Bonduel’s football season ends against St. Mary’s Springs

Bears shut out in second round of playoffs
By: 
Luke Reimer
Reporter

A 21-0 loss to the St. Mary’s Springs Ledgers ended the Bonduel Bears’ football season in the second round of the Division 6 playoffs on Oct. 28 in Fond du Lac.

The Bears enjoyed a somewhat unexpected playoff run, as they knocked off third-seeded Crivitz the week prior. In this game though, the Ledgers’ defense was the story. They held Bonduel junior quarterback Noah Weier to just 7-of-21 passing on the day, including one interception.

“This whole season has been a grind with these guys, with a lot of seniors in this program,” said Weier, recapping his thoughts on the year. “It’s just special — the game of football. You don’t get this out of any other sport. It is just a great time playing with these guys.”

As its passing game struggled to get going, Bonduel’s rush game was just as stagnant. The team totaled only 63 yards on the ground, as opposed to the Ledgers’ 183 rushing yards, with Levi Huempfner leading the way with 118 rushing yards.

While Bonduel did give up just short of 200 yards on the ground, the defense was better than the score showed. Bonduel started the game by forcing St Mary’s Springs into a turnover on downs after three straight rushes were stuffed. On Bonduel’s subsequent drive, three different Bears recorded carries before a reverse passing play was intercepted by St. Mary’s Springs.

St. Mary’s Springs then marched down the field, highlighted by a 15-yard rush from Huempfner. The 62-yard drive eventually ended with a Huempfner 10-yard rushing touchdown.

Bonduel took back over minutes before the first quarter ended, only to go three-and-out before punting on the first play of the second quarter.

The next drive for each team ended in a punt, before St. Mary’s Springs took over on its own 39-yard line. A fumble recovery from Bonduel on the second play of the drive set the Bears up for a scoring opportunity, as it took over on the Ledgers’ 45-yard line.

The drive eventually stalled, as two straight incompletions on second and third downs forced Bonduel to punt. Weier, who punts for Bonduel, downed the Ledgers at their own 2-yard line.

From there, St. Mary’s Springs once again worked down the field methodically, eventually making it to Bonduel’s 35-yard line. A false start pushed the Ledgers back, and then Bears senior linebacker Tyson Bogacz recorded an 8-yard sack, forcing St. Mary’s Springs to punt.

Getting the ball back before halftime, Bonduel senior Gaven Vance got heavily involved, recording a rush of 13 yards, a reception of 5 yards and a pass completion of 18 yards. In what became a theme of the game, Bonduel once again stalled, with Weier’s last two pass attempts falling incomplete.

Much like St. Mary’s Springs’ first drive, Bonduel turned the ball over on downs to open the half. St. Mary’s Springs built its lead as the subsequent drive ended with a 3-yard Huempfner touchdown rush.

A three-and-out forced Bonduel to punt — one that St. Mary’s Springs could not handle. The ball was recovered by Bonduel. The muffed punt seemed to revitalize the the Bears as the recovery was almost immediately followed by 12-yard reception from Vance to sophomore Cade Johnson. Once again, two incomplete passes ended Bonduel’s drive.

“We thought that we were in this game all week,” said Weier, on whether the muffed punt inspired any hope of winning. “That is the thing especially about this team — there is no negativity. It is just, ‘Forget about the last play.’ And to see us play hard all game, I couldn’t be more proud.”

St. Mary’s Springs eventual punt led to Weier throwing a interception to St. Mary’s Springs’ Sam Lucas. Bonduel’s chances stayed alive though, as a missed field goal gave the ball back to the Bears at their own 20-yard line.

Those chances to stay alive quickly diminished as the Bears were forced to punt, leading to 22-yard rushing touchdown from Jacob Holmes.

Bonduel could not recover, eventually turning the ball over on downs and ending the game.

“Every team that we have lost to this year is still playing,” said Weier, wrapping up the season. “We fought every game. This score does not show how hard we played this game, and I think that you look back and don’t look at the losses, but at how you grinded every single practice.”

Even though the season did not finish how Bonduel wanted, senior running back Louis Hrabik said that this was the most fun that he has playing football.

“It was a lot of fun; I had a good time with all of the guys,” said Hrabik. “It was definitely good memories, and we played hard all year.”

Finally, Hrabik said he learned how to be a leader from playing football in Bonduel for four years. In his leadership position, Hrabik gave a word of advice to those who will play for the team next year.

“Definitely keep coming up, don’t give up and keep working hard,” said Hrabik. “Do what you can.”

Bonduel 0 0 0 0 — 0

St. Mary’s Springs 7 0 7 7 — 21

First quarter

S: Levi Huempfner 10-yard run (Cole Rottman kick), 2:05

Third quarter

S: Huempfner 3-yard run (Rottman kick), 7:57

Fourth quarter

S: Jacob Holmes 22-yard run (Rottman kick), 5:29

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com