SPASH junior Hilirie McLaughlin hits the ball over a blocker during the Panthers’ 2-0 win over Berlin at the Panther Volleyball Invite at the SPASH Fieldhouse Tuesday, Aug. 27. (John Kemmeter photo)

Portage County Gazette

SPASH

Football: Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) (0-1, 0-1) lost 28-7 to eighth-ranked Appleton North in the season opener Friday, Aug. 23.

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, which finished with 63 yards rushing on 32 carries and 104 yards of total offense.

Senior running back Cooper Behnke rushed for 71 yards on 12 carries; sophomore quarterback Brandon Vlcko completed 3-of-13 passes for 13 yards, with zero touchdowns and three interceptions; and sophomore quarterback Riley Warzynski completed 4-of-9 passes for 24 yards, with zero touchdowns and zero interceptions.

“Our kids gave really good effort, and we’re proud of them for that,” said SPASH football head coach Pete McAdams. “Offensively, we had absolutely zero production, and we can’t have situations like that occur.

“As a coaching staff, we’ve got to find ways to be able to create some plays for our guys, and we’ve got to find ways to get our defense off the field,” he said. “And whether it was a three-and-out or one of our too many turnovers, we just kept putting the defense out there, and our defense after that first drive, they settled in, got more and more comfortable out there, and was able to be the attacking, relentless defense that we need them to be, and they did a great job with that.

“But we’ve just got to be able to sustain some drives and punch it in from an offensive standpoint,” he said. “And we did not do that.”

Volleyball: SPASH finished second at the Panther Volleyball Invite at the SPASH Fieldhouse Tuesday, Aug. 27. See story on page 7.

Boys soccer: The Panthers (1-0) won 3-0 over Appleton East in the season opener Tuesday, Aug. 27. Thomas Huspeni scored on a header in the first half to give SPASH a 1-0 lead, while Jake Williams scored off a corner kick in the second half to make it 2-0. Gabe Perez added a goal off an assist from Owen Williams with one minute left in the game to cap the scoring on the 3-0 win.

PACELLI

Football: Pacelli (1-0) won 42-22 over Owen-Withee in the season opener Friday, Aug. 23. 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 added a pair of touchdowns to provide the final margin in Pacelli’s 42-22 win.

“The kids played well,” said Pacelli football head coach Drew Nelson. “Owen-Withee had some big kids across the line, and I thought we held our own against those guys.

“It was a good challenge for us,” he said. “The first three quarters, I thought we played really well.”

Senior Shane Tryba had 14 tackles and one sack, and junior Jeremiah Auer had 10 tackles to lead the defense for Pacelli, while Kedrowicz completed 8-of-14 passes for 116 yards, with one touchdown and zero interceptions.

Meanwhile, Cashin had 224 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 19 carries, and caught three passes for 61 yards and one touchdown, as he finished with 285 yards of total offense and six touchdowns.

“He played a little bit last year, but what he did his first true game as a sophomore, pretty special,” said Nelson of Cashin. “Some of those times, he’d get the ball and he’d make guys miss, and you sat back and kind of just enjoyed it as a coach and as a football fan, of what you just saw happened out on the field.

“But he definitely knows and gets that his success relies on that offensive line in front of him too,” he said. “He goes and thanks those guys for their hard work as well, and he does all of the little things the right way, so it’s pretty cool to see.”

Girls tennis: The Cardinals went 2-1 at the Wisconsin Rapids Assumption Invitational Saturday, Aug. 24. Pacelli won 5-2 over Assumption, as Amelia Jacoby (No. 3 singles) and Julia Storch (No. 4 singles) each won in singles, and Ella Schroeder and Marissa Stolt (No. 1 doubles), Jenna Stolt and Maya Kunze (No. 2 doubles), and Briar Armatowski and Emily Rosenthal (No. 3 doubles) won in doubles.

Pacelli won 7-0 over Marshfield Columbus Catholic, as Amanda Lansing (No. 1 singles), Jacoby (No. 2 singles), Allison Lange (No. 3 singles) and Storch won in singles, and Marissa Stolt and Kunze (No. 1 doubles), Jenna Stolt and Armatowski (No. 2 doubles), and Jayden Hytry and Shelby Tryba (No. 3 doubles) won in doubles.

Pacelli lost 4-3 to Wausau Newman, as Jacoby (No. 3 singles), Lange (No. 4 singles), and Storch and Hytry (No. 3 doubles) recorded victories.

The Cardinals won 7-0 over Phillips, Thursday, Aug. 22, as Lansing, Lange, Jacoby and Storch won in singles, while doubles teams of Marissa Stolt and Schroeder, Jenna Stolt and Kunze, and Armatowski and Rosenthal also were victorious.

Pacelli opened the season at the St. Mary Catholic Invitational Wednesday, Aug. 21. Lansing (No. 1 singles), Lange (No. 2 singles), Jacoby (No. 3 singles) and Storch (No. 4 singles) each finished 1-2. Marissa Stolt and Schroeder went 2-1 at No. 2 doubles, while the teams of Kunze and Jenna Stolt (No. 2 doubles) and Armatowski and Rosenthal (No. 3 doubles) both went 1-2.

AMHERST

Football: Fourth-ranked Amherst (1-0) won 42-6 over Antigo at Waupaca in the season opener Friday, Aug. 23. Cyle Zblewski had a 17-yard touchdown run, Bryan Groshek scored on an eight-yard touchdown run, and Lincoln Cullen threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Carmelo Aleman in the first quarter to give the Falcons a 21-0 lead.

Chris Andersen scored on a six-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to increase the lead to 28-0, while Antigo scored on a one-yard touchdown run later in the quarter to make it 28-6 at halftime.

Ethan Dombrowski had a one-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to push the lead to 35-6, and Aidan Elwood returned a fumble 21 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to provide the final margin in the Falcons’ 42-6 win.

“We started fast, and overall the team played pretty well,” said Amherst football head coach Mark Lusic.

Andersen rushed for 69 yards and one touchdown on eight carries and caught four passes for 35 yards, and Elwood rushed for 68 yards on 12 carries to lead the offense.

“We had four different guys score rushing the ball, and then Lincoln threw a touchdown pass, and then our defense scored too, which is always a plus when you can do that,” said Lusic. “We were pretty balanced for the most part, our leading rusher only had 69 yards, so we had a lot of guys touch the ball and a lot of guys had success.

“Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with the way we played in Week 1,” he said.

ROSHOLT

Football: Rosholt (1-0) won 20-12 over Oconto in the season opener Friday, Aug. 23. The Hornets scored on a 27-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to take a 6-0 lead, while Oconto had a nine-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to tie the game at 6-6.

Rosholt used a four-yard touchdown run and a six-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to take a 20-6 lead into halftime, and Oconto had a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin in the Hornets’ 20-12 win.

“Our guys were prepared, they were excited to get out there, and they showed it on the football field,” said Rosholt football co-head coach Mark McHugh. “I’m very pleased with our running game, in particular Reese Anderson had a good night for us on the ground.

“Coach (Shawn) Cychosz and coach (Andy) Krueger had great game plans, and our guys executed them very well,” he said.

The win was Rosholt’s first in a season opener since 2015, after Hornets lost 33-6 to Oconto last year, and 40-0 and 44-0 to Oconto the previous two years.

“As a team, it was a big weight off our shoulders,” said McHugh. “It’s been a number of years since Rosholt won the opening game of the year, the kids were ecstatic about that fact, and it was a huge confidence booster for these guys.

“The coaches feel strongly that they deserve it, they earned it and they worked hard for it,” he said. “And they’re really looking forward to Menominee this week to keep the ball rolling.”

ALMOND-BANCROFT

Football: Eighth-ranked Almond (1-0) won 26-14 over Fall River/Rio in the season opener Friday, Aug. 23. Jackson Beggs had a 10-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead, and Daniel Baumgartner threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Matt Lukas in the second quarter to give Almond a 13-0 lead at halftime.

Lukas scored on a one-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to make it 19-0, while Fall River/Rio had a 30-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to close within 19-6. Baumgartner threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Lukas later in the third quarter to increase the lead to 26-6, and Fall River/Rio added a five-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to provide the final margin in Almond’s 26-14 victory.

“It was a nice win over a good Fall River/Rio team,” said Almond-Bancroft football head coach Andrew Bradley. “We were a little sloppy and too many turnovers, but it definitely gives us something to work on going into next week.”

Beggs rushed for 174 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries, and Lukas rushed for 27 yards and one touchdown on six caries and caught six passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns, while Baumgartner rushed for 24 yards on 14 carries and completed 7-of-14 passes for 88 yards, with two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

“Matt Lukas had a nice game for us, a couple of big touchdowns, and Daniel Baumgartner, in his first game as a quarterback, did a nice job,” said Bradley. “Offensively we played pretty well, but we just put the ball on the ground too many times, and it bogged us down and held us back from maybe having a better night offensively.”