Coverage of Appleton East, Appleton North, Appleton West, Fox Valley Lutheran and Xavier high school sports.

Appleton North

Appleton North football cruises past Green Bay Southwest to open 2023 season

plecker

North receiver Abraham Tomori hauls in a touchdown pass during the
Lightning’s win over Green Bay Southwest on Thursday. (Photo by Paul
Lecker/Appleton SportsPage.com)

By Paul Lecker
AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – It was only the season opener, but the Appleton North football team looked to be in mid-season form.

The Lightning scored touchdowns on their first six possessions and held Green Bay Southwest to just 76 total yards as they cruised to a 45-7 victory in a nonconference game Thursday night at Paul Engen Field at Appleton North High School.

Senior quarterback Luke Kritzer completed 14 of 18 passes for 183 yards and four touchdowns, two to Caden Prince, as North dominated from start to finish.

Southwest was held to just five first downs, three coming on its opening drive of the second quarter, and scored its only touchdown on a 57-yard interception return by Braxton Murphy early in the fourth, when the Trojans were already trailing 42-0.


“We knew we had a chance to have some balance both offensively and defensively,” North coach Rob Salm said. “We have some experience on the offensive side of the ball, so our expectation was that we were going to move the ball consistently throughout the game. You still have to go out there and do it, and we did tonight, so I’m happy with the start.”

North drove down the field on its opening drive of the season, picking up four first downs and converting on third down three times. The drive ended with Kritzer connecting with tight end Jack Kangas for an 11-yard touchdown.

Kritzer hit a wide-open Prince for a 53-yard touchdown, Bobby Salm ran in for a score from the 13, and Kritzer tossed his third touchdown of the first half with 27 seconds to go, this time to Abraham Tomori from the 17, giving the Lightning a commanding 28-0 lead at halftime.

North started the running clock one minute into the second half. After an interception by Daniel Garrigan, which he returned to the Southwest 13, Kritzer connected with Prince again for a 13-yard touchdown.

With largely reserves in on the next drive, North went 48 yards in nine plays, capped by a 6-yard touchdown run by Gavin Zielinski.

Following the interception return by the Trojans, North kicker Ethan Nadboralski, who made all six of his extra point attempts, booted a 28-yard field goal to cap the scoring with 5:03 to go in the fourth.

North finished with 406 total yards, 216 on the ground from five different running backs. Jack Robinson led the charge with 70 yards on 14 carries.

“Every year, it’s hard to understand or get a feel of what the heartbeat of that team is going to be,” Coach Salm said. “We’re still trying to feel that out, but it’s been good. This is a good for us. The inexperience now, we can kind of put that to the side and build from this. We’ve got some good kids, so we are excited about the possibilities.”

North will host Green Bay Preble next Thursday, Aug. 24, at 7 p.m. for its final nonconference game.

Lightning 45, Trojans 7
Green Bay Southwest   0   0   0   7   –   7
Appleton North   7   21   14   3   –   45
First Quarter
AN – Jack Kangas 11 pass from Luke Kritzer (Ethan Nadboralski kick), 6:22.
Second Quarter
AN – Caden Prince 53 pass from Kritzer (Nadboralski kick), 10:15.
AN – Bobby Salm 13 run (Nadboralski kick), 1:47.
AN – Abraham Tomori 17 pass from Kritzer (Nadboralski kick), 0:27.
Third Quarter
AN – Prince 13 pass from Kritzer (Nadboralski kick), 10:55.
AN – Gavin Zielinski 6 run (Nadboralski kick), 1:13.
Fourth Quarter
SW – Braxton Murphy 57 interception return (Mason Hermes kick), 8:46.
AN – Nadboralski 28 field goal, 5:03.
Team Statistics
First downs: Green Bay Southwest 5; Appleton North 16.
Rushing (att-yards): GB 19-9; AN 38-216.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): GB 8-13-67-1; AN 16-22-190-1.
Total yards: GB 76; AN 406.
Penalties (no.-yards): GB 2-12; AN 3-25.
Fumbles (total-lost): GB 3-0; AN 1-0.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: GB, Ezra Krouth 12-22, Jacari Tidwell 3-3, Oliver Engels 1-minus 3, Caleb Sprutles 3-minus 13. AN, Jack Robinson 14-70, Gavin Zielinski 5-56, Bobby Salm 5-34, Luke Kritzer 5-30, Tyson Salm 6-26, Charlie Olson 3-0.
Passing: GB, Sprutles 7-12-60-1, Daniel Stevens 1-1-7-0. AN, Kritzer 14-18-183-0, Olson 2-4-7-1.
Receiving: GB, Dylan Collard 3-30, Daniel Cutlan 2-27, Ethan Richardson 2-6, Curtis Danforth 1-4. AN, Robinson 4-27, Caden Prince 3-72, Abraham Tomori 3-48, Brayden Hechel 3-15, Jack Kangas 2-26, Michael Guido 1-5.
Interceptions (defense): GB, Murphy. AN, Daniel Garrigan.
Records: Green Bay Southwest 0-1; Appleton North 1-0.