to go in the first quarter, a Kaeden Calcari punt return touchdown and a two-point conversion extended the lead to 16-6.
By halftime, the Maroons led 32-6. The second half was a lower scoring affair, but Menominee was in control.
By game’s end, Theurkauf had racked up 135 passing yards and three touchdowns on a 6-for-10 passing day, also running 13 times for 78 yards and a score.
“Turk’s leadership and poise, he brings a lot of energy. He’s throwing the ball, but he’d probably rather run it right at you,” Brandt said. “I think he showed a lot of stuff tonight with what he can do with his legs and his arm. He’s a great leader that way, but he’s very talented with the things he can do.”
Brandt also gave credit to his offensive line for opening things up for Theurkauf and Calcari, who ran 12 times for 87 yards.
“I’m very proud of our doggies up front. There’s no way Turk has time to throw and our guys have time to run if we’re not dominating the line of scrimmage,” he said.
Calcari caught a pass for a 28 yard touchdown. Kaden Starzynski had two catches for 63 yards and a score and Landan Bardowski scored a touchdown on one of his three catches for 44 yards.
Marinette’s Leahland Bertrand ran 14 times for 106 yards and Ethan Doubek took 15 carries for 79 yards. In total, Marinette put up 240 yards but couldn’t pull off enough scoring to equal Menominee.
Marinette (1-1) begins Packerland Conference play with a home game against Kewaunee on Friday night. Menominee (1-0) hosts Richmond-Burton Community on Friday.
Titans Off to Strong Start
With Win Over Eagles

The 2022 Lena/Saint Thomas Aquinas Academy football team is looking to carve out its own identity following the best season in the co-op’s history. That started with a 35-0 win over Suring on Thursday.
Last year’s Titans team made it to state, but lost quite a few players to graduation, especially a few key offensive standouts. Sam Marquardt is the main holdover in terms of offensive production, and he stepped up to the plate early in Thursday’s season opener.
He got the season off to a bang with a 76-yard kickoff return touchdown on the opening kickoff, then scored the two-point conversion to give his team an 8-0 lead.
The Lena/STAA offense would go a little bit cold, however, not scoring until there were less than two minutes left on the clock in the first half, when Marquardt ran the ball in from 12 yards out. He completed a pass for the two-point conversion, and the Titans took a 16-0 lead into halftime.
Marquardt threw a 32-yard touchdown to Sidney Sylvester in the third, and a pair of touchdown runs, one by Josh Kristof and the other by Max Peterson, sealed the deal.
The pass to Sylvester was Marquardt’s only completion and one of only two attempts. He ran 18 times for 83 yards and Max Peterson took eight attempts for 74 yards.
Lena/STAA ran the ball 49 times for 278 yards. Suring was held to 59 yards on 35 attempts and an 0-2 passing line.
“I’m really proud of the defense pitching a shutout,” Lena/STAA coach Dale Lange said. “Suring’s a good team. They came out hard and they fought well.”
Suring’s Trent Thomson and Seth Scrivens ran for 33 and 32 yards, respectively.
This game won’t count toward conference standings. The teams’ second matchup on Sept. 16 will go in the books as a conference game.
This was a good way for a young Suring team to see where it’s at. A lot of the Eagle players are playing football for the first time in a while, or ever, and they showed they could physically hang with a good football team in Lena/STAA.
“We’ve got a couple kids that haven’t played in a few years. We’ve got some kids that just came out and are contributing,” Suring coach Mitch Taylor said. “This was the perfect matchup. I’d rather have a matchup like this where you’ve got to go toe-to-toe with the previous year’s champion. They’re loaded and you took it to them. They ended up taking it into the fourth quarter to seal the deal. I was very impressed, but we’ve now got to work off that. We can’t just be excited and rest that we gave them a game.”
Suring takes on Gibraltar next week before a rivalry matchup with Gillett.
Lena/STAA faces Oneida Nation/NEW Lutheran. They’ll take a lot of positives from the 35-0 win, which was larger than last year’s 26-point margin of victory over Suring.
“Any time you win, you’ve got to feel like you’ve got good, positive things,” Lange said. “We see places we have to improve on. We’re not last year’s team, they’re gone. It’s just like every year; it’s a new team with a little difference with what we can do and where we can attack them.”
Panthers Rough Up
Inexperienced
Bulldogs 41-8

Peshtigo was beaten convincingly by a more physical, more experienced Oconto Falls team on Friday night, 41-8.
The Panthers ran all over Peshtigo, tallying over 400 yards of total offense. Alex Haines led the way, bulldozing his way to 166 yards and four touchdown on 24 carries.
Skylar Dalton ran 14 times for 71 yards and Thor Paneitz scored on his lone carry, a four-yard push in the fourth quarter.
Panther passer Carter Hill threw four times for 54 yards and a touchdown to Wyatt Laughrin. Braden Vandermoss caught two passes for 40 yards and intercepted a pass.
The lone spark for Peshtigo came toward the end of the first quarter, when sophomore Tristan Krejcarek picked up a kickoff on one hop and bolted through the middle of the Panther coverage, weaving his way for an 80-yard touchdown.
“He’s quick. Get him out in open spaces, and those are the plans for when we get to where we need to be,” Peshtigo coach Jeff Bayerl said.
The Bulldogs aren’t quite there yet. They were bullied by a bigger, stronger, and faster Oconto Falls line on Friday, finishing with 21 yards of total offense to the Panthers’ 400-plus.
“We were in proper positions, but not big enough to get the job done. We were in proper blocking positions, but they would just run right through it,” Bayerl said. “They were more experienced and they have more technique and stuff, but you can’t start freshmen against varsity players and expect any different than what we got, but the effort was there, and that’s all I care about.”
The Bulldogs go to Oconto on Friday night for their Packerland opener. Despite his team starting the season with a pair of big losses, everyone starts the conference slate 0-0, Bayerl emphasized.
“Right now, everybody’s 0-0, and I told the kids that. This was the warm-up,” Bayerl said. “Friday, everything starts, so let’s get after it. Let’s go down to their place, spank ‘em, and come back home with a win. Our goal is still in sight. We still can win the conference if we play, and that’s all it is.”
That’s a tough task against an Oconto team that sits at 2-0 after a narrow win over Oconto Falls and a 31-8 win over Roncalli on Friday. That game kicks off in Oconto at 7 p.m.
Oconto Falls faces Marshfield at 7 p.m. Friday. They were scheduled to play Menominee Indian but that game was cancelled. Marshfield is 0-2 after a 35-21 loss to Slinger last week.
Cougars Win Tough
Battle With Bears 21-15

It wasn’t as comfortable as the Cougars have grown used to, but Coleman beat Bonduel 21-15 for its second win of the season Thursday.
Bonduel took a first-quarter lead through a short Louis Hrabik touchdown run, but Dylan VanErmen answered later in the quarter to tie it up.
From there, Owen Kinziger helped Coleman take a two-score lead, punching in touchdowns of one and three yards in the second and third quarters.
The Cougars led 21-7 before Noah Weier launched a 44-yard touchdown pass to Gaven Vance to cut the lead to six with a two-point conversion.
Neither team would score in the fourth quarter, and Coleman escaped with a 21-15 win.
Kinziger ran 20 times for 99 yards and two touchdowns, Van Ermen’s eight carries went for 65 yards, Will Bieber ran six times for 56 yards, and Peter Kuchta ran nine times for 47 yards.
Bonduel’s Weier threw 23 times, completing nine for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Coleman (2-0) welcomes Northwoods rival Crivitz (1-1) to town for its conference opener this week.
Turnovers and Big
Plays Hurt Crivitz in
Loss to Shiocton

Turnovers and special teams proved to be the killers in the Crivitz Wolverines’ 46-13 loss to Shiocton on Friday night.
The Wolverines took the lead in the first quarter. After receiving the opening kickoff, Crivitz went on an eight-minute, 15-play drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown by Cashton Mertens.
That lead held until the middle of the second quarter, when things got a little bit wacky. With 8:03 to go before halftime, Mertens threw an interception on fourth and 24 from the Shiocton 27. The result was a touchback, so the interception really didn’t hurt the Wolverines.
On the next play, Shiocton quarterback Dawson Schmidt threw an interception of his own, which Sean Christiansen caught to put the Wolverines right back in pole position.
Just three plays later, the Wolverines would give it away on a fumble, and it took Shiocton less than two minutes to make them pay. Schmidt threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Cade Stingle and after an extra point, the Wolverines trailed 7-6.
Crivitz punted on its next possession, and Shiocton took the momentum into the halftime break with a touchdown scored 13 seconds before the intermission.
Any momentum that Crivitz had left was zapped when Stingle returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a Shiocton touchdown to extend the lead to 21-6 and the Wolverines fumbled on the second play of their opening drive.
Shiocton led 27-6 after Stingle’s third touchdown, but Crivitz kept fighting. A one-yard touchdown run by Dillan Gehm with 2:34 to go in the third quarter gave them a glimmer of hope.
The Wolverines were down 27-13 but back within two scores, but it didn’t last, with Stingle proving elusive on the ensuing kickoff and returning it 80 yards for a touchdown, his second of the day.
Two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter put the game to bed.
The Shiocton defense forced four fumbles and intercepted two passes.
Stingle caught four passes for 42 yards and two touchdowns and returned two kicks for touchdowns.
Crivitz ran the ball 52 times for 205 yards in the game. Gehm took 22 totes for 75 yards and a touchdown and Tegan Werner’s 10 carries went for 34 yards. Christiansen ran five times for 42 yards.
Kaden Spalding caught three passes for 59 yards.
The Wolverines (1-1) have a huge game coming up, as they head on the road to face reigning Northwoods Conference champions Coleman at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Coleman is 2-0 after a 22-15 win over Bonduel last week.
Blue Devils Burn Jets
31-8 for 2-0 Start

Oconto is 2-0 heading into the Packerland Conference slate after a 31-8 win over Roncalli on Friday.
The Blue Devils, coming off a dominant defensive display in a 7-6 win against Oconto Falls, played good defense once again, allowing just one touchdown in the third quarter.
That touchdown made things interesting, however. Oconto led 9-0 at halftime after a couple of exciting special teams plays.
The Blue Devils took the lead 6-0 in the second quarter when Davon Caylor scooped a blocked kick and returned it for a touchdown. Later in the quarter, Devon Bostwick nailed a 45-yard kick to push the lead to 9-0.
Roncalli cut the lead to just one point on a touchdown pass in the third, but from there it was all Oconto, with Kyle Bowman running for two touchdowns and Dominic Caylor adding the final touches in the fourth with a touchdown.
Bowman ran 20 times for 131 yards and two touchdowns and Dominic Caylor took six carries for 26 yards and a touchdown, also forcing a fumble. Alex Fuller intercepted a pass.
Oconto (2-0) hosts Peshtigo (0-2) to start Packerland Conference play. Kickoff is Friday at 7 p.m.
Badgers Beat
Bowler/Gresham
in Season Opene
r
Niagara beat Bowler/Gresham 38-18 to start the eight-man football season 1-0 on Friday night.
The Badgers’ Aiden Colenso ran 11 times for 151 yards and two touchdowns to lead the way offensively.
Bowler/Gresham had some success through the air, with quarterback Emmitt Kietlinski having a huge night. He was 18-26 passing for 161 yards and three touchdowns and also ran 15 times for 112 yards, but the rest of the team combined for just three rushing yards. On defense, he made an interception.
The Badgers head to Port Edwards for a 7 p.m. kickoff this Friday, where they’ll look to make it 2-0 on the year.
Port Edwards started the season with a 44-14 win over Goodman/Pembine on Saturday, which included a 30-0 lead after one quarter.
Tigers Win Overtime
Shootout With
Rangers 52-50

In a game that had seen two teams combine for 100 points already, Gillett and Wausaukee’s battle on Friday came down to one play for two final points.
The two teams entered overtime tied at 44. Wausaukee got the ball first, scoring on an 18-yard touchdown by Luke Smith, but the two-point conversion was unsuccessful.
Gillett got the ball back and punched it in for six courtesy of Colton Sturm, who scored from five yards out for his fourth touchdown of the day.
The Tigers then scored the two-point conversion to get the 52-50 win. They converted five of their seven two-point conversions on the day.
Sturm had a big day, running 13 times for 58 yards and four touchdowns. That included the overtime score and the game-tying touchdown with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, another five-yard score that needed a two-point conversion to keep the Tigers level with the Rangers.
It was Sturm that opened the game’s scoring with a one-yard touchdown less than three minutes into the first quarter, helping push Gillett to a 14-0 lead before the end of the period.
After both teams scored 22 in the second quarter, Wausaukee tightened up on defense and shut out the Tigers in the third quarter, giving the offense time to tie the game up with two touchdown passes by Smith, with the Ranger quarterback finding Connor Schroeder and Prestin Brunette for six.
Wausaukee took the lead on Smith’s third rushing touchdown of the game with 9:42 to play, but Sturm answered with four minutes to play, sending the game to overtime.
Smith had an impressive statistical line, as he ran 26 times for 170 yards and three touchdowns and completed 22 of 31 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns.
Schroeder caught seven passes for 101 yards and a touchdown, Brunette cuaght six for 67 and a score, and Layne Rowley caught six passes for 42 yards.
Gillett had its own success in the passing game. Jesse DeBauch was 19-31 for 379 yards and two touchdowns, with Aydin Franti and Ben Matczak on the receiving end of most of those passes.
Franti caught eight passes for 187 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Matczak also scored in the second quarter, putting the cherry on top of his eight-catch, 119-yard performance. He also intercepted a pass on defense.

 

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