Sophomore running back Brycen Cashin and the Pacelli Catholic High School football team opened the 2019 season with a win. (John Kemmeter photo)

The high school football season opened for area teams Friday, Aug. 23.

Pacelli Catholic High School went on the road and won 42-22 at Owen-Withee, Amherst won 42-6 over Antigo at Waupaca, Almond-Bancroft won 26-14 at home over Fall River/Rio, and Rosholt won 20-12 at home over Oconto.

Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) opened the season with a 28-7 loss at Appleton North.

North scored on a 20-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead, while SPASH junior Nate Konkol intercepted a pass and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 with 1:40 left in the first quarter after the extra-point kick from junior Kenny Schultz.

North scored on a 12-yard touchdown run with 2:29 to go in the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead, then returned an interception 18 yards for a touchdown with 1:00 left in the first half to carry a 21-7 lead into halftime.

North added a 50-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter to provide the final margin in its 28-7 win over SPASH.

Pacelli opened with a nonconference game at Owen-Withee, where sophomore quarterback Drew Kedrowicz threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Brycen Cashin to give the Cardinals a 6-0 lead with 8:24 left in the first quarter.

Cashin scored on touchdown runs of 40 and 19 yards later in the first quarter to increase the Pacelli lead to 18-0, then added a 25-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give the Cardinals a 26-0 lead at halftime.

Cashin scored his fifth touchdown of the night on a 14-yard run in the third quarter to increase the lead to 34-0, before Owen-Withee had a one-yard touchdown run to make it 34-6 with 2:21 to go in the third quarter.

Cashin added a five-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion run with 8:58 to go in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 42-6, while Owen-Withee scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to provide the final margin in Pacelli’s 42-22 win.

“Good game tonight,” said Pacelli football head coach Drew Nelson. “Had a good first half, need to work on finishing the game out.”

Cashin totaled 224 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 19 carries and caught three passes for 61 yards and one touchdown, while Kedrowicz completed 8-of-14 passes for 116 yards, with one touchdown and zero interceptions.

“Brycen Cashin ran really well and Drew Kedrowicz found open receivers,” said Nelson. “Nice balanced attack offensively.

“Definitely played good defense in the first half,” he said. “Looking at building on that success.”

Senior Shane Tryba had 14 tackles and one sack, and junior Jeremiah Auer had 10 tackles to lead the defense for Pacelli, which will host La Crosse Aquinas at Community Stadium at Goerke Field at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31.

“Looking forward to getting ready for Aquinas this week,” said Nelson.