BY MURRAY GLEFFE
CORRESPONDENT
MADISON—In 24 minutes, the unthinkable happened!
The Catholic Memorial Crusaders scored five second half touchdowns to turn a 24-0 deficit into a 37-24 victory over the West De Pere Phantoms in the Division 3 State Championship football game. (Nov. 16)
Josh Blount threw for 154 yards and ran for 87 yards and one touchdown.
Cody Cavil added 45 yards and two touchdowns.
Jake Karchinski, Isiah Burdette and Alex Spitzer each had a fumble recovery, and Ben Pawlak an interception.
For the Crusaders, Quarterback Luke Fox was 19-29 for 225 yards and two touchdowns.
Alex Oechsner hauled in six passes for 105 yards and one touchdown.
Seven turnovers marred the game with Catholic Memorial committing four, and West De Pere three.
Catholic Memorial outgained West De Pere 419-310, with the Crusaders gaining much of that total after the break.
The Phantoms jumped out of the chute right away going 12 plays-81 yards to go up 7-0 after Blount went in from a yard out.
The Crusaders inexplicably turned the ball over just four plays into their opening drive and the Phantoms recovered but couldn’t cash in after garnering good field position.
Near the end of the first quarter, the Crusaders once again put the ball on the turf, and this time West De Pere cashed in a few minutes later after Cavil dove into the endzone from a yard out to give them a 14-0 lead with 11:57 left till halftime.
“We were very fortunate to get up on them early,” said Jack Batten, West De Pere football coach. “We capitalized on their early mistakes.”
Catholic Memorial then turned the ball over a third time in as many possessions.
Near the end of the half, with the Phantoms up two touchdowns, they went on a 16 play, 78-yard drive that ended with Sawyer Grovogel booting a 22-yard field goal to give West De Pere a 17-0 lead heading into halftime.
Ben Pawlak then added to the excitement the Phantoms were feeling by picking off a Fox pass to start the second half and took it deep into Crusaders territory.
Three plays later, Cavil scored his second touchdown of the day and it gave the Phantoms a 24-0 lead with 10:32 left in the third quarter.
All the momentum was with West De Pere, and nothing would indicate anything would change in the foreseeable future.
“After Ben’s pick, we were in a good position, but you can’t relax on a superior team like Catholic Memorial,” said Batten. “They have big strike capability.”
Then, just like that Catholic Memorial, the team that had been inept for the better part of 26 minutes, showed why they are one of the best teams in the state of Wisconsin.
It started with Fox taking the Crusaders on a 61-yard drive that included five completions and ended with Cole Dakovich hauling in an 8-yard touchdown. The subsequent two-point conversion put Catholic Memorial within 24-8.
After a quick three and out, Fox was at it again and Oechsner was the recipient of a 42-yard touchdown catch and run to cut the Phantoms lead to 24-16 with 3:41 left in the third quarter.
You could feel the tension building on the West De Pere sideline, where as Catholic Memorial was just plain loose.
“We just couldn’t get anything going with our running game in the second half,” Batten said. “Give them credit. Their defense really clamped down on us.”
Just two and a half minutes into the last stanza, Catholic Memorial tied the game at 24 apiece after Tate Kopulos ran in from 15 yards out.
What had been a 24-point lead just 12 minutes earlier, was gone, and the Phantoms couldn’t get it back.
With the Crusaders up 31-24, and time running out, Oechsner picked Blount off and took it to the house (56 yards) to seal the game for Catholic Memorial.
“The kids played their tails off,” added Batten. “I hurt for the seniors right now, our coaching staff, and our fans. We will get through it, but it will take some time.”
The Phantoms end their season at 13-1.
“I’m proud of my teammates and what we accomplished,” said Blount. “It stings now because we were so close, but I’m sure we’ll look back on the tremendous experience we all had playing in this game at Camp Randall.”
Box Score:
Catholic Memorial 0, 0,16, 21    37
West De Pere          7, 10, 7, 0     24
