SHEBOYGAN – The Bay Port football team picked right up where they left off last season.
The Pirates scored early and often in a 62-0 rout of the Sheboygan North Golden Raiders in a Fox River Classic Conference game at Sheboygan North High School on August 17.
Bay Port jumped out to a 35-0 lead after the first quarter in route to a 56-0 lead at the half. The Pirates were already subbing freely in the middle of the second quarter before the running clock took over after intermission.
“In general, I thought we played pretty mistake-free football early on with our first group,” said Bay Port head coach Gary Westerman. “It’s awesome that we could get everyone in as early as we did. I’m just really happy to get one under our belts with a lot of new faces out there.”
One of the biggest question marks coming into the season was at quarterback with the loss of Quinn Pierner, who had a combined 3,090 yards and 38 touchdowns last season. Pierner completed 77-percent of his passes and was picked off just twice.
Senior Isaac Krause got his first career varsity start against North and passed the test with flying colors.
Isaac Krause was 6-of-7 for 121 yards passing with three TDs.
“I spent all offseason working hard with my team,” said Krause, who was 6-of-7 passing for 121 yards to go along with his three touchdown passes. “We would always stay after as a team and throw and I think it really showed tonight. Our receivers on the edge are unbelievable, our o-line blocked amazing and our running backs were outstanding.
“I wasn’t really too nervous, but everyone is always a little nervous before their first game. Once the ball was snapped I was ready to go and play.”
Isiah Gash got the Pirates on the board with a 41-yard punt return for a TD just two minutes into the game. That was followed up by a touchdown run from Jacob Calawerts and passing TDs to Jack Plumb and Cordell Tinch (2) to close the first-quarter.
Fullback Ryan Smith added two rushing scores and Ben Giese another in quarter two, before Mars McGriff ended the scoring with just two minutes left in the third.
“We wanted to throw the ball early,” Westerman said. “That’s something we need to work on to be good at, but I thought Isaac played well and got the ball where he needed to. He didn’t run the ball at all, but that was our intent not to do that.”
Defensively, Bay Port gave up just 31 yards of total offense to a completely overmatched Raiders team. In comparison, the Pirates amassed 307.
“It’s hard,” Westerman added. “We have some very big guys up front, so it was a physical mismatch at times. Our defense played well…it was our first week out. We knew we were the better team, so we wanted to come out and play relatively mistake-free football. Our defense was on their keys and to the right spots and that’s about all you can ask for.”
Nathan Klaas, Call Verlanic and Logan Geissler all had fumble recoveries, while Alec Nagel had an interception.
Mars McGriff led the Pirates with 56 yards rushing on just ten carries, while Tinch had three receptions for 67 yards to go along with his two scores.
Note: the Pirates are next in action on Thursday, August 24, when they host Sheboygan South in another FRCC game.