Wauwatosa West met Kimberly in round one of the Wisconsin high school WIAA football playoffs and fell 42-7. The second-seeded Papermakers were highly favored, but the seven-seeded Trojans fought hard and were within 14-7 late in the second quarter. Here’s the game report.
The weather in Kimberly was cool with light snow flakes driven sideways by a steady 30-mile-an-hour wind. From the Tosa West stands, the wind definitely aided the team going from left to right.
Tosa West won the toss and chose to receive the kick off. The Trojans first possession was a 3 and out. The first Papermaker possession saw them put together a nice drive, with a wind-aided 30-yard pass completion for the score, going up 7-0.
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The Trojans next offensive series was cut short when the wind knocked a QB pitch off-track. Kimberly picked up the fumble and ran for a 35 yard score, and mid-way through the first quarter the Trojans were in a 14-0 hole.
The Trojans relied on power running by Greg Lewis to close out the first quarter. On the night, Lewis was the top Trojan rusher, carrying the ball 15 times for 49 yards. These tough-to-get yards came behind the blocking of center Elliot Rogahn, guards Christian Morzinski and Norberto Pliego, tackles Christian Cagle and Isaiah Randolph who platooned with Joe Harrington, and tight end Zach Veit.
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The Papermakers shut down the Trojans top runner, junior Demaris Purifoy, who managed 17 yards on 15 carries, about 100 yards short of his season’s per-game average.
“The Kimberly defense played our trap blocking perfectly – they knew exactly what to do to stop us,” commented a Trojan lineman.
As the first quarter ended, the Trojan defense stepped up and made an excellent stand. On one key play, Tim Meuller shed a blocker and downed a ball carrier for a loss and energized everyone in green and white. The quarter ended with no more damage, and the Trojans down 14-0.
With the start of the second quarter and the wind at their backs, the Trojan offense began moving the ball. Greg Lewis picked up a first down with several Papermakers clipped to his jersey. Trojan QB Jared Morzinski threw deep to wide-out Develyn Ferguson that was slightly off-target but was a well-thrown attempt and created a buzz in the Tosa West bleachers.
On their next series Morzinski found Ferguson on the same, right side of the field. Ferguson split two defenders and went high to pull the ball from the windy sky and stepped to the endzone, a play that covered 30 yards. After Zach Veit’s kick the Trojans were down 14-7.
After the kickoff, the Tosa West defense kept the Trojan hopes alive. Rock-solid d-line play by Christian Cagle and Christian Morzinski, Elliot Rogahn and Devin Tucker stood up the Kimberly runners, and the linebacker corps of Joe Harrington, Greg Lewis, Tim Meuller and Matt Lundell dropped them. After a Kimberly punt into the wind that went six yards, the Trojans took over at Kimberly’s 20 yard line with just over 3 minutes left in the half.
[A theme of this season’s Blog has been momentum before the half. It’s as if the Kimberly Papermakers had written those passages, and then sponsored a book-signing party Friday night against the Trojans.]
With the ball on the Kimberly 20 yard line, momentum shifted when the Tosa West offense lost five yards on three plays. Then we tried to convert a 4th and 15 from the 25 yard line. Fans in the stands wondered – why not try a field goal with this wind? But, the ball went to Kimberly on downs. It took their runners two plays to get past mid-field, and then their halfback went off-tackle 47 yards run for a score. With two minutes left in the half, the Papermakers were up 21-7.
Kimberly’s squib kick was downed at the 25 yard line. On first down, Ferguson caught a short pass from Morzinski but fumbled the ball out of bounds to stop the clock. The Papermakers used time outs to preserve clock after the next two running plays. Zach Veit's punt put Kimberly 60 yards from the Trojan goal line, and two pass plays later they scored again. With under a minute left in the half, the Papermakers were up 28-7. Momentum lost big time.
The Trojans started the second half with the wind, but the offense couldn’t find any flow. Develyn Ferguson caught one more pass to give him a total of five for 50 yards – but no other Trojan receiver had a catch attempt. Trojan runners stopped drives twice in the second half with lost fumbles.
The Trojan defense yielded two more long runs for scores in the third quarter. But they also had some shining second-half moments. Carlos Morris, Greg Lewis and Joe Harrington penetrated into the Papermaker backfield and made jarring tackles.
In the fourth quarter, Roberthenry Davis and Zach Veit made sure tackles from their defensive back positions to keep the Papermakers out of the endzone. The entire Trojan defense made an impressive goal-line stand with three minutes on the clock, showing great heart and toughness.
In summary – this was a solid showing by the Trojans, a great learning opportunity for the entire program. Kimberly is very disciplined and likely the best coached and best prepared competition the Trojans faced all year. The Wauwatosa West seniors provided great leadership on the field. The team displayed toughness and heart against Kimberly and throughout the 2013 season.
Hoping that you – the Blog readership – have enjoyed these 2013 game reports.
Comments welcome on this game and the season.
