In a league that also includes perennial playoff teams Stratford, Amherst, Colby and Wittenberg-Birnamwood, the Weyauwega-Fremont football team was looking to make some noise in its Central Wisconsin-Large Conference opener.
The Warhawks made plenty of noise at the expense of Wittenberg-Birnamwood on Sept. 4 by scoring on four of its first five possessions in a 35-6 win over the Chargers in Weyauwega.
Weyauwega-Fremont improved to 3-0 on the season with the win, while the Chargers fell to 1-2.
Not even a 40-minute lightning delay late in the second quarter could keep the Warhawks from finding the end zone.
The first of five straight touchdown drives for the Warhawks ended with Carter Birdyshaw’s 9-yard quarterback keeper midway through the first quarter.
A fumble on the Chargers’ first play recovered by Jason Hansen gave the Warhawks the ball at the Wittenberg-Birnamwood 17-yard line, and DeWayne Borntreger capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that gave the home team a 14-0 lead with 2:24 left in the first quarter.
Injuries early in the game ended up taking a toll on the Chargers, coach Jason Rieck said.
“I think we lost four starters to injuries in the first quarter,” he said. “It’s hard to rebound from that, but it’s the next guy up. They have to come ready to play, and we tip our hat to Weyauwega. They were a physical team.”
After forcing a punt, the Warhawks scored again on their next drive on Andy Rosenwinkel’s 4-yard run midway through the second quarter.
Another Wittenberg-Birnamwood fumble set the Warhawks up on their own 48-yard line, and Birdyshaw found the end zone again on a 19-yard run to make it 28-0.
Mistakes — including turnovers and missed assignments — also hurt the team, Rieck said.
“We talk about eliminating mistakes,” he said. “They score, we get the ball, we turn it over. It’s tough to rebound from that, especially when you have a lot of young guys in there due to injuries.”
The lightning delay began after Birdyshaw’s score with 4:41 remaining in the first half.
An interception ended the Chargers’ next drive, but Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Max Kasprak picked off a Birdyshaw pass to end the first half.
Weyauwega-Fremont’s final score came on its first drive of the second half, as Birdyshaw found Tyson Quick for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 2½ minutes to go in the third quarter.
That touchdown started a running clock, and the Chargers avoided the shutout on Matthew Eastman’s 10-yard run with 5:14 to go in the game.
The Chargers will head to Stratford on Sept. 11 to face the Tigers, one of the favorites to win a CWC-Large championship.
Rieck said it doesn’t matter what team is next on the schedule.
“This conference is no joke, and you have to prepare every week,” he said. “I think every week is a battle. Every win is a big win. There isn’t a time to take it easy. Last time we had a loss, we bounced back and played really good football. The best thing about athletics is another day. Learn from it, get better and hopefully, we’ll improve next week.”
Reid Huffman lines up as a defensive end for Wittenberg-Birnamwood against Weyauwega-Fremont’s offense. (Greg Seubert)
