‘Cats pressure gets to ‘Jacks
By Casey Krautkramer
The Edgar varsity football team’s defense rose to the occasion in Friday’s season- opening 44-6 non-conference home win against Ladysmith on Parent’s Night. Meanwhile, Edgar’s offense kept scoring points thanks to senior running back Maverick Butt’s 15 carries for 111 yards and three touchdowns. Wildcats senior quarterback Tucker Streit added eight rushes for 49 yards and a touchdown.
On Edgar’s first play from scrimmage, Butt ran for a 62-yard touchdown. Streit passed the football to junior Isaiah Kraft in the end zone for the two-point conversion to give Edgar a quick 8-0 lead. The Wildcats amassed 23 points in the opening quarter.
Wildcats head coach Jerry Sinz, now in his 51st year coaching, described what makes Butt such a good player on both offense and defense.
“He is just a tough player,” Sinz said. “This is his third year as a starter. He is not overly big because he is 178 to 180 pounds but he is very smart and shifty. We moved him from cornerback to middle linebacker just because we needed a middle linebacker, and he had a lot of tackles. He would be a great cornerback, I mean he would be an all-state corner but we needed him somewhere else and he just readily accepted that and goes and plays another position.”
Edgar’s offensive line also did a solid job blocking against Ladysmith. Sophomore Landon Lukasko added five carries for 71 yards and senior Gavin Mauer had eight rushes for 60 yards. Wildcats starting offensive guard Alex Schneider wasn’t completely satisfied with his his offensive line’s play against the Lumberjacks, which is to be expected in the season opener.
“We did a decent job run blocking but we need to work on our pass protection to make sure our quarterback has enough time in the pocket,” Schneider said.
Ladysmith’s only touchdown was the result of an Edgar coaching mistake in the second quarter. Edgar put backup junior quarterback Kaden Bargender in the game for a play to give starting quarterback Streit a rest, but Sinz said the coaching
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
Alex Schneider staff didn’t realize that Bargender had never run the play on their script. Bargender threw a pass that was intercepted by Lumberjacks senior defensive back Ashton Clark and returned for a 14-yard touchdown.
Edgar’s offensive miscue didn’t overshadow the fact that the Wildcats defense kept the Lumberjacks out of the end zone the entire game. Senior defensive tackle Preston Erickson had a big quarterback sack in the opening quarter and Mauer had a 16-yard interception return in the second quarter.
Schneider is also Edgar’s starting outside linebacker. He was pleased with his team’s defensive effort against Ladymsith.
“I would say that we did pretty good,” he said. “We held our own and knew what we were doing and we were successful at it.”
Sinz agreed with Schneider’s assessment of how well the defense performed.
“I thought they did fine because Ladysmith actually has a fullback, No. 9 (Carter Solstice), who is a pretty good player and No. 5 (Ashton Clark) at wide receiver won state in both the high jump and long jump last year in track so he is an athletic dude and they burned us on their first play so I give them credit for that.”
Edgar’s other offensive scores in the game included Streit with a one-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion run, Butt with a three-yard touchdown run and junior Anthony Trawicki’s extra point, Streit’s five-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Lucas Stahnke and Trawicki’s kick, Butt’s six-yard touchdown run and Trawicki’s kick and Lukasko’s 25-yard touchdown run and Trawicki’s kick.
Edgar is now gearing up for its annual arch-rivalry game against Stratford in the second week of the high school football season. Sinz is looking forward to the Wildcats traveling to Tiger Stadium at 7 p.m. this Friday, Aug. 29.
“We have a good battle with them all the time,” he said. “It’s been going on for 40 years so I don’t imagine it’s going to change any. It’ll be the same mini war that it’s always been.”
Red Raiders win opener
Marathon’s varsity football team shut out Pittsville, 33-0, on the road Friday night to give Vince Dinkel his first head coaching win.
“It was a memorable night,” Dinkel said. “The team played really well in all phases of the game. They are the ones that made it a special night. They dumped water on me after the game and all signed a commemorative game ball for me too. It made me feel very proud of these boys.”
Marathon senior dual-threat quarterback True Thurs scored four total touchdowns against Pittsville. Thurs completed 15 of 18 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns and he also rushed six times for 23 yards and two touchdowns.
Senior Javier Pintor led Marathon in rushing yards with nine carries for 77 yards. Junior Fred Tylinski paced the team’s receivers in yards with four catches for 125. Junior Garrett Bracewell had seven receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown. Junior Sawyer Berens had a threeyard touchdown catch on offense and he also had an interception on defense.
Senior defensive lineman Grant Salber led the Red Raiders with 11 tackles. Senior defensive lineman Hudson Voigt and senior linebacker Will Tourtillott each had a quarterback sack and a tackle for loss. Senior Landon Sneider had a kickoff return for 54 yards.
Marathon now plays two straight home games against Auburndale at 7 p.m. this Friday, Aug. 29 and Loyal/Greenwood on Friday, Sept. 5.
‘Jays win Thursday night
The Athens variety football squad won its eight-man season opener, 54-6, at Prentice on Thursday. Junior Daxton Diethelm set the tone with an 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Senior Kamden Zarnke ran for the successful two-point conversion.
Athens head coach Todd Dietehelm was proud of his team’s quick start against Prentice.
“We came out with energy and played with a chip on our shoulder as we discussed in the first two weeks of practice,” he said. “We returned the opening kickoff with excellent blocking, and our returner read the block right and was off. We are happy with the win but we have much bigger goals ahead.”
The Bluejays scored 32 points in the opening quarter against the Buccaneers. Senior Evin Passehl ran for a three-yard touchdown and Zarnke’s two-point conversion run was successful. Zarnke scampered for a 12-yard touchdown run followed by junior tight end Brock Beaty’s two-point conversion catch. Daxton Diethelm ran for a 15-yard touchdown and Passehl punched in the two-point conversion run.
Athens took a 40-0 halftime lead after sophomore Cris Velazquez’s 19-yard touchdown run and Passehl’s two-point conversion run in the second quarter.
Passehl added a four-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Daxton Diethelm ran for the two-point conversion. Freshman running back Nick Paul rushed for a three-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Paul also had an interception on defense. Prentice’s lone score was on Aiden House’s six-yard touchdown run with just over a minute left in the game.
Athens now has two straight home games at 7 p.m. this Friday, Aug. 29 against Thorp on Parent’s Night and at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5, against Flambeau on Youth Night.
Tigers lose to Indians
Stratford’s varsity football team had its 26-game winning streak snapped in Friday’s 26-19 road loss to Mosinee.
Senior Brady Berg, Stratford’s new starting quarterback this season, struggled throwing the football by only completing four of 20 passes for 39 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. He did run six times for 19 yards and a touchdown.
Junior Aaron Knetter led the Tigers in rushing yards with eight carries for 46 while senior captain Brooks Vanderhoof had seven carries for 34 yards. Senior Zander Zawislan paced Stratford’s receivers with two receptions for 25 yards and a touchdown.
Stratford senior linebacker and captain Jaeger Ormond led the defense with 6-1/2 sacks and two tackles for loss. Berg had 5-1/2 tackles while playing defensive back. Senior linebacker Cody Randow and senior defensive back Lucas Forrest each had one quarterback sack. Senior defensive lineman and captain Drew Gage had an interception.
Stratford will hope to get on track by beating archival Edgar at 7 p.m. this Friday, Aug. 29, at Tiger Stadium.
