It was grind-it-out football played in a whipping cold wind.
It was solid defense for four quarters.
It was Bears football.
The visiting Bonduel High School football team (7-3) upended No. 4 seeded Oostburg (6-3) 13-7 to advance in the WIAA Division 5 playoffs Friday night.
“I’ll tell you what, our team had a lot of resiliency,” Bonduel coach James Westrich said. “Oostburg is a great football team, there’s a lot of talent out there. I’m just glad we came out on top.”
Danny Tauchen scored twice for the Bears: on a 9-yard run in the first quarter to tie the game and the winning score on a 5-yard run on the opening drive of the second half.
Tauchen also had a hand in the defensive stand that sealed the game. Bonduel stopped Oostburg on fourth-and-6 with 2:18 left in the game, but the Bears couldn’t get a first down. On fourth-and-1, Bonduel tried to punt into the stiff wind, but Oostburg got the ball with 1:42 left at the Bonduel 28-yard line.
On Oostburg’s second play, quarterback Joe Smies tried to hit tight end Andrew Telschlow over the middle. Tauchen, playing safety, deflected the ball and cornerback Jacob Zeitler grabbed the interception with 1:33 left.
“Danny tipped it and it kind of fell right into my hands,” Zeitler said. “Then I realized that that was the game right there.”
Three kneel-downs later, the No. 5-seeded Bears were victorious. The win sets up a match next week with top-seeded Cedar Grove-Belgium in Bonduel.
Tauchen, a 6-foot-2, 175-pound sophomore, finished the game with 14 carries and 68 yards. Fellow running back Hunter VanderLinden carried the ball 32 times for 152 yards.
The offensive line, which includes seniors Race McClone, Jacob Wudtke and John Carpenter, provided plenty of push throughout the game. The first-half scoring drive went 65 yards. The second-half drive went 75.
In the second quarter, the Bears had a 81-yard drive, but a fumble on the Oostburg 1-yard line set up a wild, but scoreless quarter. Bonduel’s fumble was recovered in the end zone by Oostburg, giving the Flying Dutchmen the ball at the 20-yard line.
On the next play, Tyler Chaloupka ran 70 yards before Tauchen punched the ball loose and recovered it in the end zone.
“Danny made a great hustle play,” Westrich said. “Great things happen when you hustle like that.”
A few minutes later, when Oostburg got the ball back with 2:23 left, Bonduel would once again turn to its defense. Oostburg made it to the Bonduel 3-yard line, but was backed up to the 19 when quarterback Parker Gabrielse was called for intentional grounding. With 6 seconds left in the half, Oostburg attempted a 29-yard field goal, but it sailed wide right.
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