Pass game too much for Wilmot

Wilmot senior Jake Raiman runs the ball in the open field against Watertown. The Panthers finished 8-2 overall this season and earned a home playoff game (Earlene Frederick/The Report).
Wilmot senior Jake Raiman runs the ball in the open field against Watertown. The Panthers finished 8-2 overall this season and earned a home playoff game (Earlene Frederick/The Report).

Panthers upset at home

By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer

Wilmot Union High School was not ready for Watertown’s prolific passing attack Oct. 21 at Bucci Field, where the Panthers hosted a WIAA Division 2 Level 1 regional contest.

Entering play, the seventh-seeded Goslings had accrued more than 3,000 yards passing, an attack they used to propel them to a 28-7 halftime lead and eventual upset of No. 2 Wilmot, 28-21.

Wilmot’s season ended with an 8-2 record.

“(The passing attack) was brutal, you saw exactly what it did to us,” said Panthers’ coach Erick Kaiser. “They were well coached and they executed well.”

Watertown, boasting a 5-4 record entering the game, used quarterbacks Dylan Fagerland and Colin Schultz to amass 312 total yards passing.

Fagerland, primarily a passing quarterback, completed 20 of 36 passes for 281 yards, three touchdowns, but threw two interceptions.

Schultz, however, had completed his lone pass of the contest for 31 yards, and accumulated 31 yards rushing on 11 carries with a touchdown.

Additionally, Schultz had seven catches for 145 yards, second to Ryan Hayden’s 169 yards on eight receptions.

While the Goslings’ passing game worked, Watertown coach Benji Kamrath commended the Panthers for not letting up.

“They have a really great team, first of all, they battled all game,” Kamrath said. “We were able to get our passing game and got some openings up top.”

In the opening drive, the Goslings balanced run and pass plays, capped off by a Schultz 3-yard touchdown run.

After the Panthers’ punted on the ensuing drive, Watertown took over on their own 22-yard line, where Fagerland threw his first of two interceptions to Wilmot’s Jacob Gerzal at midfield.

Wilmot junior quarterback A.J. Frisby, who completed nine of 26 passes for 158 yards, capitalized with a 48-yard strike to sophomore Kade Carlson to break the contest even with 6:04 left in the first quarter.

However, the Goslings broke the game open in the 21-point second quarter, when Watertown had three receiving touchdowns, Hayden for 5 yards, Schultz from 18 yards and capped off with a David Gilbert 4-yard catch.

But, the Panthers chipped away at the 28-7 deficit in the second half, starting with a Watertown fumble at their own 29-yard line.

After three run plays, including a junior Robert Brent 13-yard gain, Frisby capped off the drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak into the end zone.

Frisby finished with 71 yards rushing on 21 carries.

“We were generally pretty good with the run, and got back to running the ball in the second half,” Kaiser said.

Watertown was forced to punt in the ensuing possession, after the Panthers forced Fagerland into three incomplete passes, and an eventual turnover on downs with the ball at midfield.

Despite a promising drive, where the Panthers reached the red zone, the Panthers suffered a botched snap and later turned the ball over downs.

In the fourth quarter, the Panthers made a last ditch effort with less than two minutes in regulation, producing a two-minute drill that finished with an 18-yard Cullen Ketterhagen touchdown reception with 43 seconds left.

To Frisby’s credit, the drill came with no timeouts left.

“(Frisby) is a phenomenal player and I am ecstatic that he is only a junior,” Kaiser said.

However, the Panthers were unable to recover the inside kick, giving way to a Watertown win.

“They showed a lot of heart and character the way they battled back against us in the second half,” Kamrath said.

Meanwhile, for Wilmot, Kaiser took full accountability for the Panthers’ loss.

“We did not do our job to get stops when we needed to,” Kaiser said. “I take full credit for that game, we weren’t as prepared as we should have been and that is on me.”

Writer’s note: In the print edition of the Westosha Report, it incorrectly stated the Panthers ended their season 7-3, but the team instead concluded with an 8-2 record.


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