By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
ASHWAUBENON – Green Bay Southwest entered its sixth football game of the alternate fall football season having not scored a single point in its first five games.
The Trojans (0-6) had been outscored 101-0 and had two forfeits along the way because of COVID-19 issues on the team.
Southwest would not be shut out another week, as it put up three scores in a 23-17 loss to Ashwaubenon in a Fox Valley Classic Conference crossover game April 30 at Ashwaubenon High School.
“The theme of this season is players being in and out,” said Brian Ryczkowski, Ashwaubenon head coach. “The kids who played tonight made the most of their opportunities. Some of them didn’t even know they’d be playing – it’s a hard-earned victory.”
Ashwaubenon (2-4) quarterback Boone Kirst threw for 218 yards with two touchdowns while running back Connor Ramage rushed 20 times for more than 80 yards.
On the other side of the field, Southwest quarterback Mason Meyer rushed for two touchdowns, and wide receiver Connor Pytleski had 83 yards receiving.
The Jaguars took the opening drive of the game and went 66 yards in 13 plays to go up 6-0 with 4:18 left in the first quarter after Andrew Pludeman scored from five yards out.
After a punt by the Trojans, Ashwaubenon kicker Micky Kiernan booted a 42-yard field goal for a 9-0 lead with 9:07 remaining until half.
Penalties reared their ugly head for the Jaguars on Southwest’s next possession.
Ashwaubenon was flagged for two personal foul infractions, as the Trojans marched down the field without calling many plays.
“It’s been hard for the kids to stay focused,” said Ryczkowski. “From day-to-day, we’ve got to have guys ready to step up on both sides of the ball.”
Later, Meyer called his own number from five yards out to cut the deficit to 9-7 with about five minutes left until intermission.
Kirst went to work on Ashwaubenon’s next possession.
After a run up the middle by Ramage, Kirst connected with Rhett Jonas for 57 yards, and he streaked into the end zone to give the home team a 16-7 advantage heading into halftime.
“With (wide receiver) Luke (Schroeder) out, I knew I had to step up and catch passes,” said Jonas. “Coach (Bill) Schroeder has been a huge mentor to get me to this position. I had a tremendous amount of confidence today.”
Midway through the third quarter, the visitors got a fortunate break when a punt took a funny bounce in the red zone and hit a Jaguars’ player in the shoulder.
The Trojans recovered the ball at the 1-yard line, and Meyer needed only one play to score and cut the lead to 16-14.
It seemed like every time Southwest was about to break through and take the lead, Kirst would go to work with his arm.
On the ensuing Ashwaubenon possession, the 6-foot-4 quarterback laid down a nice throw to tight end Eli Zollar, who rumbled down the left sidelines 57 yards, stiff-arming a defender to the end zone.
The resulting score and extra point put the Jaguars up 23-14 near the end of the quarter.
Midway through the fourth quarter, with the Trojans driving, Ashwaubenon linebacker Charlie Anderson recovered a fumble to turn away a potential score.
Southwest added a late field goal by Samuel Berg to cut the margin to six points, but the ensuing onside kick fell into the arms of an Ashwaubenon player, and the Jaguars survived on senior night.
“It wasn’t our cleanest brand of football,” said Ryczkowski. “However, I’m happy for this group of seniors. We have one more week to enjoy. We’re going to give it everything we have (May 7) in a rivalry game with (Green Bay) Preble.”
Box score:
Southwest: 0, 7, 7, 3 — 17
Ashwaubenon: 6, 10, 7, 0 — 23