FOOTBALL: Wilmot demolishes Delavan for first win

Wilmot quarterback A.J. Frisby, shown here earlier in the season, threw for more than 100 yards in the Panthers route of host Delavan-Darien (Earlene Frederick/The Report).

By Jason Arndt
Editor

Although Keiya Square captured his first career win as a football coach last Friday, when his Wilmot Union High School squad defeated his former school Delavan-Darien 35-7, he never took the milestone or the opponent under consideration.

What Square did take under consideration was the 14-13 loss to WIAA Division 1 state runner-up Franklin a week earlier, spending time reviewing film of the game and learning from mistakes, which were kept at a minimum against the Comets.

Against Delavan-Darien, the Panthers committed just one turnover, compared to four in the Franklin game.

“As coaches we thought we put our kids in some bad spots the first two games and that might have had something to do with the turnovers, we talked all week about minimizing mistakes and not turning it over,” Square said.

“I think the players and coaches did a good job of not being satisfied with just playing a close game with Franklin, and they wanted to get back at it, and start the conference schedule off with a win.”

Without satisfaction from the first two contests, the Panthers made an immediate statement, scoring 13 points in the first quarter followed by another 22 in the third.

Square attributes the team’s immediate statement to experience.

“Most of these guys have won a lot of games over the past couple years and know what needs to be done week in and week out,” Square said.

Norton opens the first
Junior Austin Norton, who had 14 carries for 85 yards, got the Panthers on the board with a 1-yard run.

A.J. Frisby followed up, finding senior Quintin Girardi for a 26-yard strike, giving the Panthers a 13-0 edge entering the second quarter.

Frisby, a senior, completed 5 of 10 pass attempts for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

As the Panthers jumped to an early lead, they continued applying defensive pressure, holding Delavan-Darien to 39 total yards rushing and another 107 yards in the air.

The defense, according to Square, had a mission to make the right decisions on the first attempt.

“As a unit we had six sacks and did a really good job of getting to the ball and not letting their athletes break tackles or make plays in space,” he said. “I think our defense is playing at a high level right now and if we can not put them in any bad spots, we feel we have a chance to play with anyone.”

Junior Gunner Peterson collected three of the Panthers’ six sacks and added 10 tackles.

After a scoreless second quarter, the Panthers entered the second half with similar intensity, widening the lead to 35-0 in the 22-point third quarter.

Norton strikes again
The Panthers scored on a 4-yard Norton run followed by an 7-yard touchdown by Robert Brent.

Brent, like the the rest of the team, had a difficult first two games before exploding for a season-high 137 yards rushing on 23 carries against Delavan-Darien.

The Wilmot senior running back, however, came down with an injury following his third quarter score.

Square plans to assess Brent’s injury throughout the week and then make a decision against Waterford.

Frisby added his second touchdown with an 18-yard pass to senior Anthony Poco. The lone score for Delavan-Darien came in the fourth quarter, where quarterback Dakota Williams connected with Logan Rios on a 48-yard touchdown, but was not enough to overcome the Panthers’ 35-0 lead.

The Panthers, who improved to 1-2 after the Friday’s SLC win, has Waterford on its agenda next week.

For Square, however, he plans to save the thoughts of his first career football coaching win for the future.

“Right now I am thinking about this team and what we need to do to beat Waterford,” he said. “I think when I look back some time down the road, it will be special that I was able to get my first win on a field that I played my high school games on.”


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