By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
DE PERE- The De Pere Redbirds football team had a costly turnover late in the football game that enabled the Green Bay Preble Hornets to capture the FRCC slugfest by a final of 16-14 (Sept. 7).
Backup quarterback Landon Kirby threw for 106 yards and ran for one touchdown for the Redbirds.
Running back Caelan Markusen rushed for 32 yards before leaving the game late in the second quarter with a lower leg injury.
The Redbirds defense limited the Hornets to just 89 yards of rushing and 184 total yards but gave up 173 yards of punt and kickoff returns.
Sam Hafner led the team with 10.5 tackles
The Hornets took over on their first drive in Redbirds territory after a 40-yard punt return.
Eight plays later Bennett Vine kicked a 22-yard field goal to give the Hornets an early 3-0 lead.
The Redbirds responded on their second series from scrimmage.
Starting quarterback Christian Bocik connected on a 26-yard pass to Max Minor and Markusen did the rest on the ground. His three-yard run in which he spun off two defenders gave the Redbirds a 7-3 lead with 3:04 remaining in the first quarter.
As much as the front seven continued to shine for the Redbirds against the run, the Hornets found a chink in the Redbirds secondary on their last possession of the quarter.
Hornets quarterback Jack Dessart found Anthony Veriha open over the middle for a big gainer and then connected with Nick Renier for 57 yards along the right sidelines for a Hornets touchdown.
It gave Green Bay Preble the lead back again at 10-7 with just seconds remaining in the opening stanza.
After a couple of empty possessions on both sides, Redbirds Head Coach Chad Michalkiewicz inserted backup quarterback Kirby to get the offense moving.
“We have a quarterback situation right now,” said Michalkiewicz. “We started with Christian because he’s been taking first team reps in practice, but then needed a spark and brought in Landon midway through the second quarter.”
It worked.
Kirby hit back to back passes of thirty plus yards, and he called his own number from three yards out to put De Pere out in front once again 14-10 with 5:06 remaining till half.
The Redbirds had a final chance to add to their lead after blocking a punt, but the Hornets EJ Reese intercepted Kirby in the back of the end-zone to keep the margin at four heading into intermission.
As good as the defense was in the first half, it ramped up another gear in the second.
After the break, yards were hard to come by.
“We have to get better offensively,” said Michalkiewicz. “We didn’t generate any points in the second half. We had to go to our backup running back when Caelen went down but no excuses.”
With just under two minutes left in the third quarter, the Hornets started a possession inside the Redbirds 10-yard line thanks to a 55-yard punt return by Logan Dorner.
Utter chaos then ensued.
The Redbirds defense stuffed Dessart not once, twice, but three times inside the one-yard line to hold onto a four-point lead.
Redbirds star defensive lineman Elijah Wright pushed back the offensive line to make the play on fourth down.
However, just one play later, the Redbirds tried to dive forward away from their own end-zone and the ball got stripped amidst the pile. The Hornets recovered!
It took just one play for the Hornets as Dessart kept the ball and bullied his way in to give Green Bay Preble a 16-14 lead after the PAT was missed.
“I heard the whistle blow,” Michalkiewicz added. “Next thing I know Preble said they had the ball. In those piles, anything can happen. Frustrated how it turned out.”
The Redbirds had one futile attempt left and drove from their own 26 to the Hornets 48, but on a first down play Kirby’s pass was intercepted by Hornets linebacker Alex Champine and the Hornets went onto capture the FRCC tilt by two points.
“Winning is a skill,” said Michalkiewicz. “Our seniors and juniors won one game combined on the junior varsity level. So, it takes time to get that believe that they can go out and get a victory. Our defense has kept us in every game this season. We want to play hard next week and make a push towards our goal of the playoffs.”
The Redbirds fall to 2-2 on the season
Box Score:
Green Bay Preble 10,0,0,6 16
De Pere 7,7,0,0 14
