The Gillett Secondary School football team took advantage of four interceptions en route to a 53-0 halftime lead Saturday at Menominee Indian High School.
While the Eagles held Gillett to six points in the second half, the offense never got untracked in the 59-0 nonconference drubbing.
Senior Matt Peterson said the Tigers went into the game wanting to apply pressure on Menominee Indian’s freshman quarterback, Avery Corn, who threw four interceptions in the first half before being replaced by senior Domonic Caldwell.
“That is always the game plan, early on,” Peterson said. “With this team we were really concerned about their passing game, so we really practiced with that a lot.”
Eagles coach Chris Clache said he still has confidence in Corn.
“He had a rough first half, and he will bounce back. He will be my starter next week,” Clache said. “He is a freshman and got a little rattled. He is good at times, but he just had a rough game.”
Corn’s interceptions were just four of Menominee Indian’s seven turnovers that helped create a 53-0 halftime deficit.
“We are not designed to come from behind that far. There are no plays that can counter that,” Clache said.
Gillett coach Rick Kamps said the Tigers knew they needed to control the line of scrimmage and contain Eagles running back Alphonso Smith.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior was held to 37 yards rushing on 11 carries for Menominee Indian (0-4, 0-2 Northern Lakes).
“There were times when we ran the ball pretty well,” Clache said, “but they kind of shut down our passing game. … We had some new guys in different positions. … It kind of snowballed from there.”
Junior running back Bryan Madosh had three carries for 25 of the Eagles’ 76 rushing yards.
Monte Noffke had another big game for Gillett (4-0, 2-0 Marinette & Oconto Conference), scoring four touchdowns, bringing his season total to 11, despite missing last week’s game due to a concussion.
The 5-foot-8, 165-pound senior had a 48-yard scoring run in the first quarter, plus TD runs of 7, 6 and 2 yards, all in the opening half. He finished with 121 yards on 13 carries.
Junior quarterback Alex Zeitler completed five passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns, including a 50-yard connection with senior running back Akeem Bates with seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
“Zeitler had a great game, again,” Kamps said. “When throwing the ball, he has not turned the ball over. He is phenomenal. I cannot say enough about him.”
Two of the TD passes went to Peterson, who had two catches for 61 yards and two rushes for 14 yards. Peterson also scored on a 36-yard interception return.
Corn (5-foot-11, 150 pounds) completed six passes for 55 yards before being replaced by Caldwell.
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