For the fourth-straight time, the Bonduel High School football team was defeated by Central Wisconsin-Conference-8 foe Shiocton, losing 27-7 Friday in Bonduel.
It was a far cry from last year’s 47-0 drubbing in Shiocton, but special teams miscues and turnovers were too much for the Bears to overcome.
“They’re a great football team,” Bonduel coach James Westrich said. “They make you beat them; they don’t beat themselves. That’s what we did today a little bit.”
Bonduel’s day started well, forcing a turnover on downs and getting a quick score when senior quarterback Colton Dobratz (6-foot, 160 pounds) found senior receiver Connor Rosin (6-2, 195 pounds) for a 26-yard touchdown. Dobratz would finish with 51 yards on 9 of 25 passing.
Bonduel relied on its defense to keep the lead, forcing back-to-back punts even after a Dobratz interception gave Shiocton good field position.
In the second quarter, though, Shiocton got on the scoreboard. Quarterback Brandon Spencer (5-7, 130 pounds) found Austin Riehl for a 15-yard touchdown throw that tied the game. Later Luis Leon would make a 38-yard field goal to put the Chiefs up 10-7 at halftime.
While the defense continued to force punts, Bonduel’s offense struggled to get going, with every possession after its first ending in a punt or turnover. Late in the third, when the offense fumbled the ball away, the Bonduel defense forced its own fumble to get the ball back.
“I thought our defense played really well,” Westrich said. “We made some mistakes early, but we adjusted. We had a lot of missed assignments in the first quarter, but after that we played better. I’m happy with the way they played.”
Early in the fourth quarter, Shiocton took command when it got a safety on a botched punt and then returned the ensuing kick for a touchdown to take a 19-7 lead.
Late in the quarter the Bears finally put together a significant drive, spurred by hard running from senior Hunter VanDerLinden (5-11, 215 pounds). It came to a premature end, though, when Shiocton’s Garrett Gunderson stepped in front of a Dobratz pass and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown.
A 2-point conversion later and the Chiefs were up 27-7.
“They’re well-coached. We knew that coming in,” Westrich said. “Their defense was going to be tough to run against. We can’t make mistakes. We can’t have penalties, we can’t have turnovers and we can’t give up special teams stuff. That’s what we did tonight.”
VanDerLinden finished with 138 yards on 28 carries. Dan Tauchen had 37 yards on 11 carries.
Spencer was 3 of 10 for 48 yards and a touchdown. Henry Fielding led Shiocton’s rushing attack with 17 carries for 105 yards.
While Bonduel (5-2, 3-2 CWC-8) falls behind Shiocton (6-1, 4-1) to third in the CWC-8, it still has a chance to make the playoffs. A win either at Stevens Point Pacelli next week or at home in the final week of the season would make Bonduel eligible for playoff consideration. Winning both games would clinch a playoff berth.
“We just have to keep getting better,” Westrich said. “I thought our effort was there. We did a lot of things in this game, too. But they capitalized on our mistakes. They’re notorious for making you go the length of the field, sustain a drive and not make mistakes. We have to clean up the mistakes and the turnovers.”
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