Brent busts through for Panthers

Robert Brent, shown here against Kenosha Bradford last season, made a crucial grab for Wilmot Union last Friday against Delavan-Darien.
Robert Brent, shown here against Kenosha Bradford last season, made a crucial grab for Wilmot Union last Friday against Delavan-Darien.

Junior makes crucial grab to help Wilmot to victory

By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer

As the ball hung in the air, Robert Brent knew what had to get done for Wilmot Union High School against Delavan-Darien Oct. 14.

With under a minute left in regulation, and the Panthers down 12-10, junior quarterback A.J. Frisby rolled to his right at midfield on 4th and 22 and found Brent waiting in heavy coverage.

Brent, who had four catches for 111 yards, made the miraculous 45-yard catch and pushed through a series of Comet defenders to place the ball at the 2-yard line.

“Just had to slow down, focus on the ball, catch it, and make sure they didn’t knock it out of my hands,” Brent said.

Two plays later, Frisby finished off the Comets, punching it in for a 1-yard score to give the Panthers a 17-12 victory.

Frisby, who completed 10 of 20 passes for 205 yards, noted the Panthers needed to earn yards in the air after the Comets stopped the inside run.

“Our passing game stepped up for us the past two weeks and that helped us,” said Frisby, who had two touchdowns at Westosha Central last week. “It got us to where we were.”

Panthers’ coach Erik Kaiser credited not only the passing game, but the team’s offensive line for giving Frisby an opportunity to execute in the last drive.

“We had some good protection, and had some great receivers doing great things,” Kaiser said. “When Brent got his hands on it, that was all them.”

The Panthers’ Southern Lakes Conference victory comes in spite of trailing for most of the game, where they endured a handful of injuries.

After a senior Jeff Shoopman 34-yard field goal in the first quarter, pulling the Panthers ahead 3-0, Delavan-Darien bounced back with a 16-yard interception return by Eric Gonzalez to close out the opening quarter.

In the second quarter, the Comets widened its lead to 12-3, when quarterback Jake Benzing connected with Ben Ingersol on a 48-yard score.

Brent responded, however, with an 80-yard touchdown to reduce the Panthers deficit to 12-10 entering the second half.

Brent finished with 131 yards rushing on 15 carries.

Following a scoreless third, the Panthers stayed within two points until the closing seconds, when Frisby launched the 45-yard pass to Brent, followed by a Frisby 1-yard touchdown.

Kaiser commended his squad for staying focused, despite reports of injuries throughout the game.

“We were banged up, we had injuries all over the place,” Kaiser said. “We were playing five, six, position down and we weren’t going to let that be the excuse.”

“They never once wavered with what our goal was and what we are capable of,” he added.

With the win, the Panthers claimed sole possession of second-place in the SLC, where they produced a 6-1 record.

Delavan-Darien dropped to 5-4 (4-3 SLC) following the loss.

Panthers notch No. 2 seed
The following day, Wilmot drew a No. 2 seed in Division 2 regional, consisting of Waterford, Waunakee, DeForest, Waukesha West, Stoughton and Watertown.

The No. 2 seeded Wilmot, boasting an 8-1 overall record, hosts 5-4 Watertown Oct. 21.

The Goslings finished tied for second in the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference, where they compiled a 5-2 record.


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