Two late scores push Neenah past Appleton East football
By Paul Lecker
AppletonSportsPage.com
APPLETON – The Appleton East football team led by one point early in the fourth quarter with an upset of No. 8-ranked Neenah on its mind.
Facing a key fourth down on the Neenah 32, East decided to go for it, as another score would have made it tough on the Rockets as time was ticking down.
However, Neenah was able to run down quarterback Alex Thompson for a loss, and turned around and scored touchdowns on its final two drives of the game to sneak out a 27-15 victory in the Fox Valley Association opener for both teams on Thursday night at Pickett Field at Appleton East High School.
Three turnovers helped East build a lead against Neenah, which was ranked eighth in this week’s Wissports.net Division 1 State Coaches Poll, but that one play changed momentum and the Rockets were able to immediately turn the table to grab the lead, and eventually the win.
“It really comes down to our offense,” Appleton East head coach Mark Krommenacker said. “We’ve got to be able to punch it in. Our defense had a huge interception, we were driving and it really was a lack of execution on our part. We had a couple of spots where we weren’t focused and didn’t do our job, and in football it takes all 11 guys doing their job. It’s disappointing. It’s kind of like the Menasha game (a 21-19 loss to open the season), we kind of gave them the game. We have a lot of work to do and another big game coming up.”
Neenah fumbled on its first possession near midfield, but held East, forcing a punt. However, the punt was muffed and recovered by Zach Carpenter at the Neenah 16. Three plays later, Brody Snyder ran in from the 11 and Daniel Dieck added a two-point conversion to put the Patriots on top 8-0.
Neenah responded with an 80-yard drive that bridged the end of the first and start of the second quarters. Ashton Van Beek hit Connor Briones for a 4-yard touchdown pass and the extra point cut East’s lead to 8-7, which held until halftime as a late Rockets’ drive ended inside the 5 on a fumbled snap.
The Rockets received the second half kickoff and went 65 yards in just six plays to take their first lead. A 45-yard run by Chase Collins brough the ball to the 9 and Van Beek scored from the 3 two plays later to put Neenah up 14-8.
The underdog Patriots immediately responded with an 80-play drive, led by their rushing attack and offensive line’s push.
After picking up a fourth-and-1, Kyreese White scampered 37 yards around the left end for a touchdown and the extra point gave East a 15-14 lead with 4:43 to go in the third quarter.
Neenah reached the East 18 before Thompson picked off Van Beek and returned it 42 yards to midfield.
The Patriots ran six straight plays to reach the Neenah 32, but Thompson’s scramble ended in a two-yard loss on fourth down, giving Neenah the ball back with 8:42 to go.
A pass interference penalty on East and a 36-yard pass from Van Beek to Caleb Schaefer set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Van Beek as Neenah took a 20-15 lead.
East failed to get a first down on its next possession, handing the ball to Neenah at the 27 and the Rockets were able to score again as Van Beek ran in for his third touchdown of the game from the 4 with 13 seconds to go to clinch the victory.
“We knew that when we were on offense, they were going to throw some different things at us,” Krommenacker said. “For the most part, we did some really good things, but it in some key areas we just didn’t execute. I think it’s just getting back to work, everybody focusing when we are at practice, when we are talking about specific jobs and specific roles. We need everybody all in, focused on what we need to do. If we execute, we will win football games.”
Appleton East (1-2, 0-1 Fox Valley Association) plays at Oshkosh North at Titan Stadium next Friday, Sept. 8, at 5 p.m. Neenah will host Kaukauna in a battle of undefeated teams on Sept. 8 at 7 p.m.
Rockets 27, Patriots 15
Neenah 0 7 7 13 – 27
Appleton East 8 0 7 0 – 15
First Quarter
AE – Brody Snyder 11 run (Daniel Dieck run), 1:01.
Second Quarter
N – Connor Briones 4 pass from Ashton Van Beek (Liam Wasco kick), 8:33.
Third Quarter
N – Van Beek 3 run (Wasco kick), 9:23.
AE – Kyreese White 22 run (Ben Smestad kick), 4:43.
Fourth Quarter
N – Van Beek 1 run (run failed), 5:08.
N – Van Beek 4 run (Wasco kick), 0:13.
Team Statistics
First downs: Neenah 18; Appleton East 6.
Rushing (att-yards): N 41-220; AE 38-135.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): N 10-19-180-1; AE 2-4-28-0.
Total yards: N 400; AE 163.
Fumbles (total-lost): N 3-2; AE 1-0.
Penalties (no.-yards): N 7-48; AE 3-25.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: N, Zayne Schmitt 12-74, Chase Collins 3-54, Aston Van Beek 14-58, Joe Drawenek 11-44. AE, Brandon Moua 15-49, Kyreese White 4-36, Anthony Burdett 7-20, Jacob Weisbach 8-16, Brody Snyder 1-11, Zach Carpenter 1-2, Alex Thompson 2-1.
Passing: N, Van Beek 10-19-180-1. AE, Weisbach 2-2-28-0, Thompson 0-2-0-0.
Receiving: N, Caleb Schaefer 4-111, Connor Briones 2-31, Luke Jung 2-19 Zayne Schmitt 2-19. AE, Cameron Scott 2-28.
Interceptions (defense): AE, Thompson.
Fumble recoveries (defense): AE, Brett Dietzler, Carpenter.
Records: Neenah 3-0, 1-0 Fox Valley Association; Appleton East 1-2, 0-1 Fox Valley Association.