Newman’s unstoppable offense overwhelms the Pirates

NEWMAN CATHOLIC 48, GILMAN 14

A lot was going to have to go right Friday for the Gilman Pirates to pull off a huge upset. By the early moments of the second quarter it was apparent that wasn’t going to happen in a 48-14 loss to top-ranked and defending state champion Newman Catholic in a WIAA eight-player football quarterfinal.

In a game played at Merrill’s Jay Stadium, the Cardinals scored touchdowns on all six of their first-half possessions, turning the second half entirely into a running-clock situation. That’s a situation the Pirates are used to –– with the difference, of course, being that they tend to see it from the winning perspective. In fact, Gilman’s first 23 eight-player wins had come with a running clock until its first-round 52-42 win over Three Lakes-Phelps on Oct. 21.

Gilman finished the 2022 season at 7-3, while Newman is 10-0 and faces Siren Friday in Chippewa Falls in one state semifinal. Wabeno-Laona plays Belmont at Lomira in the other semifinal.

Obviously this one was not nearly as close as the 29-28 state semifinal Newman won over Gilman last November.

“They bring a lot to the table,” Gilman head coach Robin Rosemeyer said. “They are not weak at any position. They make you prepare for a lot on their offense. They did some things that we hadn’t seen on the four films we saw. We had to keep adjusting. Defensively they’re just physical. Their defensive line just kind of overwhelms you and they did the same thing last year and they have a few of those kids back. We had trouble blocking anybody.”

Newman quarterback Conner Krach had a huge night, running for 173 yards and five touchdowns on just 12 carries. He also completed all three of his passes for 80 yards and another touchdown and intercepted two passes defensively. Thomas Bates added 110 yards on 13 carries and scored once.

Gilman had just 176 total yards, including just 66 rushing.

“They’re not as good at offensively this year in the passing game,” Rosemeyer said of Gilman’s defensive approach to the game. “They lost their all-state receiver (Jacob Pfiffner) and the kid that was with him last year (Nathan Klement) was also pretty good. We knew stopping the run was going to be the biggest deal. We kind of loaded the box with an extra player, but it didn’t really matter. They were just able to do a few things to get to the edge. We lost some leverage on some things. They got wide with their speed and physicality. The ability to block on the edges is really important to what their offense does. Their split ends block well. Their slot guys block well. They all execute their offense really well.”

Krach ran for 25 yards on the first offensive play of Friday’s game and Bates ran for 23 on the second snap. Newman went 65 yards in five plays on that opening drive with Krach scoring from 19 yards out.

Krach got his first interception on Gilman’s third snap from scrimmage and Krach hit a wide-open Eli Gustafson for a 49-yard touchdown on the next play, putting Newman up 14-0 just 3:38 in.

The Pirates had a glimmer of hope thanks to an outstanding second offensive drive. On third and long, running back Troy Duellman made a nifty one-handed grab of a Grady Kroeplin pass along the left sideline and turned it into a 28-yard gain. Duellman caught another 11-yard pass to pick up another first down and Kroeplin hit Branden Ustianowski with a perfect pass down the left sideline for 23 more yards that put the ball at Newman’s 8. Duellman ran for 2 yards, then Kroeplin capped the 70-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run that made it a 14-6 game with 3:12 left in the first quarter.

“It was mostly passing on the drive, but we did get a couple of runs at the end to score,” Rosemeyer said. “It felt good to know that we could move the ball a little bit on them.”

Stopping the Cardinals, however, was another issue.

Newman overcame two penalties on its next drive to go 58 yards and punch it into the end zone on a 14-yard run by Krach two plays into the second quarter. A short punt resulted in a 45yard touchdown drive that ended with Krach’s 1-yard touchdown run that made it 28-6 with 6:55 still left in the half.

A special teams miscue with a dropped punt snap gave Newman the ball at the 8-yard line and the Cardinals quickly took advantage on a 2-yard run by Bates. Gilman then came up just short on fourth and three at its own 47 and Newman turned that into a 35-yard scoring run by Krach with 45 seconds left in the half, making it 42-6.

Krach capped a 51-yard scoring drive with a 10-yard touchdown run on Newman’s first drive of the second half. Gilman’s Wayne McAlpine blocked the extra point kick by Matthew Hamilton to keep it at 48-6.

With the reserves on the field, Gilman put together its last touchdown drive of the season in the fourth quarter. A 26yard run by Dawson Krizan set up a 14yard touchdown run by Brady McAlpine with 3:26 left. Krizan passed to Casey Grunseth for the two-point conversion.

Newman completely bottled up Gilman’s top rushing threats. Kroeplin, rotating between the quarterback and fullback positions, gained 9 yards on 14 carries. Duellman was held to 12 yards on seven carries. Krizan actually led Gilman with 16 yards on three carries.

Duellman caught three passes for 51 yards. Sam Syryczuk had a 33-yard catch in the third quarter. Kroeplin was six of 10 for 110 yards. Even Braeden Person caught a 3-yard pass on a guard-eligible formation.

The Pirates say goodbye to six seniors –– Person, Kroeplin, Ustianowski, Wayne McAlpine, Grunseth and Syryczuk, all of whom filled key roles on the 2022 team whose three losses came to teams (Newman, Owen-Withee and Thorp) with a combined one loss this season.

“We started out with Braeden, Branden and Grady for their first two years, then Casey, Sam and Wayne came to join us,” Rosemeyer said. “They all brought good things. Those first three were starters as sophomores and did a good job all the way through our eightman adventure here. They gave us good leadership and they’re just very versatile, good football players. Sam, Casey and Wayne all became defensive starters this year and played a little bit on offense.

“Our JV team just lost the one game to Owen-Withee 8-6,” Rosemeyer added. “Otherwise they were pretty successful and got some varsity time this year. I thought we had some solid JV kids that were solid varsity backups when needed. They’ll have to step up next year and be ready to go right away. The younger kids will be expected to step in right away next year and I think they have the capability to do so.”

Gilman’s Braeden Person holds on to Newman Catholic’s Thomas Bates and waits for help to arrive while keeping him to a 4-yard third-quarter gain.EMILY GOJMERAC/THE STAR NEWS