Fourth-quarter surge pushes Neenah past Appleton North football
By Dustin Riese
AppletonSportsPage.com
APPLETON –Two of the premiere football programs in the Fox Valley Association – Appleton North and Neenah – squared off on Friday at North High School as both teams were hoping to remain in the conference title race.
Whenever these teams get together, the defense reigns supreme as the Rockets picked up a 7-6 win against the Lightning last season. Through three quarters, it was the two defenses that continued to live up to the hype as the Lightning held a 14-10 lead with only one quarter to go.
That is when the rushing duo of Grant Dean and Evan Vanevanhoven began to take over Neenah as a pair of 10-plus play drives were capped off by two Dean touchdowns and proved to be the difference in a 25-14 win for the Rockets.
“We had great effort for spurts,” Appleton North head coach Robert Salm said. “We didn’t maintain the effort needed throughout the game to be successful.”
This was one of those games where any mistake could prove costly and with Appleton North putting the ball on the ground on its opening possession, it was the Rockets taking over close to midfield. While Dean and Vanevenhoven were the focal points of the ensuing drive, Bennett Stuckel had the biggest play as his massive first down catch moved the ball inside the Lightning 20. A few plays later, it was Vanevenhoven finishing things off as his 1-yard TD gave the Rockets a 7-0 lead midway through the first.
While the rushing attack of the Rockets set the tone for Neenah, it was the aerial attack of the Lightning that got the ball rolling as quarterback Charlie Olson came out firing. Two completions to Keegan Muchow had the Lighting in business as they moved the ball inside Rockets’ territory. Olson continued to use his arm to move the ball, finding Gavin Zielinski and Grant Hardy for two more first downs as the Lightning had the ball inside the Neenah 40.
Three plays later, it was the Olson-to-Muchow hookup coming through again as Muchow hauled in his third completion of the drive and followed his blockers for a 23-yard TD pass to even the score at 7-7. That would be all of the points for the Lightning in the first half as Neenah dominated the second quarter.
That started with a 37-yard hookup from Vanevenhoven to Ashton Van Beek, which set things up for what appeared to be an 11-yard TD run from Dean, only to have a holding penalty take that play off the board.
Neenah managed to come away with points on that drive as Jack Klundt drilled a 35-yard field goal to put the Rockets in front 10-7. With time winding down in the first and having possession again, Vanevenhoven turned in one of the best plays of the night as he managed to escape what appeared to be a sack and turned it into a 26-yard first down run.
It was a play that went to waste as Vanevenhoven fired one to the end zone and North defensive back Sean Hansen managed to come down with an interception to end the first half with the Rockets in front 10-7.
Hoping to use that interception to their advantage, the Lightning not only got the ball to start the second half, but turned in a massive drive as they chewed up nearly nine minutes of clock and needed 17 plays to go 80 yards. DJ Wilson got the drive started with a few solid runs, which opened things up for Olson and the passing game. Hardy played a role in that by picking up a first down on a screen play before Abraham Tomori got free over the middle for another huge gain.
Facing a first and goal situation, things didn’t come easy for the Lighting as the Rockets made them work for every yard. Eventually, Wilson managed to get that final yard as his 1-yard touchdown gave the Lightning a 14-10 lead and 3:10 remaining in the third.
Salm talked about the defensive effort for the Rockets and just how tough they make things for any offense.
“Neenah has 11 kids completely bought into playing tough disciplined defense,” he said.
Despite trailing for the first time in the game, the Rockets offense not only had an answer, but had an answer in a big way as it was their turn to put together a long drive and took six minutes off the clock on 12 plays.
Vanevenhoven continued to set the tone with a pair of first-down runs to put the ball inside the North 20. That is when Dean began to take over as he not only put the Rockets back in front for good with an 11-yard burst, but also pulled in the two-point reception to give the Rockets an 18-14 lead.
Following another defensive stop by the Rockets, they turned to Vanevenhoven and Dean on the offensive end. Even when you know what is coming, that duo is nearly impossible to stop as they combined for nearly 200 combined yards rushing and three scores.
“Neenah is very difficult to defend simply because you have to be perfect,” Salm said. “The skill Dean and Vanevenhoven bring to the field can turn a potential loss into six points and you can’t focus on stopping just one.”
With the clock ticking down and needing a stop to have a shot at winning this game, North made things tough for the Rockets, but in the end it was Dean finding a way to plow in from 2 yards out for his second TD of the quarter as the Rockets extended their lead to 25-14 with just over a minute to go. That would be all they would need as time ran out on the North offense and its four-game winning streak came to an end. North (4-2, 3-1 FVA) knows its conference title hopes are still alive, but it is going to take some work the remaining three weeks.
“Simply, we need to have greater effort and commitment from every single player in the program,” Salm said. “There must be a focus on being present and intentional with all areas on our team. You can’t go in and hope things get better. You must control what you can control with an incredible amount of focus and effort. When you make that commitment as a team for your teammates, good things will happen.”
Things won’t get any easier for the Lightning next week as they travel to Kaukauna on Oct. 4. The Ghosts are one of two unbeaten teams left in conference play as the Lightning need to win that game to keep their title hopes alive. Neenah will face off with the other unbeaten in Kimberly.
Rockets 25, Lightning 14
Neenah 7 3 0 15 – 25
Appleton North 7 0 7 0 – 14
First Quarter
N – Evan Vanevenhoven 1 run (Jack Klundt kick).
AN – Keegan Muchow 23 pass from Charlie Olson (Mason Skorstad kick).
Second Quarter
N – Klundt 35 field goal.
Third Quarter
AN – DJ Wilson 1 run (Skorstad kick).
Fourth Quarter
N – Grant Dean 11 run (Dean pass from Vanevenhoven).
N – Dean 2 run (Klundt kick).
Team Statistics
First downs: N 16; AN 12.
Rushing (att-yards): N 38-188; AN 21-74.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): N 7-11-97-1; AN 15-27-144-0.
Total yards: N 285; AN 218.
Fumbles lost: N 0; AN 1.
Penalties (no.-yards): N 3-19; AN 4-27.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: N, Evan Vanevenhoven 18-98, Grant Dean 15-79, Dray Hannan 3-13, Team 1-0, Matthias Charles 1-minus 2. AN, Charlie Olson7-37, D.J. Wilson 10-27, Gavin Zielinski 3-6, Bobby Salm 1-4.
Passing: N, Vanevenhoven 7-11-97-1. AN, Olson 15-27-144-0.
Receiving: N, Bennett Stuckel 2-35, Charles 2-23, Ashton Beek 1-36, Dean 1-4, Luke Jung 1-minus 1. AN, Grant Hardy 4-37, Keegan Muchow 3-43, Michael Guido 3-10, Abraham Tomori 2-33, Zielinski 2-22, Sam Schmalz 1-minus 1.
Fumble recovery (defense): N, Dean.
Interceptions (defense): AN, Sean Hansen.
Records: Neenah 4-2, 3-1 Fox Valley Association; Appleton North 4-2, 3-1 Fox Valley Association.