Undefeated Winneconne surges past Xavier football

AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – Winneconne scored five unanswered touchdowns in the first half to open up a big lead and went on to defeat Xavier 37-19 in a Bay Conference football game Friday night at Rocky Bleier Field at Xavier High School.

The Wolves remain perfect at 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the Bay Conference, while Xavier’s postseason hopes are now teetering as it drops to 3-3 and 1-3 in conference play.

Xavier will need to win its final three games – at Shawano on Oct. 4, at Two Rivers on Oct. 10, and at home against Waupaca on Oct. 18 – to earn an automatic spot in the WIAA playoffs. Two wins would put the Hawks in consideration with a 3-4 conference record if not enough teams statewide earn automatic berths.

Cole Hietpas scored on a 23-yard run in the first quarter to give Xavier the early lead, but from there it was all Winneconne.

Quarterback Brody Schaffer tied the game with a 1-yard touchdown run, and the Wolves scored four times in the second quarter as Bryce Jones had a 70-yard scoring run, Schaffer took it 73 yards for another big play TD, and then threw a pair of touchdown passes as Winneconne surged to a 35-7 lead. Both Schaffer (155) and Jones (131) topped the century mark rushing.

Xavier picked up two late touchdowns on long runs of 50 and 45 yards by its quarterback, Matthew Potter, who finished with an even 200 yards on the ground.

Wolves 37, Hawks 19
Winneconne   7   28   2   0   –   37
Xavier   7   0   0   12   –   19
First Quarter
X – Cole Hietpas 23 run (Ethan Bires kick).
W – Brody Schaffer 1 run (Andrew Dorn kick).
Second Quarter
W – Bryce Jones 70 run (Dorn kick).
W – Schaffer 73 run (Dorn kick).
W – Ryan Quigley 15 pass from Schaffer (Dorn kick).
W – Kaden Carder 15 pass from Schaffer (Dorn kick).
Third Quarter
W – Safety.
Fourth Quarter
X – Matthew Potter 50 run (PAT failed).
X – Potter 45 run (PAT failed).
Individual Statistics
Rushing: W, Brody Schaffer 8-155, Bryce Jones 15-131, Jovan Zeller 3-0. X, Matthew Potter 28-200, Eli Mares 10-45, Cole Hietpas 6-76, Luke Wolske 3-16, Carter Appl 1-minus 4.
Passing: W, Schaffer 12-16-129-0. X, Potter 4-13-55-1.
Receiving: W, Jack Quigley 3-48, Ryan Quigley 3-37, Kaden Carder 2-21, Charlie Roubidoux 2-6, Zeller 1-5, Jordan Nettekovan 1-12. X, Hietpas 3-54, Jonah Gentry 1-1.
Interceptions (defense): W, Schaffer.
Records: Winneconne 6-0, 4-0 Bay Conference; Xavier 3-3, 1-3 Bay Conference.