Fox Valley Lutheran football holds off Xavier on final drive to win wild Apple Bowl contest
Xavier running back Cole Hietpas stiff arms a Fox Valley Lutheran defender on his way to a gain during Friday night’s Apple Bowl at Fox Valley Lutheran High School. FVL won, 48-44. (Photo by Dustin Riese/For AppletonSportsPage.com)
By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com
APPLETON – Friday night one of the oldest rivalries was renewed as Fox Valley Lutheran hosted Xavier for the annual Apple Bowl.
Unlike seasons past where this would be considered a nonconference game, FVL moved to the Bay Conference this season for football and this year’s matchup was the conference opener for both team. By the looks of how dominant the teams have been this season, this very well could have been the Bay Conference championship game.
The game that lived up to the hype and more and the fans in attendance were treated to an epic offensive performance where nearly 100 points and more than 1,000 yards of offense were put up. Ironically, it was a defensive play that made the difference as the Foxes forced a fumble with just more than one minute to go to seal the 48-44 victory.
Xavier finished with 488 rushing yards and 562 total, while FVL finished with 488 total yards, including 288 passing yards from senior quarterback Lucas Papendorf.
“I am very proud of our guys for the way they battled tonight,” FVL head coach Seth Jaeger said. “This was the toughest team we have faced this season and will be the toughest team we see in a while. We gave up more points than I would’ve liked to see us give up, but this was a team effort. We made plays offensively and the kids showed a ton of resilience to pick up a massive win.”
“Our effort was outstanding tonight,” Xavier head coach Dave Hinkens said. “The kids did everything we asked them to do tonight and for the most part they executed it. We gave it everything we had out there and in the end, we came up one or two plays short.”
Not only was this a matchup of two of the better teams in the state, but two of the premiere offenses as points came in bunches. On the game’s first possession Blessings Kapande got the Foxes’ offense rolling before a Nic Martin 27-yard reception moved the ball into Hawks’ territory. After a fourth down pass interference call allowed for the Foxes to keep possession, Kapande finished things off for the TD to give FVL a 7-0 lead.
It was a lead that didn’t last long as Eli Mares took the Hawks first play from scrimmage and gashed through the FVL defense for 50 yards. Cole Hietpas followed suit for an 11-yard score to tie things up 7-7.
The Hawks’ ground game continued to be an issue for the FVL defense throughout the first quarter as Hietpas continued to churn up large chunks or yards with Matthew Potter, the Xavier quarterback, now getting involved. Potter ripped off a 24-yarder to move the ball inside the five before his 1-yard TD put the Hawks in front 15-7.
Xavier had a chance to deliver a massive blow late in the first quarter as Mares came away with a massive interception from Papendorf only to see the offense turn the ball over on downs. The Foxes would capitalize on that opportunity as they went to the air for 31 yards to Graham Feidt before Martin hauled in a 7-yard pass to cut Xavier’s lead to 15-13 after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
Things were much quieter in the second quarter as each team managed to come away with only one score. David Schumacher picked up a 52-yard TD reception from Papendorf to give the Foxes a 21-15 lead, but it was the Potter passing touchdown late in the first half that seemed to be the momentum swing. The Foxes appeared to be in great position to knock down a Hail Mary pass only to have the pass get tipped and hauled in by Brendan Bruen to give the Hawks a 22-21 lead at the break.
The second half was when fireworks really got started and it was the Foxes’ offense who touched the ball first. Whether it was Kapande getting the running game going, or Papendorf going to the air the Foxes seemed to have the Hawks guessing, FVL was moving it.
Papendorf hooked up with Martin for the 30-yard strike to give the Foxes a 29-22 lead. Martin finished with five catches for 137 yards and three scores. As was the case most of the night, it was a lead that was short lived as the Hawks continued to do what they do best with Potter starting to take things over on the ground.
He wasn’t the only one the Foxes had to account for with Mares picking up several massive runs, along with Hietpas who raced in from 15 yards out, to make this a 29-28 game after Xavier missed a two-pint try.
“It is very difficult to plan for that type of offense when we see our style day in and day out,” Jaeger said. “You can try to replicate your opponent’s offense as well as you can, but Xavier does what they do extremely well. It is hard to replicate that style in practice so when you see it in person you need to execute.”
Following that touchdown from the Hawks, it was the Xaiver defense that started to settle in as it began to make life difficult for the Foxes. However, with their offense turning the ball over on downs, Xavier couldn’t retake the lead and after a punt, Schumacher needed just one play to push the lead to 35-28 using a jump cut to get to the outside and used his speed to race 63 yards for the score.
It seemed like the team to have the ball last would win this game as another rushing touchdown from Mares put the Hawks up 36-35 after a converted two-point try.
Following another Martin touchdown reception from Papendorf to put the Foxes back in front, Mares responded as he followed his blockers to get to the outside before taking care of the rest for the 49-yard score as the Hawks retook the lead 44-41.
With less than five minutes to go and needing at the very least a field goal to have a chance, FVL wanted more as Papendorf avoided pressure before heaving a 42-yard bomb to Martin for a massive first down. Kapande moved the ball inside the five with a tough run and Schumacher finished off the drive with a 2-yard TD run. The extra point gave the Foxes a 48-44 lead with just more than three minutes to play.
Given how this game unfolded, three minutes may as well have been 30 minutes as the Hawks knew they needed to score and leave as little time on the clock as possible. However, with Mares and Hietpas churning up yards at will, the Hawks were inside the Foxes’ 30 with FVL left with no answers for the running game. It was at this moment when the biggest play was made and it came from the defense of FVL.
With the clock ticking down and the Hawks running the fast tempo they like to run, Xavier (2-1, 0-1 Bay Conference) elected to slow things down as they wanted to take as much time off the clock as possible. That allowed the Foxes to catch their breath just enough on the defensive side of the ball as Xavier put the ball on the ground with the Foxes (3-0, 1-0 Bay Conference) coming away with the recovery. Three plays later, the game was over as FVL picked up the first down it needed to run out the clock and sealed the deal in an amazing 48-44 win.
Potter led the way for the Hawks on the ground, racking up 246 yards on 34 carries. Mares (157) and Hietpas (102) also surpassed the century mark.
Hinkens on the decision to slow things down late.
“We thought about running the clock down so we ended up slowing our tempo down once we got in their territory,” he said. “Now that I have had a chance to look back on that decision, I do regret it as we should have continued to play fast. Every play on that drive we picked up big chunks of yardage to the point where I knew we would score unless something crazy happened. Something crazy happened which was a fumble and that was the game.”
Jaeger said that despite the yards given up, the defense did just enough.
“I was proud of our defense throughout the game, especially during that last drive,” he said. “Sure, we gave up a ton of yards, but our kids did a great job of listening to the adjustments we wanted to make. We made the play we needed to make at the end and that is all that matters.”
After losing the Apple Bowl last season 35-14, the Foxes are now bringing the trophy back home. which is all they wanted in this one.
“It is always a blessing to win this game,” Jaeger said. “With us being in the same conference now, this will have more meaning than it has had in the past. These are the types of games that make you better as a program and we will get better from here.”
The Bay Conference season will continue for both teams next Friday, Sept. 13, when Xavier hosts Seymour and Fox Valley Lutheran heads to Waupaca.
Foxes 48, Hawks 44
Xavier 15 7 7 15 – 44
Fox Valley Lutheran 7 14 14 13 – 48
First Quarter
FVL – Blessings Kapanda 7 run (Reagan Doriot kick).
X – Cole Hietpas 21 run (Ethan Bires kick).
X – Matthew Potter 1 run (2-point pass good).
Second Quarter
FVL – Nic Martin 12 pass from Lucas Papendorf (run failed).
FVL – David Schumacher 52 pass from Papendorf (Schumacher run).
X – Brendan Bruen 27 pass from Potter (Bires kick).
Third Quarter
FVL – Martin 30 pass from Papendorf (Doriot kick).
X – Hietpas 15 run (kick missed).
FVL – Schumacher 63 run (Doriot kick).
Fourth Quarter
X – Eli Mares 6 run (Bires kick).
FVL – Martin 36 pass from Papendorf (pass failed).
X – Mares 49 run (Potter run).
FVL – Schumacher 1 run (Doriot kick).
Individual Statistics
Rushing: X, Matthew Potter 34-246, Eli Mares 12-157, Cole Hietpas 12-102, Jonah Gentry 2-0, Luke Wolske 1-minus 2. FVL, David Schumacher 9-119, Blessings Kapande 17-75, Lucas Papendorf 4-6.
Passing: X, Potter 2-7-42-0, Mares 1-1-32-0. FVL, Papendorf 13-26-288-1.
Receiving: X, Brendan Bruen 2-59, Hietpas 1-15. FVL, Nic Martin 5-137, Jacoby Dobberstein 4-43, Graham Feidt 3-56, Schumacher 1-52.
Records: Xavier 2-1, 0-1 Bay Conference; Fox Valley Lutheran 3-0, 1-0 Bay Conference.