By Greg Bates
Correspondent
DE PERE – West De Pere junior quarterback Josh Blount rushed for a program-record 393 yards on 26 carries (six of those being touchdowns) in the Phantoms 56-42 Bay Conference victory over Menasha Sept. 27.
“Putting a good number up on Menasha, which is one of the best defenses in the Bay Conference, is exciting to see,” Blount said.
Both West De Pere and Menasha came into the game with undefeated records overall and in Bay Conference games.
With four regular-season games remaining, the conference title was in the balance.
“One of us has won it the last six, seven years, so if we didn’t win tonight, we had no chance at winning the conference,” West De Pere coach Jack Batten said. “We had to get this one.”
West De Pere racked up 522 yards on the ground on 54 carries (9.6 yards per attempt).
“Josh was phenomenal, but you’ve got to look at those guys up front,” Batten said. “We were knocking guys off the football. There were holes to run, he broke a lot of tackles and all our running backs did a good job. But I’d say those front seven were pretty special tonight.”
Blount came into the game averaging 100.2 yards per game rushing this season, but he exploded when he needed to – especially in the second half with 270 yards.
The night before the game, Batten talked to his star quarterback.
He was poised and primed to break loose.
“He was the last kid at our pizza party and there was no doubt this was a game he wanted and he played like it,” Batten said. “I think sometimes a special athlete can will you to a win. I think he willed us to win tonight.”
The West De Pere offensive linemen took pride in watching Blount rip off big runs and tally big numbers.
When told Blount finished with 393 yards rushing, West De Pere left tackle Kerry Kodanko was happy for his quarterback.
“That’s awesome,” Kodanko said. “That’s our goal every week. We’ve got to go for 400 now. We game planned to run, and we were going to stick to it. We were communicating really well. They came with a different defense we weren’t expecting, which made us have to communicate more like one. When we picked up what they were doing, it was back to basics.”
Blount, whose previous career-high for yards in a game was 224 when he was a freshman, saw plenty of big holes to squirt through all game.
“They were opening up pretty well,” Blount said. “We were working a few new plays all week, and it was exciting to see the guys execute it. They were moving guys pretty well. We had them beat off the ball, and we took advantage of every opportunity we could have.”
For how great Blount played, Menasha quarterback Cole Popp showed he wasn’t going to take a backseat to anyone.
The senior was highly effective through the air – 19-for-35 for 273 yards with four touchdowns – as well as on the ground – nine carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Menasha (5-1, 4-1 Bay) forced West De Pere (6-0, 6-0) to a three-and-out on its first drive, but a muffed punt by the Bluejays gave the Phantoms the ball at the 19.
Two plays later on the short field, Cody Cavil scored from 2 yards out.
After a three-and-out by Menasha, West De Pere got the ball back and pounded the rock with eight straight runs.
That repetition lulled the Bluejays’ defense to sleep as the Phantoms went to the air with Blount hitting Aaron Wagner in stride down the right sideline for a 35-yard touchdown to make it 14-0.
It was Blount’s only pass of the game.
Menasha wasn’t going to back down and had a seven-play drive that culminated in a 2-yard quarterback keeper by Popp for a touchdown.
Blount had a 15-yard touchdown run and Menasha came right back with a Popp to Brady Jurgella 42-yard strike for a score to pull within 21-14 with 5:15 remaining in the opening half.
Blount then scored on a 24-yard run to put his team up 28-14.
Menasha opened the third quarter with a 44-yard touchdown scamper by Popp.
Two plays later, Blount put his team back up two scores with a 68-yard touchdown run.
Popp threw a pair of touchdown strikes – 24 yards to Luke Maurer and 59 yards to Jurgella – was offset by a pair of Blount scores – 27 and 52 yards.
West De Pere, which is now averaging 55.7 points per game after six contests, took its first three-touchdown lead, 56-35, with 1:44 left in the game on a Blount 66-yard touchdown.
The two offenses were dynamic.
They combined for over 1,000 yards – West De Pere 556 and Menasha 477 – 43 first downs and 8.9 yards per play.
“As a defensive-minded coach, it surely wasn’t fun to watch,” Batten said.