Badger outlasts Wilmot in double-OT thriller

Panthers' David Faber, shown here against Elkhorn, caught a touchdown that sent Friday's game against Badger to over time (Earlene Frederick/The Report).
Panthers’ David Faber, shown here against Elkhorn, caught a touchdown that sent Friday’s game against Badger to over time (Earlene Frederick/The Report).

By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer

In a clash of unbeaten Southern Lakes Conference opponents who possess similar offensive styles, Lake Geneva Badger High School coach Matt Hensler expected a challenge Friday against Wilmot Union High School.

But, he did not anticipate the battle of unbeatens (both teams 5-0) would extend beyond regulation.

Entering play, both squads exhibited similar rushing totals, with Badger accounting for 1,509 compared to Wilmot’s 1,405 yards.

On Friday, the Panthers accumulated 304 yards on the ground while Lake Geneva Badger produced 273.

Despite a slight edge in the running game, the Panthers could not maintain momentum entering overtime, where they lost 27-21 after two extra periods.

“We expected a heck of a battle, I don’t know if I had in mind that we were going to go into double overtime.” Hensler said. “We knew it was going to be a great ballgame.”

Frisby strikes first in OT
With a 14-14 deadlock after regulation, the Panthers struck first on a 5-yard run by junior quarterback A.J. Frisby, who accounted for 222 of the team’s 304 rushing yards.

The Badgers responded, however, when Patrick Watrous pounded through on a 6-yard score on the ensuing possession, sending it to a second overtime at 21-21.

Watrous had 97 yards rushing on 19 carries.

After the Badgers drove 22 yards in the next overtime, senior quarterback Mason DuMez capped off the drive with a three-yard score to make it 27-21 after a failed extra point.

DuMez finished with 126 rushing yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns.

With an opportunity to respond, and potentially seal the victory in the next possession, Wilmot marched 24 yards to the 1-yard line, where Frisby rolled to the right and was intercepted by senior John Bowen on an attempted shovel pass.

Hensler credited Frisby and the Panthers for testing them throughout the contest.

“They were trying to do the same thing we were trying to do,” Hensler stated. “Control the ball, pound the ball inside, and run the option.”

In the first half, the Panthers had an edge, including a first quarter scoring drive that lasted nearly six minutes and went 66 yards, capped off by a Frisby 3-yard score.

Momentum swing
But, according to DuMez, he sensed a shift in the game’s momentum with 23.4 seconds left in the second half, when he scrambled on 4th and 4 and found Ryan Sproul for a 37-yard touchdown.

“We just executed better and we gained momentum from the end of that first half,” said DuMez, who acknowledged they missed assignments in the first quarter.

“We were kind of beating ourselves, we were missing blocks, we weren’t running our stuff.”

Entering the second half, Badger capitalized when they found holes along the Panthers’ defensive front, DuMez said.

After the Panthers turned the ball over on downs three minutes into the third quarter, the Badgers took control, finishing a six-minute, 90-yard scoring drive with a 3-yard Dumez run.

“We found some creases and we found where we could hit them,” DuMez said.

Panthers turn to air game
With under five minutes left in regulation, the Panthers moved downfield, but stopped at the Badger 23-yard line, forcing a 4th and 11.

Noting urgency, Panthers’ coach Erick Kaiser was left with no option.

Frisby, who scrambled to his right, aired it to junior receiver David Faber for a 23-yard strike to knot it up at 14 apiece with 1:37 in the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t have much of a choice, we were down seven with about two minutes left,” Kaiser said. “We had to fling it out and those guys made a great play for us.”

However, Faber’s grab was not enough for the Panthers, who dropped to 5-1 (3-1 SLC) and a second-place tie with Delavan-Darien and Waterford.

The loss, Kaiser said, will not force them to change their game plans in the last three conference contests of the season.

“Nothing is going to change, our expectations stay high and they will continue to be where they are and will continue to get better and improve,” said Kaiser.

“The kids did a good job all night, they gave great effort, and that is all I am asking for.”

Meanwhile, for Hensler, the Badgers had to earn Friday’s win, which gave them sole possession of the top spot in the SLC.

“They are a tremendous program, I got a ton of respect for coach Kaiser over there,” Hensler said. “He really does do a good job with those guys.”


Posted

in

,

by

Tags: