By Rich Palzewic
Sports editor
SUAMICO – What a difference a year makes.
Last season, Bay Port football player Cody Lindquist was the team’s punter. This year, he’s one of the best wide receivers in the conference.
Lindquist scored three touchdowns Sept. 7 in the Pirates’ 49-12 victory over Ashwaubenon in a Fox River Classic Conference game at Bay Port High School.
The senior caught a pair of short touchdown passes from quarterback Jake Plummer and scored another on a kickoff return.
Junior running back Isaiah Gash also had a big game with his 183 yards rushing on 25 carries and three touchdowns.
The Pirates (4-0 overall, 4-0 FRCC) led 35-0 at the half in winning their 22nd straight conference game dating back to the 2015 season.
It was also the third straight season Bay Port has beaten the Jaguars (1-3, 1-3).
“We played really clean in the first half, maybe as well as we could have played,” said Bay Port head coach Gary Westerman. “We didn’t have many penalties, got explosive in the run game and we hit a long pass. We took a step forward, but we still had some mistakes.”
Those mistakes were a fumble, an interception and a breakdown on special teams that cost the Pirates a touchdown.
The defense held Ashwaubenon to 32 yards of total offense in the first half while amassing 255 of their own.
The Jags would gain just 66 yards the entire night and record only three first downs.
“The defense has played awesome the whole season,” Westerman said. “If you would have asked me how many yards Ashwaubenon had, I would have said it was even less than that. I thought they played really well. We are relatively healthy and I feel good about where we are at.”
Bay Port has allowed just 18 points in its first four games and is averaging about 50 points per contest.
Lindquist got the victors on the board just a few minutes into the game when he caught his first touchdown pass from Plummer.
Moments later, Ashwaubenon’s Cam Wheeler thwarted another Pirates’ score when he picked off an errant throw from Plummer inside the 10-yard line.
Gash made it 14-0 near the end of the first quarter with a 32-yard scoring run.
The shifty running back would score twice more in the opening half, while Lindquist added his second of the night.
The third Gash score was set up after Ashwaubenon tried a fake punt from inside its 30-yard line down 28-0 late in the half.
What followed next was an exciting sequence to begin the third quarter.
Riley Nissen scooped up a Bay Port fumble near the 30-yard line and sprinted 70 yards for a score to get the Jags on the board.
Then Lindquist returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards to make it 42-6.
Not to be outdone, Ashwaubenon’s Riley Siudzinski raced 91 yards for a touchdown on the next kickoff.
That made three touchdown plays on three consecutive plays.
Bay Port’s Carter Zawlocki ended the scoring early in the fourth on a 5-yard touchdown rush.
Defensively, Logan Geissler had an interception for the Pirates.
Plummer was 11-14 for 123 yards.
The Jaguars will host Green Bay Southwest (1-3, 1-3) Sept. 14, while Bay Port will travel to Pulaski (4-0, 4-0) in a game that could very well decide the FRCC championship.
Pulaski’s senior running back Dylan Hendricks is the reigning FRCC offensive player of the year and is difficult to stop.
The Red Raiders like to shorten the game by controlling the clock with the running game.
“It’s a whole different ballgame playing against them,” Westerman added. “It’s kind of like going to the dentist – you’re not ever excited about it. That being said, our kids will be ready to play and it will be a great atmosphere.”
Box Score
Ashwaubenon: 0, 0, 12, 0 – 12
Bay Port: 14, 21, 7, 7 – 49
