Lake Country This Month

By Mark Hutchinson Freeman Staff TOWN OF LISBON — A lot can change during the course of a football season. A lot did change during Hamilton High School's opener last month. The Chargers burst through their hedges to build a 21-point first-quarter lead over Franklin, which had eight starters back from its 2013 WIAA Division 1 state runner-up team. The Sabers, though, recap- tured some of the tenacity that earned them a 12-2 record last season and ral- lied for a 44-28 nonconfer- ence victory. "There was nothing not to like about our start," Hamil- ton coach John Damato said. "That was exactly what we wanted, and I was happy with the boys. "But you can't just do it for one quarter. Last time I checked, it's a four-quarter game." Franklin coach Louis Brown was impressed, but not surprised, at the way his Sabers turned the game around. "There's something about Franklin kids," Brown said. "They battle. I've been here 22 years, and we've had a lot of tough, resilient kids. "Our defense had that deer-in-the-headlights look early. Sussex has some great athletes on offense, and once they got in the clear, they were gone. "It was kind of like a box- ing match. We got knocked down and then we were like, 'All right, we can do this.' Once the confidence came around, we started flying around and I think our off- season conditioning really helped us out." The Chargers adminis- tered some staggering punches early. Hamilton senior running back Tyler Davis got the call on the first play from scrim- mage and bolted up the mid- dle 67 yards for a touch- down, putting the Chargers up just 17 seconds into the game. After Franklin went three- and-out, Hamilton senior running back Isaiah Webb ran for 40 yards on first down, then popped a 19-yard touchdown run five plays later. The Chargers stopped the Sabers cold again, then Hamilton senior lineman Alex Marx blocked a punt and senior teammate Thomas Vandyke recovered at the Sabers' 6-yard line. A penalty pushed the Chargers back, but Webb scored on a 9-yard run two plays later and senior Matt Young's point after gave Hamilton its 21-0 cushion. "We were confident," Hamilton senior lineman Mike Fryda said. "Our line did all of its roles right and everything was going our way." Then the first quarter expired and the momentum shifted dramatically. A personal foul — one of Hamilton's 13 penalties that cost the Chargers 100 yards — helped set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Franklin junior running back Gavin Boeck. Two penalties sabotaged the Chargers' next offensive series, and the Sabers even- tually countered with a 29- yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Josh Frank to Beck and narrowed their deficit to 21-14 by half- time. "We were just hanging on there, I felt," Damato said. "We have to do a better job of sealing the deal. That comes with experience and maturi- ty. We'll learn from this and move forward and become better because of it." Franklin tied the game at the 9-minute, 11-second mark of the third quarter on an 8-yard scoring strike from Frank to junior wide receiver Gage Kelch, then took the lead on a 30-yard field goal by junior Nathan Gennrich with 5:14 left in the third. The Sabers didn't let up, striking for a 30-yard touch- down pass from Frank to senior wide receiver Giovan- ni Flores with 3:02 still remaining in the third. Frank finished 19 of 29 for 260 yards and four scores. "Franklin kept us on our heels," Damato said. "They showed a ton of character and fight. They're going to do quite well. "They're very balanced. They have very good receivers. Their quarterback wound up getting hot. He threw some pretty good balls where we had pretty good cov- erage and completed them." Webb, who rushed 17 times for a game-high 138 yards, scored his third TD of the night on a 5-yard run with 9:29 to play to help Hamilton pull within 31-28, but Franklin had an answer. Frank fired a 15-yard touch- down pass to Flores with 6:51 remaining, then Franklin junior Drew Reinick forced a Chargers fumble that senior teammate Brian Myers recov- ered and returned 60 yards to paydirt, securing the victory for the Sabers. "We had a lot of penalties," Fryda said. "That was proba- bly our biggest problem. That brought us down and the momentum switched. "We've been doing things cleanly in practice. We've got to get things fixed, whatever it is." Damato agreed. "At the end of the day, you can't single out one particular play or event. It was a magni- tude of blunders and lack of preparation on my behalf," the coach said. "I take a lot of the blame here. We have to do a better job of getting these kids focused and we have to be more disciplined moving for- ward. "We can't look at this and get too down. We'd better be upset, but at the same time, this is one of those that could snowball into the next couple of weeks. We can't let that happen. We've got to put this behind us." Brown, meanwhile, was impressed with his Sabers' comeback. "I've learned over the years that with young kids, if you tear into them, they can go into a hole. You've got to love them up a little bit. We did, and we made a couple of adjustments. "They knew what we were going to do. They had a great game plan. We had to make some adjustments on things we hadn't done through all of camp. Those adjustments helped us out." Email: mhutchinson@conleynet.com FREEMAN & ENTERPRISE LAKE COUNTRY • Page 7A SEPTEMBER 2014 12645 W. Townsend (2 blocks N. of Burleigh, enter off 124th St. only) Free Estimate 262-783-4004 Mon. - Fri. 7am-5pm • Sat. 8am-12pm www.lifetimedoor.net 2 3 9 5 5 8 0 0 5 18 Full-size Doors On Display, Our Installers Are Licensed & Bonded 16'x7', 25 Gauge...Non Insulated Steel $ 695 Lifetime Door Co. 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Box 7 Waukesha, WI 53187 For faster service, call 262/542-2500 or visit www.gmtoday.com/wfpromo SC:housead RC:3M30 CC'S PAINTING 262-527-1822 CC'S PAINTING 262-527-1822 Discount applies to labor only. Discount will be included in estimate. Expires 10/31/2014 Fall Special 15% OFF www.ccspainting.com Local • Insured • References • Deck Refinishing • Interior & Exterior Painting • We paint Vinyl, Aluminum & Steel Siding • Deck Refinishing • Interior & Exterior Painting • We paint Vinyl, Aluminum & Steel Siding • Cedar Staining • Water Damage • Basement Sealing • Cedar Staining • Water Damage • Basement Sealing FREE Estimates 237922001 • Pressure Washing • Wallpaper Removal • Concrete Cleaning & Sealing • Pressure Washing • Wallpaper Removal • Concrete Cleaning & Sealing Waukesha and Lake Country's #1 Painter!!! Waukesha and Lake Country's #1 Painter!!! By Todd Hansen Freeman Correspondent TOWN OF MERTON — The Arrowhead High School football team had its back against the wall. Junior quarterback John- ny Duranso came to the res- cue. Duranso engineered a 99- yard drive — accounting for 86 yards himself, including a 28-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jordan Argue with 1:34 remaining, as the Warhawks rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to defeat Kettle Moraine 28-27 in the Classic 8 Conference opener for both teams. Arrowhead has now beat- en the Lasers 17 of the past 18 meetings. The last KM victory over the Warhawks was a 27-17 decision in 2003. "I hate to say we were lucky because the kids earned it and worked hard, but yes, we were lucky, fortu- nate, whatever you want to call it," Arrowhead coach Greg Malling said. Leading 27-21, the Lasers appeared to be putting the Warhawks on the verge of defeat before a KM fumble at the 1-yard line was recov- ered by Arrowhead senior defensive back Adrian Cas- taneda with 7:51 remaining. Then Duranso took over. Six runs and four pass completions by Duranso got the ball to the KM 42-yard line. Senior running back Cody Sellhausen, who fin- ished with 86 yards on 17 carries, had a 13-yard run. Two plays later, it was Duranso finding Argue on a third-and-9 play. "It was a play action and I saw the safety move with the running back, and Jordan crossed the safety and he was wide open and he made a good catch," Duranso said of the game-winning touch- down. "Our whole team just stepped up on the last drive. We just stayed calm and drove the field. We've got a lot of things to clean up and I've got stuff to work on, but we just pulled it out. Our defense really showed up in the second half, and that helped us with the momen- tum on the last drive." On the final drive, Duran- so had 32 yards rushing and 54 yards passing. Duranso finished with 200 yards pass- ing on 21 of 29 passes and three touchdowns, and he had 78 yards and a score on the ground on 19 carries. The Lasers did get to the Arrowhead 43-yard line in the final minute, but the game ended with four con- secutive pass incompletions by the Lasers. Kettle Moraine took con- trol of the game in the sec- ond quarter with three touchdown drives of just one play on three consecu- tive possessions. First was a 64-yard TD run by senior running back Andrew Trafton. That was followed by a 70-yard run by senior quarterback Mitch Pfeifer, and then a 57-yard TD pass from Pfeifer to senior wide receiver Will Duchow for a 27-14 lead for the Lasers with 3:51 left in the first half. A 3-yard touchdown run by Duranso with just 25 sec- onds left in the first half cut the Lasers' lead to 27-21 at halftime. After allowing 279 yards defensively in the first half, the Arrowhead defense held the Lasers to just 73 yards in the second half. "I love our effort," Kettle Moraine coach Dave Pfeif- fer said. "Our kids played with some enthusiasm and playing for one another and that's awesome. I'm not happy with the outcome. We didn't make plays in the second half, and we've got to make some plays. You play a team like Arrowhead and you've got to make plays. "It comes down to we had to make a play in the second half and we just weren't able to do that." Pfeifer, who had 121 yards rushing on 12 carries, gave KM a 6-0 lead on a 32-yard touchdown with 5:56 left in the first quarter. Arrowhead responded with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Duranso to junior running back Nick Bastien late in the quarter. Duranso also had a 15-yard TD pass to senior wide receiver Sebas- tian Luksich midway through the second quarter before KM scored 14 unan- swered points to take a 27-14 lead. "Hats off to coach Pfeiffer and that whole staff," Malling said. "I mean, what a jump from last year. They did a heck of a job. "We've got a lot of work to do and we created a lot of problems for ourselves throughout the night as well. We were lucky." Warhawks rally to stifle KM upset bid Lasers held late lead Franklin wins season opener PREP FOOTBALL: Arrowhead 28, Kettle Moraine 27 PREP FOOTBALL: Franklin 44, Hamilton 28 Chargers can't hang on to early lead Robert F. Borkowski/Special to The Freeman Hamilton defenders, from left, Travis Janus, Ben Kinowski and Michael Bruch tackle Franklin wide receiver Gage Kelch during a nonconference game.

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