Wolverines Fall to Cardinals in Northwoods matchup

Coming off the highs of three straight wins that included a nail-biting win over rivals Coleman and a big win over conference foes Clintonville, the Crivitz Wolverines experienced the low of a 50-point Crandon outburst on Friday night.

The game was close early, with Crivitz leading 14-8 after the first quarter on the back of a short touchdown run by TJ Mueller and a kickoff return from Tegan Werner.

The second quarter saw the Cardinals swing the game back in their favor with a 10-yard touchdown run by Mason Mullins and a 34-yard score by Trent Palubicki.

Leading 22-14 at halftime, Palubicki and Mullins also scored the first two rushing touchdowns of the second half to extend the lead to 36-14. Werner kept the Wolverines alive with a touchdown just before the end of the third but Mullins scored his third and fourth touchdowns in the fourth to put the game to bed. Mullins ran 19 times for 161 yards and four scores.

As a team, the Cardinals ran 44 times for 273 yards and seven touchdowns.

“That’s what we try to do every week. We’re not built for spreading it around, throwing the ball all over, but this is something we control,” Crandon coach Dan Whitman said. “We know if we don’t make the mistakes, don’t put ourselves behind the chains, get off the ball, block hard, and keep getting three, four yards… it puts pressure on the other team when they know it takes us six, seven minutes.”

For Crivitz, Kaden Klaver ran eight times for 89 yards and completed three of eight passes for 49 yards, a touchdown to Werner, and an interception.

Werner ran five times for 28 yards and a touchdown and Mueller’s 13 carries went for 31 yards and a score.

“We both kind of have the same philosophy of keep the ball away from the other team, grind the clock, and put the ball in the zone. They did that well tonight. Hats off to them,” Crivitz coach Matt Bernier said.

After this result, Crivitz and Crandon are both 2-1 in the Northwoods Conference, with the Cardinals having lost to Clintonville in week three.

“Crivitz is a great team, they’re well-coached. I think this might have been a little bit of a surprise,” Whitman said. “We dropped one to Clintonville earlier this year. We had four turnovers, two of them inside the 15, that might’ve made some people say, ‘Oh, they must be a little down from last year.’ And we don’t have the big linemen we had last year, but I have kids that fight. They fight hard, they play with passion, they play for each other. The effort on this team all year has been amazing.”

Crivitz will look to regroup against Tomahawk (1-2 Northwoods Conference) on the road Friday.

“Crandon got after us tonight and we just have to respond as a team,” Bernier said.

Panthers drop Hatchets;
claim top spot in Northwoods

The Oconto Falls Panthers find themselves alone atop the Northwoods Conference following a 48-14 win over Tomahawk on Friday.

This was the Panthers’ first non-forfeit conference game, but they’re 3-0 after Menominee Indian and Northland Pines forfeits. Crivitz, Clintonville, and Crandon are all 2-1 in Northwoods action.

Oconto Falls scored the first 48 points of the game before Tomahawk scored a couple of late consolation touchdowns.

Cole Bozile set the tone early. His only carry went for a 16-yard score with 6:09 to play in the first quarter and he returned a punt for a 70-yard touchdown three minutes later.

Wyatt Laughrin ran for two touchdowns on five carries, which went for 70 yards. Isaiah Radart ran seven times for 55 yards and a touchdown, and Isaac Bramer ran three times for 34 yards and a score.

Alex Haines had 59 yards on five carries and caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Emerich Skarban, who was 6-7 passing for 97 yards and a score.

Haines and Brady Bursa both intercepted passes and Bursa’s four solo tackles led the team.

Oconto Falls will face a true test Friday night when the Panthers head to Coleman for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Last season, the Panthers were 2-0 in the Northwoods and 4-2 overall when they hosted Coleman on Sept. 23, but a 38-12 Cougar win put the Panthers on a spiral of four straight losses to end the regular season.

Menominee crushes Calumet 44-0;
lead WPCL Conference

Though four games, the Menominee Maroons have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 180-6 after dominating Calumet 44-0 in Western Peninsula Copper League play on Friday night.

Landan Bardowski ran 13 times for 121 yards and three touchdowns and returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown.

Trevor Theuerkauf ran eight times for 55 yards and a score. Theuerkauf also threw the ball 11 times, completing 10 of those passes for 119 yards and a touchdown pass to Nathan Komp.

Next up for Menominee is a road game at Houghton on Friday night. Houghton is 2-2. After 50- and 34-point losses in the first two weeks, they’ve beaten Hancock and Ishpeming Westwood by multiple scores.

Marines stopped by
big play Eagles

Marinette put up 332 offensive yards to Southern Door’s 341 on Friday, but the Marines were beaten 54-14 behind seven total touchdowns from Drew Daoust and Zack Lynch and a fumble return touchdown.

Daoust ran the ball eight times and scored on four of them, totaling 171 rushing yards. Lynch rushed 14 times for 83 yards and three touchdowns.

Marinette’s Lyric Anthony threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Evan Berg and Braxton Polzin had a 71-yard touchdown run.

Polzin ran five times in the game for 84 yards and that score. Leahland Bertrand ran 11 times for 56 yards.

The Eagles are 5-0 on the year and 3-0 in the Packerland Conference heading into a matchup with winless Peshtigo. Marinette (1-4 overall, 0-3 Packerland Conference) will look to right the ship at Bonduel on Friday (1-2 Packerland).

Blue Devils rally in second half
to beat Indians 32-20

Oconto outscored Mishicot 24-8 in the second half to defeat Mishicot on Friday night.

The Blue Devils scored first, but two Mishicot scores in the second quarter put them on top at the break, 12-8. Oconto scored three touchdowns and completed all three two-point conversions to pull away for a 32-20 win.

Dominic Caylor ran 16 times for 105 yards and three touchdowns and Kyle Bowman took 22 carries for 98 yards, scoring once.

Defensively, Jaymison Markham intercepted a pass and Ethan Wusterbarth forced a fumble and recorded a sack.

Wusterbarth had three catches for 25 yards and Bowman caught a 44-yard pass from quarterback Cooper Campshure.

Oconto (3-2 overall, 2-1 Packerland Conference) visits fellow 2-1 Packerland team Sturgeon Bay on the road Friday night.

Rangers Ripped by Vikings
air raid offense

Gibraltar quarterback Braden Kita and wide receiver Braden Sitte connected for a whopping 399 yards and six touchdowns through the air in a 53-22 win over Wausaukee on Friday night.

Kita completed 14 of 19 passes in the game for 461 yards, seven touchdowns, and one interception.

Of those 14 completions, 12 went to Sitte for 399 yards and a half dozen scores. Marshall Maltby grabbed a 33-yard touchdown as well.

“That number 10 is a good receiver,” Wausaukee coach Kurt Stumbris said of Sitte. “He’s fast, he’s good, and he catches every ball thrown to him.”

Wausaukee would score on its first drive and lead 8-0, but Gibraltar followed that up with 46 unanswered points, including a pick-six with 2:05 to play in the third.

“We pounded right down their throat on offense in the first series, then we come out and we give up a big play and then we’ve just got to battle back,” Stumbris said.

With the game out of reach, lineman Christian Deschane grabbed a receiving touchdown and Luke Smith scored a touchdown run for the Rangers.

The Vikings are 3-0 on the year and face Gillett (3-1) next week. Wausaukee dropped to 0-4 with Sevastopol on the road next. The Pioneers are also in search of their first triumph of the season.

Tigers rally falls short
in loss to Wolves

Trailing 40-8 against Algoma in the third quarter, Gillett scored 29 points late but wasn’t able to complete the improbable comeback, falling 54-37.

As he’s done to teams all season, the Wolves’ Grant Vandervest sliced up the Tiger defense all game, running 16 times for 170 yards and three touchdowns, throwing for a touchdown, and returning a fourth-quarter kick 95 yards for a touchdown.

Parker Liscka ran six times for 105 yards and caught a touchdown from Vandervest.

For Gillett, Jesse DeBauch completed 11 of 22 passes for three touchdowns and two interceptions and ran five times for 22 yards and two touchdowns.

Brandon DeBauch, Nathan Rowell, and Jed Herzog each gathered receiving touchdowns, with Brandon DeBauch’s 63 receiving yards and five receptions both leading the ranks. Jackson Pecha ran 15 times for 92 yards.

The loss was Gillett’s first of the young season (3-1), dropping them a game back of Lena, which leads the Peninsula Conference at 4-0. Gibraltar is also 3-0, and that’s who’s next for the Tigers.

The Vikings come to town for a 7 p.m. tilt on Friday coming off a 53-22 win over Wausaukee.

Badgers Battle but fall
to Lakers 28-8

Niagara’s closest football game of the season came Friday in a 28-8 defeat to White Lake.

The Badgers were carried again by Christian Hedmark, who led them with 93 yards rushing on 21 carries and led the defense with 10 solo tackles, five assisted tackles, and three sacks.

Mason Richtig was 2-11 passing for 55 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown strike to Wyatt Dunkes.

Dante Stachowicz had six solo tackles and an interception.

This was the Badgers’ best defensive performance of the season, with 28 points allowed a season-best, but they face stiff competition next week against 3-0 Florence.

Niagara hosts that one at 7 p.m. Friday.

Bulldogs Bounced
by Clippers 36-2

Sturgeon Bay held the Peshtigo offense scoreless Friday in a 36-2 win, with the Bulldogs’ only points coming on a Nathan Schoenebeck sack for a safety.

Peshtigo got 86 yards rushing on 14 carries by Lincoln Nemec and 33 on 17 from Adin Reiswitz. Peshtigo had 132 total yards of offense with no passing completions.

Carter Roeder’s seven tackles were a team-high for Peshtigo. One bright spot for the Bulldogs was the forcing of turnovers, with the safety and an interception each by Dathen Sechen and Zach Sherman.

The Bulldogs (0-5 overall, 0-3 Packerland Conference) will look to get things going with a home game Friday night, but it comes against the red-hot Southern Door Eagles.

Southern Door moved to 5-0 on the season with a 54-14 win over Marinette last week.

Titans run away from Eagles
with big night on the ground

Lena/Saint Thomas Aquinas Academy vs. Suring has been a battle in recent years, and that continued Friday with a 57-0 Titans victory.

The Titans led 44-0 at halftime, with touchdown runs of 54, 47, and 52 yards helping the cause.

Calvin Peters scored three rushing touchdowns in the first half and threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Colt Miller in the third quarter.

That was his only pass of the game. He ran nine times for 119 yards.

Tyler Shallow scored on touchdown runs of 47 and 52 yards, as his five carries went for 105 yards.

Cooper Demmith scored a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Trent Thomson ran 10 times for 59 yards for Suring and Trent VanDenElzen had 41 receiving yards.

The Eagles (0-4) will look to get in the win column Saturday at 1 p.m. when they face Oneida Nation/NEW Lutheran (3-1).

Lena/STAA is 4-0 and faces Algoma (2-1) at home on Friday night.

Cougars Collar Greyhounds
with big ground game 55-6

A roughly three-hour bus ride to Loyal meant Coleman’s football team didn’t get home until after 1 a.m. on Saturday, but a 55-6 win will have made the late night a little bit better.

The Cougars, playing their second straight non-conference game after a pair of Northwoods Conference games were canceled, put up 486 yards of offense and allowed only 97.

By halftime it was 34-6 and the second half went the way of Coleman as well, 21-0.

Brady Gross ran for 129 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown, Kolton Peters ran 11 times for 133 yards and two touchdowns, and Dylan VanErmen put up 54 yards rushing with a rushing touchdown and caught a 34-yard touchdown.

Garett Kriescher ran once and made it a good one, scampering 28 yards for a score.

Micah Kuchta got 60 yards rushing and scored a 51-yard touchdown run. He also tossed a touchdown pass to VanErmen.

The Cougars return to Northwoods Conference action this week, where they have one loss, against conference leaders Oconto Falls (3-0 in the Northwoods).

The Panthers and Cougars square off Friday at 7 p.m. in Coleman.