The file below will take you to the FVA conference website > FDL HS conference schedules > standings > statistics > All-Conference etc.
www.fvasports.net/page/show/1251325-football
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2015 Varsity Football Schedule & Results Below
2015 Varsity Football Schedule |
|
48 – 0 |
@ Appleton East |
69 – 28 |
(H) Kaukauna (Hall of Fame Game) |
29 – 25 |
(H) Stevens Point |
21 – 0 |
@ Neenah |
26 – 7 |
@ Oshkosh North |
42 – 7 |
(H) Oshkosh West (Homecoming) |
26 – 21 |
@ Hortonville |
42 – 14 |
(H) Wisconsin Rapids |
21 – 22 |
@ Marshfield |
2015 Valley Football Association – South Conference Champions
VFA South Record 7 – 1 Overall 8 – 1
Outscored Opponents 324 – 124
Marshfield rallies past Fond du Lac
Marshfield 22, Fond du Lac 21: The Tigers scored with 30 seconds left, using a two-point conversion to take the lead, as they upset the Cardinals in Valley Football Association South play. Nick Hoheisel scored on a 10-yard pass from Tyson Slade and added the conversion run to give Marshfield the dramatic, come-from-behind win.
Fond du Lac, which was attempting to finish the regular season 9-0, led 21-7 at halftime before Marshfield made its rally. Justin Maratik led the Cards with 116 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Quinn Woelfel also rushed for 91 yards and two scores. Woelfel was 11-of-21 passing for 137 yards.
Hoheisel had 196 yards on the ground for Marshfield.
Fond du Lac…7 14 0 0 — 21
Marshfield…7 0 7 8 — 22
Scoring summary:
MAR— Braden Bohman, 26 pass from Tyson Slade (Zach McManus kick), 10:28.
FDL— Justin Maratik, 3 run (Joe Kuber kick), 5:05.
FDL— Quinn Woelfel, 20 run (Kuber kick), 10:34.
FDL— Woelfel, 11 run (Kuber kick), 0:31.
MAR— Nick Hoheisel, 3 run (McManus kick), 3:58.
MAR— Hoheisel, 10 pass from Slade (Hoheisel run), 0:30.
Individual leaders
Rushing: FDL— Justin Maratik, 23-116; Quinn Woelfel, 13-91. MAR— Nick Hoheisel, 32-196.
Passing: FDL— Quinn Woelfel, 11-21-1-137. MAR— Tyson Slade, 9-21-0-112.
Receiving: FDL— Ryan Collien, 1-39. MAR— Braden Bohman, 1-26.
WEEK 8 WISSPORTS.NET COACHES POLL
Released 10/13/2015
DIVISION 1
RANK |
TEAM |
RECORD |
LW |
1 |
Kimberly |
8-0 |
1 |
2 |
Arrowhead |
8-0 |
2 |
3 |
Franklin |
8-0 |
3 |
4 |
Fond du Lac |
8-0 |
4 |
5 |
Oconomowoc |
8-0 |
5 |
6 |
Bay Port |
7-1 |
6 |
7 |
Muskego |
7-1 |
8 |
8 |
Appleton North |
6-2 |
7 |
9 |
Middleton |
7-1 |
9 |
10 |
Milwaukee King |
8-0 |
Associated Press HS Football Wisconsin State Ranking
Large Division(enrollment 900 and up) |
1. Kimberly (12), 8-0, 120, 12. Hartland Arrowhead 8-0, 107, 23. Fond du Lac 8-0, 89, 34. Franklin 8-0, 82, 45. Waunakee 8-0, 77, 56. Menasha 7-1, 44, 67. Waterford 8-0, 42, 78. Muskego 7-1, 39, 89. Middleton 7-1, 20, T910. De Pere 8-0, 7, NR |
Maratik, Fond du Lac clinch VFA South title
For the past two seasons, Justin Maratik has made a name for himself as one of the top running backs in the state. On Friday night, he made his case as the best in Fond du Lac football program history.
Maratik rushed for 182 yards and three touchdowns, breaking two school records and tying another, as the Fond du Lac football team crushed Wisconsin Rapids 42-14 at Fruth Field, wrapping up the Valley Football Association South title outright.
Maratik broke the Fond du Lac school record for career rushing yards (3,561) and total yards (3,859) and tied the mark for career points (278), all set by Jacob Brault in 2001. With his big night on Friday, the senior running back now stands at 3,735 rushing yards and 3,948 total yards, with one regular-season game and the postseason still ahead of him. “I’ve had a great line all three years of my career and I’ve just got to thank them,” Maratik said. “They’re setting up holes for me and I’ve just got to say thank you to all of them.”
After Wisconsin Rapids (3-5, 2-5 VFA South) scored a touchdown on its opening possession, capping off a 68-yard drive with a TD scamper from Benjamin Olson, it was all Fond du Lac (8-0, 7-0 VFA South).
Ranked No. 3 in the Large Division of the latest Associated Press poll, the Cardinals showed precisely why they’re regarded as a legitimate state championship contender. Maratik scored the first of his touchdowns on Fond du Lac’s second drive, diving into the end zone to finish off a 29-yard run, and minutes later added a 60-yard TD dash.
Following a Red Raiders punt, Ryan Collien dashed and darted his way for a 60-yard punt return touchdown and the rout was on. Rapids did manage a decent drive on its next possession, but Devon Krzanowski intercepted Olson and Quinn Woelfel ran 58 yards untouched on the next play — extending Fond du Lac’s lead to 28-7. Krzanowski scored on a 15-yard pass from Woelfel just before halftime and Maratik added a short touchdown run midway through the third quarter. Isaac Pelot scored the Red Raiders’ other touchdown in the fourth quarter, but by then the Cardinals were already in the process of celebrating their VFA South crown.
“This is something these kids can take with them the rest of their lives,” Fond du Lac coach Mike Gnewuch said. “I’m proud as heck of what they’ve been able to accomplish and what these seniors have done coming from when they were in eighth grade, the program was 1-8. To be able to come and be undisputed conference champs is a great tribute to them and their work and accountability.”
While Fond du Lac began the game with a bit of thud, punting on its first possession and allowing the long touchdown drive to Rapids, the Cardinals responded like a championship squad does. “We didn’t come out with enough energy today, we’ve got to work on that for next week,” Woelfel said. “We’ve been down a couple times before in a game and we didn’t get worried. We just played our game.”
Fond du Lac outgained Wisconsin Rapids 413-240, running for 352 yards as a team on 35 attempts. Apart from Maratik, Woelfel finished with 88 yards on the ground and was 4-of-7 passing for 55 yards and a score. Thomas Grube led the Raiders with 64 yards rushing, while Olson was 9-of-15 passing for 102 yards. Isaiah Westfall caught five passes for 64 yards.
Although a conference title can be knocked off Fond du Lac’s bucket list for 2015, there’s a few more items to go before the Cardinals are satisfied — starting with next week’s regular-season finale, where the team can finish undefeated and possibly clinch a top seed in the WIAA playoffs. “We’ve got to get the job done next Friday,” Woelfel said. “Get the win and hopefully secure home-field advantage for the next three games. But we’ve got to get the job done Friday first.”
Wisconsin Rapids 7 0 0 7 — 14
Fond du Lac 7 28 7 0 — 42
Scoring summary:
FDL— Justin Maratik, 29 run (Joe Kuber kick), 3:11.
FDL— Maratik, 60 run (Kuber kick), 11:05.
FDL— Ryan Collien, 60 punt return (Kuber kick), 9:24.
FDL— Quinn Woelfel, 58 run (Kuber kick), 5:25.
FDL— Devon Krzanowski, 15 pass from Woelfel (Kuber kick), 0:04.
FDL— Maratik, 3 run (Kuber kick), 7:31.
Team stats
WR FDL
First downs…12 15
Total yards…240 413
Rushing…35-138 35-352
Passes (C-A-I)…9-15-1 5-8-0
Passing yards…102 61
Fumbles…2-2 0-0
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Individual leaders
Rushing: Wisconsin Rapids— Thomas Grube, 10-64. Fond du Lac— Justin Maratik, 15-182.
Passing: Wisconsin Rapids— Benjamin Olson, 9-15-1-102. Fond du Lac— Quinn Woelfel, 4-7-0-55.
Receiving: Wisconsin Rapids— Isaiah Westfall, 5-64. Fond du Lac— Devon Krzanowski, 1-15.
Fondy not looking to share
It’s become commonplace that coaches sometimes get doused with a huge bucket of water or some kind of sports drink after a historical win. But even after Fond du Lac was able to hold off Hortonville for a 26-21 victory last week, clinching at least a share of the VFA South title — the program’s first since sharing the 2002 Fox Valley Association crown with Oshkosh North — Cardinals’ head coach Mike Gnewuch walked off the field with his clothes completely dry. Well, at least for now. “I think it’s going to take a little more before they get me with that,” Gnewuch said. “This is a hungry group and they are not satisfied with the possibility of sharing the conference title.”
The Cardinals will get that chance to secure the outright title at Fruth Field today when it hosts a dangerous Wisconsin Rapids team. The Red Raiders have lost their last two games but come in needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. Gnewuch and his coaches were reminding the Cardinals of that this week in practice, as well as pointing out what a win over Rapids will earn them. “We’ve been talking how we want to be selfish and we want it all to ourselves. It’s given the kids a little extra motivation,” Gnewuch said. “We also know that Rapids is really playing for their life right now so we know we are going to get a fired up Wisconsin Rapids team. We’re expecting them to come out with a lot of energy and emotion and we’re going to try to battle that and play our football.”
Being able to call themselves conference champions was always a part of the plan when Gnewuch and his staff took over a struggling program in 2012. The Cardinals had won just one game during the 2011 season but are now one win away from winning an outright conference title and two victories from capping a perfect regular season. “Initially when we came in, it was get the program in order and qualify for the playoffs,” Gnewuch said. “Then you want to be in the upper part of the conference and win a playoff game. And the next step is, win conference and win a couple of playoff games. We’re following the progression pretty well.”
WEEK 7 WISSPORTS.NET COACHES POLL
Released 10/6/2015
DIVISION 1
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | LW |
| 1 | Kimberly | 7-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Arrowhead | 7-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Franklin | 7-0 | 3 |
4 |
Fond du Lac |
7-0 |
4 |
| 5 | Oconomowoc | 7-0 | 5 |
| 6 | Bay Port | 6-1 | 7 |
| 7 | Appleton North | 5-2 | 6 |
| 8 | Muskego | 6-1 | 8 |
| 9 | Middleton | 6-1 | 9 |
| 10 | Milwaukee King | 7-0 |
AP High School Football State Rankings Week 7
| Large Division
(enrollment 900 and up) |
| 1. Kimberly (13), 7-0, 130, 1
2. Hartland Arrowhead 7-0, 116, 2 3. Fond du Lac 7-0, 96, 34. Franklin 7-0, 91, 4 5. Waunakee 7-0, 82, 5 6. Menasha 6-1, 54, 7 7. Waterford 7-0, 47, 8 8. Muskego 6-1, 28, 10 9. (tie) Middleton 6-1, 18, 9 9. (tie) Chippewa Falls 7-0, 18, NR 10. Waukesha West 5-2, 12, NR |
Fondy clinches share of title
HORTONVILLE — The Hortonville football team was in position to shake things up in the Valley Football Association-South on Friday night. But the Polar Bears’ attempt at springing an upset was foiled by a last-ditch stand by the Fond du Lac defense in the Cardinals’ 26-21 victory over Hortonville at Akin Field.
The win earns Fond du Lac, the third-ranked team in the latest Associated Press poll among Large Division schools, a share of the South title with two regular-season games remaining. “I was just proud of how they responded to adversity,” Fond du Lac head coach Mike Gnewuch said. “There was a lot of things that we had to battle tonight between some calls that didn’t go our way and injuries and not executing on some plays where we got put behind the 8-ball a little bit. I’m proud of the way our kids compete and they’re just so resilient. It’s never over until there’s zeroes across the board.”
Hortonville trailed 20-8 at one point, but scored 13 unanswered points to start the fourth quarter. Polar Bears quarterback Braden Stoeger hit Max Flunker on a 3-yard touchdown pass and following an onside kick recovery, Flunker put Hortonville ahead 21-20 on a 14-yard scoring run with 5:45 left in regulation.
Fond du Lac (7-0, 6-0) took back the lead, parlaying a 45-yard pass play from Quinn Woelfel to Joe Kuber into a 3-yard touchdown run from Justin Maratik. Maratik had two touchdowns on the day, to go along with 25 carries for 222 yards.
Hortonville had one last drive to win the game, with Stoeger hitting receiver Joe Cliver on passes of 16 and 9 yards to get the Polar Bears inside the Fond du Lac 20. Stoeger’s pass attempt on fourth down was batted away, however, to preserve the Fond du Lac win. Stoeger was 17-of-30 for 181 yards and Flunker had 79 yards on 20 carries to pace the Hortonville offense. Kyle Witthuhn led Hortonville’s receivers with four catches for 66 yards.
Fond du Lac…0 7 13 6 – 26
Hortonville…0 0 8 13 – 21
Scoring summary:
FON: Keon Jefferson, 3 run (Joe Kuber kick).
FON: Quinn Woelfel, 12 run (run failed).
FON: Justin Maratik, 8 run (Kuber kick).
FON: Maratik, 3 run (run failed).
Team stats:
Fond du Lac
First downs 20
Total yards 389
Rushing 41-312
Passing yards 77
Passes 4-11-0
Fumbles 1-1
Individual leaders:
Rushing: FON – Justin Maratik 25-222.
Passing: FON – Quinn Woelfel 4-11-0-77
Receiving: FON – Nate Alhswede 2-22
WEEK 6 WISSPORTS.NET COACHES POLL
Released 9/29/2015
LW = Last Week
DIVISION 1
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | LW |
| 1 | Kimberly | 6-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Arrowhead | 6-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Franklin | 6-0 | 3 |
4 |
Fond du Lac |
6-0 |
4 |
| 5 | Oconomowoc | 6-0 | 7 |
| 6 | Appleton North | 4-2 | UR |
| 7 | Bay Port | 5-1 | 8 |
| 8 | Muskego | 5-1 | 10 |
| 9 | Middleton | 5-1 | 5 |
| 10 | Madison La Follette | 5-1 |
Here is The Associated Press high school football poll. The poll includes first-place votes in parentheses, season record, total points and last week
| Large Division (enrollment 900 and up) | ||||
| School | Record | Points | Last | Week |
| 1. Kimberly | (12) | 6-0 | 120 | 1 |
| 2. Hartland Arrowhead | – | 6-0 | 107 | 2 |
3. Fond du Lac |
– |
6-0 |
92 |
3 |
| 4. Franklin | – | 6-0 | 75 | 5 |
| 5. Waunakee | – | 6-0 | 74 | 4 |
| 6. Waukesha West | – | 5-1 | 54 | 7 |
| 7. Menasha | – | 5-1 | 40 | 8 |
| 8. Waterford | – | 6-0 | 32 | 9 |
| 9. Middleton | – | 5-1 | 16 | 6 |
| 10. Muskego | – | 5-1 | 13 | NR |
Maratik, Fondy top West
Play after play, Fond du Lac’s Justin Maratik would take the handoff from quarterback Quinn Woelfel, dart through an often gaping hole in the middle of the defense and then lower his shoulder in to the chest of a tackler. Play after play, Maratik was not only gaining chunks of yards but he was then punishing defenders for trying to stop him. Play after play. “Some people say you can only hit on defense,” Maratik said. “I disagree.”
Maratik finished with 157 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries to spearhead an impressive ground game and the Cardinals overcame some sloppy play to clinch a WIAA playoff berth with a 42-7 win over Oshkosh West at Fruth Field on Friday night.
The third-ranked Cardinals improved to 6-0 overall with the win and 5-0 in the Valley Football Association South, insuring Fond du Lac will finish with an above .500 record in the league – the prerequisite for qualifying for the postseason. The win also made it a happy Homecoming for Fond du Lac, which lost last year’s contest and even though the Cardinals may not have been as sharp as head coach Mike Gnewuch would have liked, he was definitely pleased to get the victory. “A win’s a win and we will take it,” Gnewuch said. “There were a lot of distractions this week and we weren’t as crisp and clean as we wanted. We’ll fix it and keep getting better.”
The Cardinals were sharp in their rushing attack, averaging better than seven yards per carry while totaling 328 yards against the Wildcats. Maratik, Woelfel and Keon Jefferson combined for 11 runs of at least 10 yards, including one stretch by Maratik that saw him tote the ball five straight times for double-digit yards.
After darting in from 10 yards out on the Cardinals’ first possession of the game, Maratik rattled off runs of 14, 17 and 17 yards to set up Jefferson’s 3-yard touchdown run. He then finished the string with a 13-yard burst on the first play of Fond du Lac’s next drive, which Woelfel culminated in a 45-yard touchdown dash that gave the Cardinals a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter. “Once we get in a flow and a rhythm, I feel like we can roll over anybody,” Maratik said. “The linemen are opening gaps that were just huge. I’m really not doing much work.”
The only thing more impressive than the Cardinals’ rushing offense may have been the job they did defensively shutting down the Wildcats’ running game. West finished with minus-24 yards rushing – sack yardage is included in rushing totals – and had zero or negative yards on 11 of their 20 running plays. “We’ve been able to establish the line of scrimmage on both sides all year,” Gnewuch said. “We still have some things we need to clean up defensively and offensively.”
Ryan Collien’s leaping grab in the end zone on a 23-yard pass from Woelfel with three seconds left in the first half sent the Cardinals into intermission with a 28-7 lead, while both Jefferson and Maratik added short touchdown runs in the second half for the final margin. Woelfel finished 10-of-15 for 103 yards, completing passes to eight different receivers, while adding 98 yards rushing on 10 carries. Jefferson finished with 61 yards on nine carries as Fond du Lac outgained West 432-104.
However, the Cardinals also had two touchdowns called back because of penalties, lost three fumbles and had a handful of pre-snap penalties. Still, they were able to emerge with a win, which is the most important thing. “The gameplan always is just to get the W,” Maratik said. “It was a little bit sloppy tonight, but we got it.”
Oshkosh West…0 7 0 0 – 7
Fond du Lac…14 14 7 7 – 42
Scoring summary:
FDL: Justin Maratik, 10 run (Joe Kuber kick).
FDL: Keon Jefferson, 3 run (Kuber kick).
FDL: Quinn Woelfel, 45 run (Kuber kick).
FDL: Ryan Collien, 23 pass from Woelfel (Kuber kick).
FDL: Jefferson, 1 run (Kuber kick).
FDL: Maratik, 1 run (Kuber kick).
Team Stats:
FDL
First downs…23
Total yards… 432
Rushing…45-328
Passing yards…104
Passes…10-15-0
Fumbles… 4-3
Individual leaders:
Rushing: FDL – Justin Maratik 24-157, Quinn Woelfel 10-98,
Passing: FDL – Woelfel 10-15-0-104.
Receiving: FDL – Caleb Goldstein 2-26
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WEEK 5 WISSPORTS.NET COACHES POLL
Published 9/22/2015
DIVISION 1
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | LW |
| 1 | Kimberly | 5-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Arrowhead | 5-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Franklin | 5-0 | 4 |
| 4 | Fond du Lac | 5-0 | 5 |
| 5 | Middleton | 5-0 | 6 |
| 6 | Marquette | 4-1 | 8 |
| 7 | Oconomowoc | 5-0 | 9 |
| 8 | Bay Port | 4-1 | 3 |
| 9 | Madison La Follette | 4-1 | UR |
| 10 | Muskego | 4-1 | UR |
Fond du Lac grinds out another win
OSHKOSH – Fond du Lac just stayed the course. Even though the Cardinals’ first seven positions produced just six points, they had nearly as many punts as first downs and they trailed Oshkosh North well into the third quarter, Fond du Lac just stayed the course. “That’s exactly what it was. That’s what we said all week, just stay the course,” Fond du Lac coach Mike Gnewuch said. “We just figured we had to be patient because we knew it was going to be a tight game.” The patience paid off as the Cardinals dominated the final 15 minutes of the game, scoring three touchdowns and forcing the Spartans into three turnovers en route to a 26-7 win on J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium on Friday night.
With the win, the third-ranked Cardinals improved to 5-0 and all but assured themselves a WIAA playoff berth with their fourth conference win. They can finish no worse than .500 in the Valley Football Association South Division and can officially qualify next Friday with a win over Oshkosh West on Homecoming. Yet, for much of the first three quarters, the Spartans were giving Fond du Lac all it could handle. The Cardinals had a strong opening drive that reached the Spartans 16-yard line before coming to a halt on downs, while the next two possessions were both three-and-outs.
A 66-yard touchdown pass from Quinn Woelfel to Joe Kuber – who got wide open behind the Spartan secondary – midway through the second quarter answered a North touchdown, but a blocked PAT left the Cardinals trailing 7-6. The score appeared to be an aberration, though, as Fond du Lac had to punt again on its next possession, had a drive stopped in Oshkosh North territory at the half and then punted again on its first possession of the second half. “They are big, they are physical and they are a good football team,” Gnewuch said. “Eventually, we thought we could wear them down a bit.”
Finally, things changed.
A short North punt set the Cardinals up at midfield and six plays later Woelfel – who had connected with Caleb Goldstein on a 38-yard pass to key the drive – plowed his way into the end zone from 1-yard out to give Fond du Lac its first lead at 12-7. The Cardinals then recovered a North fumble on the next drive, which turned into a 1-yard scoring run by Justin Maratik on the first play of the fourth quarter. The Spartans fumbled the ensuing kickoff – the second of three fumbles in the second half by North – and even though Fond du Lac didn’t score off the turnover, it was able to maintain possession and keep the Spartans offense off the field.
Over a span of 13 minutes in the second half, stretching from late in the third quarter into the fourth, Oshkosh North ran just six offensive plays and had the ball for a total of 48 seconds. Maratik, who churned out 94 yards on 25 carries, picked up his second 1-yard touchdown run during that dominant stretch. “Credit our offense for just grinding it out and our offensive line for doing the job,” Gnewuch said. “That doesn’t seem like too many plays (for North).”
Fond du Lac…0 6 6 14 – 26
Oshkosh North…0 7 0 0 – 7
Scoring summary:
FDL: Joe Kuber, 66 pass from Quinn Woelfel (kick blocked).
FDL: Quinn Woelfel, 1 run (run failed).
FDL: Justin Maratik, 1 run (Kuber kick).
FDL: Maratik, 1 run (Kuber kick).
Team stats:
FDL
First downs…13
Total yards…319
Rushing…57-144
Passing yards…175
Passes…8-16-0
Fumbles…1-0
.
Individual leaders:
Rushing: FDL – Justin Maratik 25-94.
Passing: FDL – Quin Woelfel 8-16-0-175.
Receiving: FDL – Caleb Goldstein 3-43.
WISSPORTS.NET FOOTBALL COACHES POLL Week 4
DIVISION 1
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | LW |
| 1 | Kimberly | 4-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Arrowhead | 4-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Bay Port | 4-0 | 4 |
| 4 | Franklin | 4-0 | 3 |
| 5 | Fond du Lac | 4-0 | 5 |
| 6 | Middleton | 4-0 | 6 |
| 7 | Oak Creek | 4-0 | 7 |
| 8 | Marquette | 3-1 | 8 |
| 9 | Oconomowoc | 4-0 | 10 |
| 10 | Appleton North | 3-1 | UR |
Fond du Lac grinds out win over Neenah
NEENAH – There would be no late touchdown needed this week. Fond du Lac’s defense held Neenah to 181 yards of total offense and Keon Jefferson scored a pair of touchdowns to lead the fourth-ranked Cardinals to a 21-0 win over the Rockets in Valley Football South football action on Friday night. Fond du Lac got its running game clicking in the second half and seized control with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns.
Keon Jefferson broke loose on a 24-yard touchdown dash to culminate a short Cardinals scoring drive on their first possession of the second half. Jefferson added a 16-yard scoring run — following a 61-yard pass reception by teammate Caleb Goldstein — with 3:42 left in the third quarter to finish off the Rockets. With Jefferson adding a second-half spark, Fond du Lac pounded out 131 yards. Maratik led the Cardinals’ ground game with 89 rushing yards and opened the scoring with a 5-yard run with less than three minutes to play in the first half. ”We know we can sting teams because they’re loading up the box on us,” said Gnewuch. “With us, it’s just be patient, be patient, be patient and we’ll catch you eventually. We were able to do that a little in the second half.”
It was the second shutout of the season for a Fond du Lac defense, which limited Neenah to just 76 rushing yards. Rockets quarterback Joe Jung had some success in the air, completing 14 of 24 passes for 105 yards, but was sacked four times and intercepted twice.
Neenah moved the football on the Cardinals, but had six drives stall inside the Cardinals’ 33-yard line, including three inside the Fond du Lac 25. Two of the Neenah threats were halted by Cardinals interceptions by Carver Nolan and Jake Walgenbach.
Fond du Lac…0 7 14 0 – 21
Neenah…0 0 0 0 – 0
.
Scoring summary:
FDL – Justin Maratik, 5 run (Joe Kuber kick).
FDL – Keon Jefferson, 24 run (Kuber kick).
FDL – Keon Jefferson, 16 run (Kuber kick).
Team stats:
FDL
First downs…10
Total yards…200
Rushing…33-131
Passing yards…69
Passes…5-9-1
Fumbles…2-0
.
Individual leaders:
Rushing: FON – Justin Maratik 22-89
Passing: FON – Quinn Woelfel 5-9-1-69
Receiving: FON – Caleb Goldstein 4-79
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Quinn Woelfel, Fond du Lac
Sports Quinn competes in Football, track and field.
Quinn’s week
The senior quarterback spearheaded a huge comeback win over Stevens Point last Friday. Woelfel connected with Justin Maratik for a 51-yard touchdown pass and the notched the go-ahead scored on a 3-yard run to secure the 29-25 win over the Panthers to keep the fourth-ranked Cardinals unbeaten on the year and atop the VFA South standings. Woelfel finished with 149 yards rushing on just seven carries, while also throwing for 73 yards.
All-time individual achievement
My sophomore year when we won our first-round playoff game when we weren’t expected to.
Qualifying for the state track and field meet last year.
No. 1 athletic goal
To make it to state for football.
Coach Mike Gnewuch’s thoughts
“One of the things about Quinn is that he never gets rattled. He made some mistakes early in the game, but he doesn’t let that affect his overall performance. He has such a calm about him that I think it allowed our offense to rally around him.”
Quinn’s thoughts
“I think the team is doing well. We still have stuff ro work on, we always have stuff to work on. As for myself, I just have to keep getting better.”
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Fond du Lac hangs on to remain undefeated in 29-25 win
It wasn’t pretty at times, but a win is a win and Fond du Lac head coach Mike Gnewuch will take it. The Cardinals, who turned the ball over five times in Friday’s game against Stevens Point, completed a rally to beat the Panthers 29-25 in a Valley South Conference game played at Fruth Field. “That’s going to happen, Stevens Point is a good football team,” Gnewuch said. “I credit them as well, they are well-coached and do a nice job, but those are some things we need to limit. We can’t turn the ball over and we’ll work to improve upon that next week.”
It took a great last effort for the Cardinals, who saw themselves down double-digits about to enter the fourth quarter. After turning the ball over their first three possessions of the second half, SPASH took advantage with 1 minute, 6 seconds left in the third quarter. A 1-yard touchdown run by Victor Kizewski made the score 25-14, and things were looking ugly for the Cardinals.
But Gnewuch could tell in the next huddle that his players weren’t finished quite yet. Sure enough on the second play after SPASH’s touchdown, Fondy’s Quinn Woelfel found Justin Maratik on a screen pass and the senior ran it in 51 yards to make it 25-22 – after completing the 2-point conversion – as the game headed to the fourth quarter. Momentum stayed and the tables turned as the Cardinals forced two late turnovers and used a 3-yard touchdown run from Woelfel with 4:53 left in the game to help clinch the win. “I’m so proud of the way the kids responded, we were down a couple times and there was a lot of adversity we had to fight back from,” Gnewuch said. “Going into the fourth quarter down 11, you could look inside their eyes and tell that we had a lot of football to play yet and there was a lot of fight left in them.”
It was a relief for Woelfel, who struggled through the air Friday. The senior quarterback threw four interceptions but made the play that counted late in the game. “It was a great team victory and being down in the fourth quarter, it was a great win having our team overcome adversity,” Woelfel said.
After Woelfel scored his 3-yard touchdown to give the Cardinals their first lead since late in the first half, SPASH threw an interception to Donte Johnson. Taking over on the opposing 30-yard line, Fondy had a chance to just run out the clock with about three minutes left. But Woelfel threw an interception on a third-and-long, giving the ball back to SPASH with two minutes left to give it a chance to win the game.
However, Fondy’s defense, which struggled in the first half, came up big again. On the second play, Fondy recovered a fumble to seal the win. Fondy’s defense only gave up 73 yards of offense in the second half after giving up 195 yards in the first. “I think they played a better second half than a first half,” Gnewuch said of the defense. “We made a couple of adjustments and the kids did a nice job responding to those changes.”
“We played hard,” said Johnson, who intercepted Beau Rosenthal late in the game. “It’s not about how you start but how you finish. We gave our 100 percent effort and there are a lot of things we have to clean up but that’s what practice is for.”
While Woelfel struggled through the air, going 3-for-13, his running attack is what sparked Fondy. On Fondy’s first two scores – a Reggie Hernandez 11-yard run and a Justin Maratik 4-yard run – Woelfel had two big runs (67, 64) to bring the Cardinals close to the goal. Woelfel finished with a game-high 149 yards on seven carries while Maratik had 57 yards on 24 carries. Maratik led Fondy with two catches for 61 yards while Ryan Collien and Hernandez had a combined 76 yards rushing on just three carries. SPASH got 96 yards and two TDs from Rosenthal, who went 9-for-19 for 75 yards through the air. Gus Turner-Zick finished with 83 yards on 23 carries.
Stevens Point…10 0 15 0 — 25
Fond du Lac…0 14 8 7 — 29
Scoring summary:
FDL— Reggie Hernadez 11 run (kick), 10:23.
FDL— Justin Maratik 4 run (kick), :25.
FDL — Maratik 51 pass from Quinn Woelfel (2 pt good), :07.
FDL — Woelfel 3 run (Kuber 2 pt), 4:53.
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Team stats
FDL SPASH
First downs…9
Total yards…348
Rushing…32-275
Passes (C-A-I)…3-13-4
Passing yards…73
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Individual leaders
Rushing: FDL— Quinn Woelfel 7-149-1; Reggie Hernandez 2-37-1; Justin Maratik 24-57-1; Ryan Collien 1-39.
Passing: FDL— Woelfel 3-13-73-1.
Receiving: FDL— Maratik 2-61-1.
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Maratik, Fond du Lac steamroll Kaukauna 69 – 28
It says a lot about how far the Fond du Lac football program has come when putting 69 points on the board and winning by six touchdowns qualifies as a minor disappointment.
But that’s where the Cardinals are at this point. Coming off a 48-0 Week 1 demolition of Appleton East and with the ultimate goal of reaching the state championship this year, the Fond du Lac football team isn’t satisfied with simply winning these days. The Cardinals want to play their best every Friday and if a 41-point victory comes in sloppy fashion, they aren’t happy.
“It was just one of those weird games,” Fond du Lac coach Mike Gnewuch said. “The first quarter was an hour long. It was raining the whole night. (Kaukauna) has some good athletes and I don’t think we came ready to play tonight. I really don’t. It took us a while to get going on both sides of the ball. That’s on me. I’ve got to make sure we do a better job getting these guys ready to play on Friday nights.”
Even with all that in mind, the Cards were something to behold offensively in their home opener Friday at Fruth Field. Led by Justin Maratik’s 275 yards rushing and four touchdowns, Fond du Lac overcame a shaky defensive effort to destroy Kaukauna 69-28 in a Valley Football Association game played in steady rain.
Ironically, Kaukauna (0-2), which plays in the VFA North, struck first as quarterback Coy Coffey smashed his way into the end zone less than three minutes into the game. But it was pretty much all Fond du Lac (2-0) after that. Maratik scored his first two touchdowns from nine and 19 yards out and quarterback Quinn Woelfel followed with a 16-yard scoring dash.
The Galloping Ghosts responded with a 53-yard touchdown pass from Coffey to Adam Smith, cutting the deficit to 21-14, but Woelfel found Caleb Goldstein for a 37-yard scoring strike to push the lead back to two scores at the end of the first quarter. Woelfel then hit Sam Frederickson from 46 yards out for another TD before blazing his way 68 yards on the read option to make the score 42-14 at the break.
Following another Maratik touchdown, this one a 40-yard jaunt, Kaukauna did make a bit of a comeback with two straight TDs. Midway through the fourth, Maratik snuffed out any hope for the Ghosts with yet another score and Keon Jefferson capped off the Cardinals rout with TD runs of four and 84 yards.
Fond du Lac piled up 600 yards of offense on Friday, including 507 on the ground, as three players — Maratik, Woelfel and Jefferson — went over 100 yards rushing. Jefferson finished with 131 and Woelfel had 101. “Our offensive line just really put the work in and absolutely rolled that team,” Maratik said. “They opened up great holes and I just ran. That’s all I did.”
Even with the game well in hand, perhaps the highlight play of Friday’s win was Jefferson’s 84-yard sprint to the house, which saw the junior escape a couple tackles and put the moves on a Kaukauna defender before galloping to the end zone. “We had good blocking up front and I just had to make a couple people miss,” Jefferson said of the play.
Woelfel finished with 93 yards passing and a couple TDs. Coffey led Kaukauna with 274 yards through the air, with Smith snaring six receptions for 144 yards. Calvin Swenson had 74 yards rushing for the Ghosts. Kaukauna totaled 373 yards and found a few weak spots in a Cardinals defense that looked rock-solid in last week’s win over Appleton East.
With Fond du Lac starting VFA South play next week against Stevens Point, Gnewuch and his team know that they will need to clean up some of their mistakes on both sides of the ball — even if they didn’t factor into Friday’s lopsided outcome. “We scored a whole lot of points and we won, but we were too sloppy,” Gnewuch said. “We’ve got to pay attention to detail and we always say it all comes down to the little things in the end. I hope we can get there. I think the kids can get there. We just need a complete team effort in order to do it.”
Added Maratik: “Tonight we were a little bit sloppy on the defense and in the passing game and we had a few penalties at the end, so we just need to work on everything, our overall game. We’re not that good yet and we’re hoping to make perfection.”
Kaukauna…14 0 7 7 — 28
Fond du Lac…28 14 7 20 — 69
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Scoring summary:
FDL— Justin Maratik, 9 run (Joe Kuber kick), 8:01.
FDL— Justin Maratik, 19 run (Kuber kick), 4:55.
FDL— Quinn Woelfel, 16 run (Kuber kick), 2:45.
FDL— Caleb Goldstein, 37 pass from Woelfel (Kuber kick), 0:28.
FDL— Sam Frederickson, 46 pass from Woelfel (Kuber kick), 4:26.
FDL— Woelfel, 68 run (Kuber kick), 1:41.
FDL— Maratik, 40 run (Kuber kick), 9:43.
FDL— Maratik, 15 run (Kuber kick), 5:57.
FDL— Keon Jefferson, 4 run (Kuber kick), 5:27.
FDL— Jefferson, 84 run (kick fail), 1:44.
Team stats
FDL
First downs…14
Total yards…373 600
Rushing… 45-507
Passes (C-A-I)…5-15-2
Passing yards… 93
Fumbles…1-0
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Individual leaders
Rushing: FDL— Justin Maratik, 27-275; Quinn Woelfel, 11-101; Keon Jefferson, 7-131.
Passing: FDL— Quinn Woelfel, 5-15-93-1.
Receiving: FDL— Caleb Goldstein, 3-39. Fredrickson, 1-46
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Fondy’s Justin Maratik looks to cap career at state
By most definitions, Justin Maratik is a star on the football field. Just don’t tell him that.
“First of all, I wouldn’t consider myself a star,” the Fond du Lac senior clarified. “As a team, I feel like we’re all stars on this team and everybody has an important part. We’re all stars in our own ways because everybody has to do their part to be successful.” He is, of course, totally correct. Football, maybe more than any other sport, is truly a team game. If the rest of the team isn’t pulling its weight, individuals — as talented as they may be — can be neutralized. But Maratik is still something special and for the Fond du Lac football team to reach the goals it has set for itself in 2015, he’ll need to be the player everyone knows he can.
Last year, in helping lead the Cardinals to a 10-2 record and trip to Level 3 of the WIAA Division 1 playoffs, Maratik rushed for over 1,900 yards and 21 touchdowns — making his name known as one of the premier running backs in the area. It was Maratik’s headfirst, never-say-die running style that defined an offense that averaged over 30 points a game. Again, for Maratik, it’s not about the stats or the accolades, which last year included 2014 Action Reporter Media All-Area Offensive Football Player of the Year honors. He and his teammates want to be the first Fond du Lac team to reach the state championship since 1987, which the Cardinals won 3-0 over Oconomowoc for their first and only gold ball.
“It’s not so much about the stats, it’s more where you end up at the end of the season,” Maratik said. “We want to make it to Camp Randall and that’s our goal for this season.” There are many factors that go into Maratik’s success as a player, both physical and mental. He’s strong, fast, has good vision and terrific instincts. Put all those aspects together and a season like the one Maratik had in 2014 is exactly what might be expected. Now, with the loss of a couple key offensive pieces from last year’s squad, coach Mike Gnewuch and the rest of the Fond du Lac coaching staff are trying to maximize what Maratik can do this year.
“I think his football IQ has really increased over the past couple of years,” Gnewuch said of Maratik. “He runs hard, too. He’s a really good I-back. He’s got pretty good vision, he’s got good balance. Now we’re just trying to put all those intangibles together. We’ll put him in spots this year where he’s not just going to be lined up behind the quarterback, he’ll be out as a receiver at times, he’ll be in the slot. He’ll also line up at fullback sometimes. Because of his knowledge and experience playing tailback for two years, we’re able to put him in some different situations now.”
As for Maratik himself, he’s excited about potentially playing slot receiver or even seeing some action on the defensive side of the ball this season. “I actually enjoy (the slot) a lot,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun out there. It’s a little bit of a different game, being out in the open and I just really enjoy it. Anywhere I can make the team better.” With his senior season just underway, Maratik is nearing the conclusion of his prep football career and is in the unique position of being a key piece on a Cardinals team that has legitimate aims at a state appearance.
As a kid growing up, Maratik hardly ever saw success out of Fond du Lac. Before 2014, the last time the Cardinals had a winning record was in 2009, when Maratik was in middle school. In 2006, the last time Fond du Lac made it to the state quarterfinals before last season, Maratik was in elementary school. Now, as a senior, he has a chance to lead the Cardinals to new heights.
“Throughout elementary, middle school and now high school, freshman, JV — all my brothers on this team, we all worked hard,” Maratik said. “Every single day, back in middle school, starting out football against other teams in the FVA, we always just worked hard and all the kids that stuck with it, we just kept working, working, working and we ended up here. “It motivates us a lot because it’s been a while since we’ve been in that position to make it to state. The thing that really motivates us is our fans. The last two years, we’ve noticed that there’s been a huge amount of support from the fans and that’s what really gets us going.”
Out of Maratik, Gnewuch simply expects the same qualities seen out of any senior, whether it’s coming from the starting running back or a role player coming in off the bench. “I just expect him to be a good senior leader,” Gnewuch said. “We know what he can do. Now, we want him to elevate his game and become that ultimate team player. At times, maybe it means he’s throwing a block for a quarterback or for one of the other running backs. Just become the ultimate team player because we know that he’s a pretty good running back and he’s had some good success, but now we just want him to become an all-around football player.”
Maratik is already out to a good start this season, rushing for 78 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 15 carries in Fond du Lac’s Week 1 48-0 blowout over Appleton East — sitting the second half with the game well in hand.
With his type of talent and work ethic, it’s no surprise Maratik does hope to take his football skills to the next level after this season, mentioning North Dakota State and South Dakota State as potential landing spots as well as a variety of other Division I FCS schools and Division II schools in the region. But before he does that, he’ll need to become the complete player Gnewuch wants him to be, a necessity for the Cardinals to reach their goals in 2015. “I know he wants to take his game to the next level and we’re trying to help him do that and trying to get him to become a complete football player in understanding the entire process of what it takes, not just learning his position,” Gnewuch said. “Learning everyone else’s position and making everyone else on the team better. We’ve been talking about that a lot. … If he focuses on that, we’ll be a better football team because we all know what he can do on Friday nights.”
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Fond du Lac shuts out Appleton East 48 – 0
APPLETON – The Fond du Lac football team was very good last year. This year, the Cardinals aim to be better. The Cardinals controlled every facet of their game against Appleton East, scoring a 48-0 win over the Patriots on Friday at Pickett Field. “Fond du Lac is good and we’re young,” East coach Pat Schwanke said. “Little things that we don’t do right are going to hurt us. That certainly happened tonight.”
Fond du Lac showed what it was capable of on its first possession, going 63 yards on 12 plays with Quinn Woelfel finishing off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Collien. On the next three drives, Justin Maratik did the bulk of the work, running up the middle repeatedly with Woelfel finishing off one drive with a 4-yard run for a score and Maratik scoring on 1- and 3-yard runs.
To start the second half, Collien showed he’s more than just a receiver, taking the kickoff back 99 yards for a touchdown and then picking off Patriots quarterback Seth Berven on East’s first play of the second half and returning it for a touchdown. Berven was given little time to find receivers as the Cardinals’ defense was able to consistently pressure him, preventing him from finding open receivers. “We’ve got a long way to go,” Schwanke said. “There’s a lot of growth I think you’re going to see by this team at the end of the year. There’s no question we got dominated on both sides of the ball and we’ve got lots of work to do.”
Maratik led Fond du Lac with 78 yards rushing on 15 carries, all coming in the first half.
| FOND DU LAC… | …7 | 21 | 20 | 0 | 48 | |
| Appleton East… | …0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
First quarter
FDL: Ryan Collien 4 pass from Quinn Woelfel (Joe Kuber kick)
Second quarter
FDL: Woelfel 4 run (Kuber kick)
FDL: Maratik 1 run (Kuber kick)
FDL: Maratik 3 run (Kuber kick)
Third quarter
FDL: Collien 99 kickoff return (Kuber kick)
FDL: Collien 30 interception return (Kuber kick)
FDL: Keon Jefferson 2 run (kick fail)
FDL |
||
First downs |
12 |
|
Total net yards |
240 |
|
Rushes-yards |
40-192 |
|
Passing yards |
48 |
|
Comp-Att-Int |
4-6-0 |
|
Fumbles-Lost |
2-0 |
|
Penalties-Yards |
2-15 |
Individual statistics
Rushing — Fond du Lac: Justin Maratik 15-78, Woelfel 8-57, Keon Jefferson 10-48.
Passing — Fond du Lac: Woelfel 4-6-0-48.
Receiving — Fond du Lac: Sam Frederickson 1-13, Caleb Goldsetin 1-16, Alex Ruppel 1-14, Collien 1-4.
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Fondy eyes shot at VFA South title
Since taking over the Fond du Lac program three seasons ago, Mike Gnewuch has had the Cardinals on a steady rise. After a 1-8 season, the Gnewuch-led squads have increased their win totals each year, winning three games in 2012, five in 2013 and then last year posting an impressive 10-2 campaign that included the program’s first trip to the WIAA Division 1 quarterfinals since 2006.
Yet one of the things missing from this rebirth is a Valley Football Association South Division title: something that is definitely on the team’s mind as it enters the 2015 season. “The seniors really feel like they have something to prove,” Gnewuch said. “They had a tremendous offseason, really worked hard and they have become good leaders.”
The year before Gnewuch took over, Fond du Lac had registered just one VFA South win. Last year, the Cardinals had six. But they needed one more to claim the school’s first conference title since sharing the Fox Valley Association title in 2002 and its first outright crown since 2001. The win that eluded them came in a 21-14 homecoming loss to Oshkosh North — a loss that still stings players and coaches today, but also a defeat that was a learning experience. “The kids were distracted and the staff, we saw it all week and kept harping on it,” Gnewuch said. We just came out with a lackluster performance. That hurt a little bit. But it opened their eyes to the fact you can’t ever take a break in the VFA South. It’s a rough, rough schedule. The Cardinals will have to wait until Week 5 to get a rematch with the Spartans – the game is in Oshkosh – but that’s certainly not their focus heading into week one. In fact, tonight’s opponent Appleton East hasn’t been necessarily at the forefront of their minds.
Instead, Gnewuch and his staff have been more focused on what the team does from Monday through Thursday as the key to taking that next step and bringing home a VFA South title. “The kids have heard me say it hundreds of times in that it comes down to practice. They have to come out with the attitude of being ready to be challenged every single day in practice,” Gnewuch said. “If we’re excellent on Friday night, it means we’ve gone about our practice with that idea that we want to be challenged daily.”
After a 10-2 season, the Fond du Lac football team is looking to build on that success.
It had been awhile since the Fond du Lac football team experienced the kind of success it had in 2014. Eight years to be exact.
Last year, the Cardinals went 10-2, finished second in the Valley Football Association South and advanced to Level 3 of the WIAA Division 1 playoffs — falling to eventual state champ Kimberly, 41-15.
Before 2014, the last time Fond du Lac made it as far as the D1 state quarterfinals was way back in 2006, when the Cardinals went 8-4, finished second in the Fox Valley Association and lost to eventual state runner-up Hartland Arrowhead 36-21 in that Level 3 game. It’s a pretty safe bet that coach Mike Gnewuch and the Cardinals have no desire for another eight-year drought. Fortunately, despite a bunch of key departures from the 2014 squad, Fond du Lac appears to be in pretty good position for similar success in 2015.
The Cardinals return 2014 Action Reporter Media All-Area Offensive Football Player of the Year Justin Maratik as well as a number of other important pieces on offense and defense, helping to offset some of the losses. But more than anything, Gnewuch thinks his team’s success will come down to individual attitude and work ethic. “I just think that if they come out with the attitude where we’re going to have fun every single day and fun comes by doing our absolute best and putting maximum effort into every single repetition and trying to improve daily, I think the wins take care of themselves,” Gnewuch said. “The score speaks for itself at that point. Our whole theme this year is ‘Win your individual battle.’ That’s what we’re really focusing on, whether you’re a wide receiver, whether you’re a defensive lineman is winning your individual battle. If every guy focuses on that, we’ll play some pretty good team football.”
The Maratik show
Arguably the most important returning player offensively for Fond du Lac is running back Justin Maratik, who last year ran for 1,918 yards and 21 touchdowns on 310 attempts and was a first team all-VFA South selection. Maratik seemingly got the ball every other play, recording multiple games with more than 30 carries, as he was the workhorse for an offense that averaged 34.2 points per game. That workload may increase in 2015 as he’ll not only be the primary option out of the backfield, but could also see more action in the passing game as well as on defense.
“I think just his experience within our system and his knowledge of our offensive scheme allows us to do some things with him where we can kind of feature him a little bit and put him in different positions where we may try to get him the ball in unconventional ways that he hasn’t done in the past,” Gnewuch said of Maratik. “I think that’s a huge positive aspect offensively. Defensively, he’s a pretty good athlete. We’d like to see if we can get him a few more snaps on that side of the ball this year.”
Life without Jack
Probably the biggest individual loss on the offensive side of the ball for Fond du Lac comes at the quarterback position, where the Cards will need to adjust without first team all-VFA South signal-caller Jack Nejedlo. In his senior season, Nejedlo was 93-of-176 passing for 1,520 yards and 19 touchdowns and also ran for 652 yards. That kind of production, and the leadership Nejedlo also brought to the mix, isn’t easily replaced.
But luckily, Gnewuch has already dealt with this exact situation. During the 2013 season, Nejedlo injured his knee early in the year and was lost for the rest of the fall. Sophomore Quinn Woelfel stepped in and performed admirably, even leading the Cardinals to a first-round playoff upset over Menomonee Falls. Now in his senior season, it will be Woelfel again, but this time it won’t be a trial by fire.
“People may forget that he started basically his whole sophomore season and won a playoff game when we were underdogs against Menomonee Falls,” Gnewuch said of Woelfel. “He’s got a lot of snaps under his belt at the quarterback position and he’s got great moxie. He’s really got a handle on what we do offensively so he may not have been under the center last year within our system, but he was still playing receiver and still got plenty of snaps on the offensive side of the football.”
A new line
While maybe the most prominent, Nejedlo is far from the only offensive departure for the Cardinals.
Along with VFA South Receiver of the Year Brian Luteyn (47 receptions, 921 yards, 10 TDs), Fond du Lac also loses its entire offensive line, including VFA South Offensive Lineman of the Year Peter Andrew and Aaron Wehner, a first team all-conference selection. Maratik may have been a stud in the backfield a season ago, but he got a ton of help from the big boys in front of him. He, along with Woelfel, will need to hope that the new line is able to gel quickly and provide a similar amount of push and protection as last year’s did.
For now, Gnewuch is just hoping the junior varsity players who step in are up to the challenge. “We lose five starters on the o-line between Peter and Aaron and Jace Laning, Charlie Immel and Wyatt Holzman,” he said. “So all five of those guys are gone, but our JVs were 9-0 last year and we were able to establish the run pretty effectively. So those JV guys will be ready, it’s just that they’re kind of untested when it comes to varsity reps.”
A change on defense
Although the offense will feature a bunch of new faces, it will still operate essentially the same. The same won’t be said for the defense.
Last year, the Cardinals played primarily out of a 3-4 base defense because of a strength at the linebacker position. In 2015, Gnewuch anticipates a switch to the 4-3 because of the graduation of players like Jason Toshner, Lucas Raube and Jacob Stadler — who anchored the linebacker corps. Fond du Lac does lose VFA South Co-Defensive Player of the Year Robert Windsor (56 tackles, 5 sacks) along the defensive line, but Gnewuch believes his squad will be a little stronger up front, prompting the transition to a 4-3. In the defensive backfield, first team all-conference safety Jake Walgenbach is back, as is cornerback Ryan Collien.
In allowing just 15.3 points per contest a season ago, it was Fond du Lac’s defense that was the difference in a number of tight games. That defense’s development just may hold the key to the Cardinals’ overall success in 2015. “I think our secondary’s pretty athletic,” Gnewuch said. “I think they’ll really be able to help us out with the pass game just because not only are they experienced, but they have great group athleticism between them. We don’t have a ton of depth in our front seven, but they’re good football players. They fly to the football, they’re smart, they’re coachable. If players keep developing the way they did over our contact days, I think we’ll be just fine.”
Aiming for the top
As successful as Fond du Lac’s 2014 campaign was, the Cardinals did come up short of the VFA South title, losing out to Oshkosh North. While maybe not a driving factor this season, Gnewuch acknowledged that winning a conference championship would be a great accomplishment for the team in 2015. But with the season only just beginning, that’s not even on his mind yet. “I think that would be nice to be able to put something with the boys’ accomplishments,” he said. “But to be honest, we’re just taking it one step at a time and we’re just focused on Week 1 right now and trying to put together the best possible game that we can play on Aug. 21.”
Fond du Lac Cardinals
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Head Coach: Mike Gnewuch, fourth season (18-13 overall record)
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Last year’s record: 10-2 overall, 6-1 in Valley Football Association South (2nd place), lost to Kimberly 41-15 in Level 3 WIAA Division 1 playoffs
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Returning all-conference players: Justin Maratik, rb, first team; Jake Walgenbach, db, first team; Tyler Miller, dl, second team; Mark Dilling, fb, honorable mention; Tanner Koenigs, dl, honorable mention; Ryan Collien, db, honorable mention.
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2015 Schedule: Aug. 21: at Appleton East, 7 p.m.; Aug. 28: vs. Kaukauna, 7 p.m.; Sept. 4: vs. Stevens Point, 7 p.m.; Sept. 11: at Neenah, 7 p.m.; Sept. 18: at Oshkosh North, 7 p.m.; Sept. 25: vs. Oshkosh West, 7 p.m.; Oct. 2: at Hortonville, 7 p.m.; Oct. 9: vs. Wisconsin Rapids, 7 p.m.; Oct. 16: at Marshfield, 7 p.m.
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