They might not be as flashy as Green Bay Notre Dame’s Kingston Allen, but the Bonduel football team has a pair of running backs that are putting up big numbers as well.
At the same time Allen was rushing for 296 yards and six touchdowns in a 49-0 win over Oshkosh North, Carter Moesch and Malachi Gray combined for six of the Bears’ eight touchdowns Sept. 25 in a 56-14 Packerland Conference win over Peshtigo at Rush Niles Memorial Field.
Not only did Bonduel improve to 6-0, the Bears also opened a three-game home stand by holding the Bulldogs to one offensive touchdown, with Peshtigo’s other score coming on a kickoff return.
Peshtigo, which entered the game tied with Bonduel for first place in the Packerland with a 3-0 record, took the opening kickoff and used most of the first quarter driving toward the Bears’ end zone.
Charlie Cooper scored on a 9-yard run with just over three minutes to go in the opening quarter, but a holding penalty on Peshtigo took the six points off of the scoreboard, and the Bulldogs ended up turning the ball over on downs on the 2-yard line.
It didn’t take the Bears long to take the lead, as Moesch scored on the drive’s first play on a 98-yard run.
Peshtigo answered Bonduel’s touchdown on its next drive, as Zac Schonfeld capped a 67-yard drive with a 7-yard run two minutes into the second quarter and a missed extra point cut the lead to 7-6.
Moesch fumbled to end Bonduel’s next drive, but the Bears added to their lead with a pair of scores in the final three minutes of the first half.
Ryan Niles scored on a 2-yard run to make it 14-6 and after a second straight 3-and-out for the Bulldogs, the Bears took over on Peshtigo’s 35-yard line and Moesch scored from 10 yards out with 17 seconds remaining to give Bonduel a 21-6 halftime lead.
Bonduel then sealed the win with touchdowns on all five of its possessions in the second half.
The opening drives helped set the tone for the game, according to coach James Westrich.
“We’re very fortunate that we have two really explosive backs that can break it loose at any time,” he said. “They run hard and block hard for each other. That’s a nice one-two punch to have. We’ve got Carter doing punt returns and Malachi doing kickoff returns. We try to keep them involved and good things usually happen.”
That’s exactly what happened on each of the Bears’ first drives of the second half, as long kickoff and punt returns by Gray and Moesch, respectively, set the Bears up at the Peshtigo 20-yard line.
Moesch scored from 4 yards out with 9:04 to go in the third quarter, and Gray added a 20-yard scoring run on the first play of the second drive to make it 35-7.
Peshtigo’s final points came on the kickoff after Gray’s touchdown, as Cody Nesberg scored on a 75-yard kickoff return and Jackson Malke connected with Carter Drong for the 2-point conversion.
Bonduel wasn’t finished, however, as the Bears scored on their next three drives.
Gray scored on a 4-yard run with 2:17 remaining in the third quarter and caught a 35-yard pass from Quinn Wesenberg early in the fourth quarter that started a running clock.
Thomas Vanderzanden wrapped up the scoring with an 80-yard run with 3:02 left in the game.
Westrich said there’s a reason why the Bulldogs came into the game undefeated in conference play after picking up shutout wins over Southern Door and Sturgeon Bay and coming from behind to top Marinette.
“We knew they were going to be physical,” he said. “Defensively, we have a few new guys, not so much on offense. We’re filling some spots. The heart of our defense is missing right now and hopefully, we’ll get a couple of guys back soon. We have some young guys. They’re doing fine. They’re a little behind, but we just have to get them up to speed.”
Peshtigo’s Elliot Lemire, left, blocks Bonduel’s Max Huntington on Sept. 25 during the first half of a matchup of Packerland Conference teams in Bonduel. Huntington and the Bears improved to 6-0 overall with a 56-14 win over the Bulldogs. (Greg Seubert)
Malachi Gray returns a kickoff for Bonduel in the second half of the Bears’ 56-14 win over Peshtigo. (Greg Seubert)
