Wilmot extends rivalry win streak to six
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
With rattled nerves on both sides of a football rivalry, mistakes are bound to happen, but Wilmot Union High School came out ahead at Westosha Central Oct. 9, as the Falcons celebrated Homecoming.
The Panthers’ 35-9 victory extends their cross-county rivalry win streak to six games, with their last loss on Oct. 20, 2010, when they forfeited due to an ineligible player.
While the Falcons committed a handful of turnovers, Wilmot accrued 12 penalties for 142 yards.
According to Wilmot junior Robert Brent, who tallied a team-leading 163 yards on 22 carries, most of the penalties were false starts.
“For the most part, it was the false starts. I think we were a little over excited,” Brent said. “And there were mistakes we had to clean up on.”
While Panthers’ coach Erick Kaiser admits there were errors to clean up, he credited the Falcons’ defense for exposing some of the team’s flaws.
“There were a lot of mistakes, but I think Central played well, they forced some mistakes,” Kaiser said. “They are a pretty darn good team.”
In spite of the Panthers’ penalties, they were able to capitalize on an opening drive interception of Westosha Central senior quarterback Josiah McDermit, who finished with one completion for 60 yards and a touchdown.
Gerzel’s pick sparks Panthers
Following David Gerzel’s interception, the Panthers had possession on the Falcons’ 32-yard line, where they drew Westosha Central offsides to move the ball up to the 27.
From there, Panthers’ junior quarterback A.J. Frisby found David Faber for a 27-yard touchdown, giving Wilmot a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest.
Following a Falcons’ punt on the ensuing possession, Wilmot had the ball on its own 35-yard line and produced several runs to place the ball on the Falcons 1-yard line.
But, after a Panthers’ false start and defensive stop by Westosha Central senior Austin Kurylo, they were pushed to the 5-yard line.
On the next play, however, Brent scored on a 5-yard run to pull Wilmot ahead 14-0 with 6:11 left in the first.
The Panthers, who opened the second quarter with the ball, capped off the 21-0 first half with a Frisby 17-yard touchdown to sophomore Cullen Ketterhagen.
Frisby, who completed eight of 11 passes for 99 yards, bounced back from last week’s game, where he did not have any passing yards.
According to Kaiser, Frisby regained confidence in his passing game.
“He just trusted his throws, he just trusted his reads and made the plays when he had to,” Kaiser said.
Falcons fired up in second half
Entering the second half, the Falcons showed signs of rejuvenation, starting with a Kurylo blocked punt that resulted in a safety to diminish the Panthers’ lead to 21-2.
“I told them we got 24 minutes left on this field,” said Mengel, noting it’s the seniors’ last home game. “They came out to play.”
In addition to a renewed spirit, Central opted to play both quarterbacks at the same time, McDermit and sophomore Adam Simmons.
According to Falcons’ coach Tyson Mengel, the decision came after a McDermit injury earlier in the season, when they gave Simmons reps.
“When we were going into Delavan, we had Simmons take some reps to see how he is doing,” Mengel said.
Mengel acknowledged the decision was difficult, noting McDermit’s dedication toward the program, and states he is equally potent on the ground.
“Jo has been a rock for the program,” Mengel said. “He is a heck of a runner when we get going downhill.”
McDermit, in position as a runner, took a lateral from Simmons midway through the third quarter, when he launched a 60-yard touchdown to junior Nic Frederick.
The Panthers answered, however, with a Frisby 1-yard push in the closing seconds of the third quarter to build the Panthers’ lead to 28-9.
Wilmot added its last score on an 11-yard Zach Christopherson run with under three minutes left in regulation.
Simmons completed 7 of 17 passes for 57 yards and threw two interceptions.
The Panthers, who improved to 7-1 (5-1 Southern Lakes Conference), travel to Delavan-Darien Friday.
Meanwhile, Westosha Central, hosts Elkhorn, which holds the same SLC record at 0-6.
“I am hoping with Elkhorn, we put it all together,” Mengel said.
Since 2002, the Panthers are 12-3 against Westosha Central, which won two of three from 2005 to 2007.