Witt-Birn football team unable to finish off Amherst

The Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School football team suffered a heartbreaking Central Wisconsin Conference-Large Division loss to Amherst on Sept. 9 in Wittenberg, losing 31-28 on a 24-yard field goal as time expired.

With Witt-Birn driving in the final minute, Amherst’s Sam Wangelin picked off a Chargers’ pass and returned it to the Witt-Birn 30-yard line.

After a short passing play and 14-yard scramble after a near Witt-Birn sack, a 5-yard running play set Amherst up for a game-winning field goal attempt, which Wangelin hit to send Amherst’s sideline into a frenzy.

It was an especially tough finish to a game the Chargers once led 14-0 and didn’t trail in until the final whistle.

“You got a fork in the road,” said first-year Witt-Birn head coach Jason Rieck after the game. “You either move forward or you’re going to go down the wrong path. It’s up to the kids — what are they going to do? How are they going to adjust and move on? The good thing is that it doesn’t end our season and I have a lot of confidence in our guys that we’ll step up, move forward and be all right.”

While Amherst scored on the game’s final play, Witt-Birn scored on its first offensive play. David Gauderman broke a couple tackles before rumbling 60 yards for a touchdown to give the Chargers a quick 7-0 lead.

Witt-Birn added to its lead early in the second quarter when quarterback Nathan Waupekenay found Marshall Fraaza for a 14-yard touchdown.

The hosts had a chance to go up three scores later on but a Waupekenay 54-yard rushing score was wiped out by offsetting penalties. Eventually Witt-Birn had to punt and Amherst capitalized with a late first-half touchdown.

The visiting Falcons opened the third quarter with the ball and tied the game at 14 after a touchdown pass on third-and-goal from the 13-yard line.

Just when Amherst had flipped the momentum, Witt-Birn got it right back on a 58-yard rushing touchdown from Fraaza.

Amherst answered with a touchdown drive of its own, running on all 10 plays.

The back-and-forth battle continued as Witt-Birn put together another touchdown drive. Waupekenay found Casey Kielman for a 21-yard touchdown pass to cap the drive and give the team a 28-21 advantage.

Witt-Birn’s defense forced a quick three-and-out, with Gauderman registering a sack on third down to end the drive. The Chargers’ offense wasn’t able to finish off the Falcons, though, as a penalty on a first-down play bogged down the drive and eventually led to a punt.

Amherst then tied the game up after a four-plus minute drive, with the touchdown pass coming on fourth-and-goal from the 11-yard line.

There was just under two minutes to play when Witt-Birn’s offense took the field at its own 27-yard line.

Gauderman received carries on the first three plays of the drive, getting the ball to the 47-yard line. Bryson Schmid got the ball on the next play and worked the ball to midfield, but a penalty moved the ball back to the 45.

The next play was a deep pass play up the left sideline that Amherst picked off, setting up the game-winning field goal.

The loss was a tough one to swallow for Witt-Birn, which felt it was the better team on the field.

“With last year losing to Amherst in the regular season too and then coming back and beating them in the playoffs, I think that will be a big thing to look at,” said Gauderman. “I think our whole team knows we’re the better team, we just missed some assignments and didn’t do our jobs some plays, and that cost us the game.”

Max Fraaza echoed similar thoughts, saying, “We just have to focus on our responsibilities. A lot of the plays were just blown responsibilities that they took advantage of.”

Both guys also thought the team could draw from what the team did after losing to Amherst last year, but just in a different fashion.

“We definitely can use it positively,” said Fraaza. “The guys that are on the team are not as experienced as the guys were last year. In the close games, you just got to pull through and we’re learning that right now.”

“I think last year, we relied heavily on Ben (Wesolowski) making plays, but I think this year it’s more of a team aspect of things,” said Gauderman. “We can’t rely on just one guy.”

Amherst 0 7 14 10 — 31

Witt-Birn 7 7 14 0 — 28

First quarter

WB: David Gauderman 60-yard run (Nathan Waupekenay kick), 11:37

Second quarter

WB: Marshall Fraaza 14-yard pass from Waupekenay (Waupekenay kick), 10:19

A: Matthew Glodowski 14-yard run (Sam Wangelin kick), 1:07

Third quarter

A: Jake Derezinski 13-yard pass from Glodowski (Wangelin kick), 7:25

WB: Fraaza 58-yard run (Waupekenay kick), 7:05

A: Glodowski 3-yard run (Wangelin kick), 2:21

WB: Casey Kielman 21-yard pass from Waupekenay (Waupekenay kick), 0:33

Fourth quarter

A: Aidan Jastromski 11-yard pass from Glodowski (Wangelin kick), 1:59

A: Wangelin 24-yard field goal, 0:00

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