By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
GREEN BAY — Aaron Maroszek rushed for more than 170 yards and three touchdowns in Pulaski’s 38-14 Fox River Classic Conference crossover game against Notre Dame Academy Aug. 20 at Ted Fritsch Field.
Junior fullback Maverick Cole also topped the 100-yard mark on the ground for the Red Raiders.
“It’s important you have the mixture of speed and power,” Maroszek said. “Our linemen made it possible for Maverick and me to get the yardage we did.”
For the Tritons, Samuel Lagowski threw for 149 yards and two touchdowns, while Daniel Hornacek gained 65 yards after switching his number from 21 to 4 at halftime due to an equipment malfunction.
Pulaski (1-0 overall) got the ball first and drove the ball down the field.
After a muffed snap and loss of yardage, the Red Raiders faced a second-and-27 from the Tritons’ 38-yard line.
Red Raiders quarterback Derek Block went the unconventional route and completed two straight passes for 25 yards to set up a manageable fourth down, which Pulaski converted.
Two plays later, Maroszek scored the first of his three touchdowns from two yards out.
After the extra point, the Red Raiders led 7-0 with 3:46 left in the first quarter.
“We showed lots of resiliency on the opening drive,” Jerad Marsh, Pulaski head football coach, said. “Things go quicker. The group rallied around each other when we had a big chunk to gain for a first down.”
The second quarter featured a trio of big plays, all within a four-minute span.
First, Brock Steinbrecher took an inside handoff and galloped 73 yards to the end zone to give the visitors a two-touchdown advantage.
The play was set up by Marsh electing to have his team go for it on fourth-and-one at its 23-yard line.
“We essentially are a goal-line team on every play,” Marsh said. “We felt like we needed the play to grind through the quarter.”
Notre Dame (0-1) responded with a Lagowski-to-Hornacek 64-yard touchdown hookup to cut the margin to 14-7 with 3:51 left until intermission.
However, the Tritons’ momentum was short-lived after Maroszek took a handoff from Block on the second play of the next series and went virtually untouched for 70 yards and a 21-7 lead after the extra point.
Notre Dame added a touchdown in the final minute of the second quarter when Carter Dahlke hauled in a 21-yard end zone grabber.
“It was blow-for-blow in the first half,” Marsh said. “They have some excellent athletes. Their quarterback is a long kid who throws a nice ball. We have some new kids in the secondary who grew up today.”
After a Tritons punt in the third quarter, the Red Raiders took on another time-consuming drive that spanned the third and fourth quarters.
The drive ended with a Will Steeno 25-yard field goal for a 24-14 lead with 11:58 remaining.
With possessions limited, Notre Dame could only muster 38 total yards in the final quarter.
Down the stretch, Pulaski added a 60-yard touchdown run by Maroszek and a two-yard plunge by Aidan McDougal to end the scoring.
“We accomplished our goal of winning the first game of a new season,” Maroszek said. “This one is over, and we will now prepare for Brookfield Central (Aug. 27).”
Box Score
Pulaski: 7, 14, 0, 17 — 38
Notre Dame: 0, 14, 0, 0 — 14