Appleton North football surges past Hortonville for fourth-straight win

AppletonSportsPage.com

HORTONVILLE – Appleton North overcame a slow start to score 24 unanswered points and used a spirited defensive performance to defeat Hortonville 24-13 in a Fox Valley Association football game Friday night at Akin Field at Hortonville High School.

Hortonville scored a touchdown late in the first quarter only to see the Lightning rip off four scores in a row to take control.

Charlie Olson hit Grant Hardy for a 49-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter and Gavin Zielinski tacked on a 1-yard touchdown run later in the period to give the Lightning a 14-7 lead going into halftime.

Appleton North (4-1, 3-0 FVA) tacked on 10 more points in the third quarter as Mason Skorstad drilled a 32-yard field goal and Jack Kangas caught an 8-yard TD pass from Olson, upping the Lightning’s lead to 24-7.

Hortonville scored a touchdown early in the fourth, but that would be it.

North picked off four passes and held the Polar Bears (1-4, 1-2 FVA) to just 45 rushing yards and 235 total.

Olson finished 19-for-27 for 229 yards and the two touchdowns, with Hardy hauling in five balls for 103 yards. Bobby Salm led the North rushing attack with 72 yards as the Lightning finished with 380 total yards in the win, their fourth in a row.

Appleton North will host Neenah (3-2, 2-1 FVA) next Friday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. at Paul Engen Field. Click here to view the Fox Valley Association football standings

Lightning 24, Polar Bears 13
Appleton North   0   14   10   0   –   24
Hortonville   7   0   0   6   –   13
First Quarter
H – Reggie Kloehn 1 pass from Broden Butzin (Paul Grasse kick), 1:22.
Second Quarter
AN – Grant Hardy 49 pass from Charlie Olson (Mason Skorstad kick), 11:50.
AN – Gavin Zielinski 1 run (Skorstad kick), 3:37.
Third Quarter
AN – Skorstad 32 field goal, 7:28.
AN – Jack Kangas 8 pass from Olson (Skorstad kick), 1:29.
Fourth Quarter
H – Tristan Berrens 1 run (kick failed), 9:38.
Team Statistics
First downs: AN 19; H 15.
Rushing (att-yards): AN 31-142; H 17-45.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): AN 20-29-238-2; H 21-34-190-4.
Total yards: AN 380; H 235.
Penalty yards: AN 15; H 8.
Fumbles lost: AN none; H none.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: AN, Bobby Salm 7-72, Gavin Zielinski 7-35, Charlie Olson 5-20, Grant Hardy 3-9, D.J. Wilson 7-8, Team 2-minus 2. H, Tristan Berrens 7-23, Broden Butzin 3-19, Levi Strange 3-8, A.J. Pfeifer 3-2, Team 1-minus 7.
Passing: AN, Olson 19-27-229-1, Hardy 1-2-9-1. H, Butzin 17-27-147-4, Pfeifer 4-7-43-0.
Receiving: AN, Hardy 5-103, Zielinski 4-36, Abraham Tomori 3-11, Sam Schmalz 2-25, Kaden Hackbarth 2-24, Jack Kangas 2-18, Keegan Muchow 1-17, Michael Guido 1-4. H, Collin Xiong 7-64, Isaac Behnke 4-24, Berrens 2-44, Levi Hebbe 2-14, Jon Englebert 1-17, Strange 1-17, Abram Daniels 1-5, Connor Christensen 1-3, Reggie Kloehn 1-1, Ashton Vallner 1-1.
Interceptions (defense): AN, Daniel Garrigan, Eli Vezina, Brady Golden, Jabari Hammond. H, Calen Plamann, Jace Frenkel.
Records: Appleton North 4-1, 3-0 Fox Valley Association; Hortonville 1-4, 1-2 Fox Valley Association.