The top-ranked and top-seeded Amherst
High School football team (10-1, 6-0) got out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and went on to a 42-14 win over 10th-ranked and fourth-seeded Spencer/Marshfield
Columbus Catholic (8-3, 6-2) in a WIAA Division 5 Level 2 Playoff Game Friday,
Oct. 28.

“We knew that they were going to be a tough team, and we
knew we had to make plays when they counted,” said senior wide
receiver/cornerback Josh Cisewski. “And we ended up doing that.”

After beating Spencer/Columbus 42-0 in the WIAA Division 5 State
Championship Game last November, the Falcons scored on their opening possession
Friday night, as senior quarterback Brandon Piotrowski threw a 76-yard
touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Marcus Glodowski to give the team a 7-0
lead with 11:11 left in the first quarter after the extra-point kick from
junior Carter Zblewski.

Piotrowski scored on a two-yard touchdown run with 5:18 to go in the first quarter to make it
14-0, and Glodowski added a one-yard touchdown run with 1:26 remaining in the first quarter to extend the lead to
21-0.

“We came out really physical, and we hit them in the mouth,”
said Piotrowski. “I don’t think they saw it coming, and we just kept it rolling
after that.”

Spencer/Columbus got on the scoreboard with a 33-yard
touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Jared Mandel to senior running back
Noah Zastrow to make it 21-6 with 8:57 to go in the second quarter after the
two-point conversion run was no good.

The Falcons had a chance to add on to their lead late in the
first half, as they took over at their own 26-yard line with 1:17 left in the second quarter. Following a
five-yard penalty, Piotrowski connected with Cisewski on a deep pass down the
middle of the field, as the ball went over the hands of junior linebacker
Hunter Luepke and into the arms of Cisewski, who made a Spencer/Columbus safety
miss at the 33-yard line to break into the open field and take it into the end
zone for a 79-yard touchdown reception with 27 seconds left that gave Amherst a
28-6 lead at halftime.

“We knew that Luepke was following me around, so we figured
just move me around to the slot a little bit, and maybe that would open
something up,” said Cisewski. “And I just had to make a play over him.”

“It was 21-6 and then they had momentum, and the big play
right before halftime was really a breaker,” said Amherst
football head coach Mark Lusic. “They had the ball coming out (in the second
half), and I knew they did.

“We took a shot and it worked out, and Josh took it the rest
of the way,” he said.

On the opening possession of the second half,
Spencer/Columbus took the ball deep into Amherst
territory, before senior defensive back Angel Nieves forced a fumble that
Cisewski recovered at the nine-yard line.

With junior running back Chandler Benn on the sideline due
to an injury suffered earlier in the game, senior running back Devin Ostrowski
stepped in and scored on a three-yard touchdown run with 2:11 left in the third
quarter to extend the lead to 35-6, and then scored on a 12-yard touchdown run
with 9:16 to go in the fourth quarter to make it 42-6 and bring on the running
clock.

Spencer/Columbus scored on a 15-yard touchdown run and a
two-point conversion run with 7:24 to play to provide the final margin in the
42-14 win, as Amherst advanced to the Level 3 Playoffs for the sixth year in a row
to take on ninth-ranked and third-seeded Winnebago Lutheran in the Level 3
Playoffs at home at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4.

“It was a hard game,” said senior offensive/defensive lineman
Mike Singer, the 2016 Central Wisconsin Conference-8 Offensive Player of the
Year and Defensive Player of the Year. “We played all four quarters and we’re
not used to it.

“But we came through, and we came together as a team,” he
said. “A lot of guys had to step up today, and it was a good game.”

Piotrowski had 55
yards rushing and one touchdown on 13 carries and
completed 8-of-13 passes for 193
yards, with two touchdowns and zero interceptions,
Ostrowski finished with 82 yards
rushing and two touchdowns on 16 carries, Glodowski caught four passes for 94 yards and one touchdown and
Cisewski had two catches for 84 yards
and one touchdown.

“We had a lot of guys step up and make plays,” said Lusic.
“Our defense played tremendous, to hold that team to 14 points, six points in
three-and-a-half quarters, it’s a great effort.

“They took their best defender (Luepke) and they covered
Josh (Cisewski) the whole night, that’s what they wanted to do, but we took
their best player out of the box and we’ll go from there,” he said. “And losing
Chandler Benn in the second or third series, Devin Ostrowski walked right in,
and we didn’t miss a beat. Devin, the o-line, the defense played tremendous,
and just a great team effort overall.”