By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
DE PERE – The West De Pere football team had four touchdowns of more than 50 yards in a 52-14 Bay Conference victory over New London Bulldogs at West De Pere High School Aug. 30.
Phantoms quarterback Josh Blount rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns, while David Vanderlogt added 123 yards and two touchdowns.
“We came out firing and carried right where we left off against Shawano in week one,” said Blount. “We built a big lead because we kept playing West De Pere football.”
The West De Pere defense was stout again in week two, as it held the Bulldogs to under 10 yards rushing and 166 yards of total offense.
The Phantoms had a punt blocked on their opening possession but rebounded with a pick-six by Cody Cavil, who brought the interception 78 yards the other way for the game’s opening score.
After a quick, three-and-out by New London, West De Pere was at it again with its rushing attack, as Blount scored from 32 yards out to make it 14-0 with 4:18 left in the first quarter.
After two more punts by the Bulldogs and two more scores for West De Pere, the game was 28-0.
“After the special teams mistake, I thought our offense played well in opening up holes for Josh, Sam [Mommaerts] and David,” said West De Pere head coach Jack Batten. “We were able to score on some big, explosive plays.”
The turnover bug then hit the Bulldogs in the second quarter, as quarterback Tucker Kohl was picked off in the Phantoms end zone.
On the ensuing possession, West De Pere’s defense forced a bad snap which led to a Phantoms’ fumble recovery.
West De Pere took full advantage, as it turned the miscues into 14 points and went up 42-0 at halftime, which mandated a running clock to start the second half.
New London got on the board in the third quarter with a 12 play, 66-yard drive which was capped off by a throw from Kohl to Brady Rogers for a 12-yard touchdown.
On the next Phantoms’ drive, Bulldogs cornerback Garret Locy picked off quarterback Marcus VanVreede and went 58 yards for a score to cut the margin to 42-14 within a span of a minute.
“We weren’t sharp with our focus and energy in the third quarter,” said Batten. “We have to play four quarters and not get sloppy for one.”
West De Pere settled down in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, adding a late touchdown and field goal to coast to the victory.
“We take it one week at a time,” said Vanderlogt. “Our goal is to keep getting better and learn from our mistakes.”
The Phantoms improved to 2-0, while the Bulldogs fell to 1-1.
Box score
New London: 0, 0, 14, 0 – 14
West De Pere: 28, 14, 0, 10 – 52