It didn’t take long for the Wittenberg-Birnamwood football team to add a win over a quality opponent to its list of accomplishments.
The Chargers opened the season Aug. 22 with a 33-13 win over Bonduel, a team that was a win away from playing for a state championship last year.
Bo Davis and Kaden Yaeger turned out to be an effective one-two scoring punch for Wittenberg-Birnamwood, as they had a hand in all five of the Chargers’ touchdowns.
Bonduel struck first on its first possession, as a long punt return set the Bears up at the Chargers 29-yard line.
Two plays later, Quinn Wesenberg connected with Mason Ballwahn for a 23-yard touchdown pass and the Bears had a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
The Chargers answered on their next drive with Yaeger’s 37-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion attempt failed, and Bonduel held on to a 7-6 lead.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood took its first lead midway through the second quarter, as Davis capped the Chargers’ third drive of the game with a 1-yard run. He was stopped on the two-point conversion try, but the home team had a 12-7 lead.
Bonduel had one more chance to score before halftime, as Carter Moesch’s punt return set the Bears up at the Chargers 12-yard line with just under a minute to go before the break. Wesenberg found Gavin Hundt in the end zone with no time on the clock and the Bears took a 13-12 lead.
That turned out to be Bonduel’s final time in the end zone, as the Bears came up empty on all seven of their possessions in the second half.
The Chargers took the lead for good on Yaeger’s 26-yard run with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood then closed out the scoring with a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Davis scored on a 47-yard quarterback keeper on the first play of the quarter and added a 75-yard pass to Yaeger to cap the Chargers’ next drive.
“We gave up that touchdown on the last play of the (first) half and could have just folded,” Wittenberg-Birnamwood coach Jason Rieck said. “They came out in the second half, really played well and wanted it.”
Although the offense came up with some big plays in the second half, the Chargers’ defense set the tone for the rest of the game.
“Our defense was phenomenal,” Rieck said. “We have a lot of guys returning from last year and we’re going to lean on them. They’re not known to throw the ball. They’re a good, strong run team. If you can take them out of that one-dimensional game and make them throw it, hopefully, good things are going to happen.”
Davis filled in for Bryson Schmid, last season’s quarterback, who injured his knee during the summer.
“He earned that last week at our scrimmage,” Rieck said. “He really stepped up and did what we wanted. We said we don’t have to use Kaden at quarterback with his speed. We can trust Bo.”
The Chargers also counted on running back Alberto Sanchez.
“We worked Alberto a lot up the middle,” Rieck said. “He was getting positive yards, and that’s going to open things on the outside. We didn’t dominate up front, but when you’re getting 3, 4 yards a pop, that’s going to wear on a defense, and you’re going to get a big play every once in a while.”
Both teams headed into the 2025 season after making the WIAA playoffs last year. Bonduel dropped a 34-29 decision to Grantsburg in a Division 6 state semifinal game, while the Chargers fell to St. Croix Falls 21-20 in the second round.
Bonduel is the defending Packerland Conference champion, while Wittenberg-Birnamwood placed second behind Division 5 state champion Stratford in the Central Wisconsin-Large Conference last season.
“They’re a great team,” Rieck said. “(Coach James) Westrich is a great coach over there, and we knew they were going to be prepared and disciplined. That’s why we have them on our nonconference schedule.”
Rieck expects this season’s CWC-Large to include a number of solid programs, including Stratford, Amherst and Weyauwega-Fremont.
“It’s a juggernaut conference,” he said. “You can’t take a week off. You have to prepare every week because one loss can cost you your playoff hopes.”
