Bay Port powers past Neenah; Freedom, Little Chute reach state quarterfinals

A good week of practice went a long way for the Bay Port football team in its second-round playoff game against Neenah on Oct. 30 in Suamico.

The Pirates got a big night from running back Jackson Smith and their defense held Neenah to under 200 yards of total offense as Bay Port cruised past Neenah 49-7.

Smith ran for 96 yards on 16 carries and had four total touchdowns as top-seeded Bay Port (10-1) advances to the Division 1 state quarterfinals and will host Waunakee on Nov. 6.

Smith scored on three touchdown runs of 2 yards each in the second quarter and added a 10-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter.

Neenah scored the game’s opening touchdown on a 2-yard run from Rockets senior quarterback Ashton VanBeek. From there, it was all Bay Port as the Pirates scored 49 unanswered points.

“I know our coaches wanted us to respond from that touchdown … it got us down early,” Smith said. “So I think our offense also had one of the best practice weeks this week of the year, so we were really ready to go today.

“We were dialed in on our assignments.”

Bray Babich finished with three touchdown passes, including a 10-yard pass to Ethan Orlando and a 70-yard strike to Jackson Otradovec.

Bay Port held Neenah to 174 yards of total offense. The Pirates passed for 251 yards and ran for 169 in the win and averaged 8.2 yards a play.

VanBeek exited the game due to a hand injury late in the first half. He finished with 27 yards rushing and 80 yards passing for Neenah, which finishes the season with a 7-4 record.

Freedom, Little Chute advance in D4; Wrightstown pulls off upset

Three North Eastern Conference teams are in the Division 4 state quarterfinals – No. 1 seeds Little Chute and Freedom along with No. 6 seed Wrightstown.

Freedom (11-0) shut out Lakeside Lutheran 42-0 with Axzil Eggert running for 124 yards and three touchdowns and Owen Henkel throwing for 181 yards and a score. The Irish also got an 85-yard kickoff return for a score from Charlie Micke. Freedom will host Northwestern in a state quarterfinal Nov. 6.

Little Chute blasted Lodi 43-6 with the Mustangs running for 420 yards, led by a pair of 100-yard rushers in Reece Joten (eight carries, 120 yards) and Tyler Hietpas (seven carries, 113 yards). Joten scored on a 56-yard run and Hietpas added a 34-yard score. Senior quarterback Jaden Hermsen also had three touchdown runs for the Mustangs (10-1).

“Our defense had a great week of practice and put together a great plan to counter Lodi’s offense,” Little Chute head coach Mark Krommenacker said. “They have a really talented quarterback and we were able to hold him without a completion until the fourth quarter and that’s a credit to the defensive players, coaches and also the scout offense team who works hard each week to mirror what the opposing team does.”

Little Chute hosts Wrightstown on Nov. 6 in a state quarterfinal game. The Tigers got the upset of the night with a 9-0 blanking of second-seeded Stratford.

Foxes get another D3 blowout; Hilbert wins in D7

Braden Heiges continued his incredible senior campaign, totaling five touchdowns in Fox Valley Lutheran’s 42-7 victory over Medford.

FVL (9-2) advances to the D3 state quarterfinals and will travel to La Crosse Logan (11-0) on Nov. 6.

The Foxes had 405 yards of total offense and Heiges accounted for 374 of them. He finished with 212 yards rushing on 12 attempts and scored on runs of 5, 28 and 47 yards. He also threw for 162 yards on 8-for-12 attempts and touchdown passes of 30 yards to both Jacoby Dobberstein and Joona Tuominen.

FVL held Medford to 201 yards of total offense. Silas Jaeger had seven tackles with Heiges having seven total tackles, with two for loss.

In D7, Hilbert beat Lourdes Academy 35-6. The Wolves (8-3) will travel to Coleman on Nov. 6 to take on the top-seeded Cougars (9-2).

Ghosts lose heartbreaker in D2

Mason Borseth’s 33-yard field goal proved to be the deciding score in Pulaski’s 10-7 victory over Kaukauna in a D2 second-round game. Borseth nailed the field goal in the third quarter to break a 7-7 tie. The Red Raiders advance to play at top-seeded Green Bay Notre Dame on Nov. 6.

Bohdan Schmidt had a 6-yard touchdown run for Pulaski (9-2) in the first quarter. Muhammad Jobe countered with a 10-yard score in the second quarter for Kaukauna (8-3).

The Ghosts had a prime opportunity for a touchdown early in the game, with the ball at the Pulaski 2 in the first quarter but Pulaski’s defense held firm and forced an incompletion on fourth down.

In D1, Appleton North got a 69-yard touchdown run from Brody Olp in the third quarter but it wasn’t enough as Waunakee beat the Lightning 36-6. Olp had 83 yards on seven carries and Calvin Hank added 72 yards on 22 carries for North.

In D2, Kingston Allen ran for 269 yards on 21 carries and scored five touchdowns to power Notre Dame past Menasha 45-13. Allen scored on runs of 46, 50, 2, 1 and 55 yards. Xavier John had a 27-yard touchdown run and Kinley Bilke added a 67-yard score for Menasha (8-3).

In D3, Plymouth got three total touchdowns from Augie Eigenberger to take down Winneconne 35-23. The loss snapped Winneconne’s 24-game winning streak as Plymouth (9-2) advances to play at Port Washington in a state quarterfinal Nov. 6. Henry Chase had touchdown passes of 18 and 31 yards to Drew Lenz and Ryan Quigley, respectively, for Winneconne. Lenz also had an 11-yard touchdown run. Chase had to leave the game in the second quarter due to injury.

In D5, Durand-Arkansaw beat Brillion (8-3) 42-14 and New Glarus shut out Chilton (6-5) 49-0.

WIAA football state quarterfinal games

Division 1

Hudson (10-1) at West De Pere (11-0), Racine Case (10-1) at Muskego (10-1), Arrowhead (10-1) at Sussex Hamilton (11-0), Waunakee (10-1) at Bay Port (10-1).

Division 2

Brookfield Central (5-6) at New Richmond (11-0), Grafton (7-4) at Monona Grove (10-1), Pulaski (9-2) at Notre Dame (11-0), West Bend West (9-2) at Union Grove (11-0).

Division 3

New Berlin Eisenhower/Reedsburg winner at Pewaukee (11-0), Catholic Memorial (6-5) at Whitefish Bay (9-2), Plymouth (9-2) at Port Washington (11-0), Fox Valley Lutheran (9-2) at La Crosse Logan (11-0).

Division 4

Northwestern (11-0) at Freedom (11-0), Wrightstown (6-5) at Little Chute (10-1), Delavan-Darien (9-2) at Lake Mills (10-1), West Salem (11-0) at Racine St. Catherine’s (10-1).

Division 5

Lake Country Lutheran (9-2) at Racine Lutheran (11-0), Saint Croix Falls (10-1) at New Glarus (10-1), Durand-Arkansaw (10-1) at Darlington (11-0), Grantsburg (10-1) at Amherst (11-0).

Division 6

Regis (9-2) at Mondovi (10-1), Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic (9-2) at Manitowoc Lutheran (11-0), Cedar Grove-Belgium (9-2) at Bonduel (11-0), Lomira (11-0) at Edgar (10-1).

Division 7

River Ridge (10-1) at Cochrane-Fountain City (11-0), Boyceville (9-2) at Glenwood City (10-1), Iowa-Grant (9-2) at Ithaca/Weston (10-0), Hilbert (8-3) at Coleman (9-2).

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Bay Port powers past Neenah; Freedom, Little Chute reach state quarterfinals