Neenah beats Kimberly for share of FVA title; FVL wins Apple Bowl

A relatively modest record doesn't hide the fact that the Neenah football team is a team no one wants to face in the upcoming WIAA playoffs.

Neenah rode its playmaking quarterback Ashton VanBeek and an opportunistic defense to a 35-31 victory over rival Kimberly in a regular-season finale at Rocket Stadium on Oct. 16 in Fox Crossing. The win gives the Rockets a share of the Fox Valley Association title with Kaukauna and is the 25th conference title in program history.

Neenah is 6-3 overall and finished 6-1 in the FVA.

MORE: Wisconsin high school football scores, updates | Week 9

VanBeek, the team's senior quarterback, was brilliant with his legs and his arm. He had four total touchdowns, including runs of 95 and 7 yards and also had touchdown passes of 40 and 16 yards to Matthias Charles and Chase Kramer, respectively. VanBeek finished with 212 yards rushing on 19 carries and 171 yards passing on 13-for-20 attempts.

"The win was huge," VanBeek said. "We're going to celebrate tonight. We're going to take our pictures and everything, but as soon as we're off this field, it's on to next week."

VanBeek's touchdown pass to Charles was his most impressive of the night, with Charles nabbing the pass in the back of the end zone for the score.

"It was beautiful. Our protection was amazing. I think I was there for six seconds back there," VanBeek said. "[Charles] got downfield pretty far, and I just aired it out, and Matthias made a beautiful catch at the back of the end zone. What I heard is it barely hit his fingertips, and he was reaching for it, and he got that done."

Charles said he was able to recognize the pass was coming at nearly the last second.

"I was running down. I look up and I didn't really even see the ball quite yet," he said. "I tracked it last second and I was hoping I was close to inbounds, and I snuck a foot on it and it was a great pass."

Kimberly rallied late, scoring on a 29-yard field goal from Maddux Hermus, who added a 32-yard touchdown run to put the Papermakers up 31-28 with 2:52 left in regulation.

That was more than enough time for VanBeek, who engineered a 7-play, 93-yard touchdown drive that was capped by his 4-yard score. VanBeek had several explosive plays on the drive, including runs of 24 and 8 yards and a pass of 21 yards to Charles and a 10-yard connection with Dylan Foat.

"I think we were all pretty confident and we all kept our composure," VanBeek said. "We've all been there before. It was just like the win at Fond du Lac. We work at it, work on it at practice."

Neenah defensive back Logan Price had an interception near the goal line to thwart Kimberly's final scoring opportunity with 4.6 seconds left.

"I'm super happy with how competitive our kids played and how resilient they were," Neenah coach Steve Jung said. "And how we made big plays, you know, batting the ball away out of that kid's hands at the end of the half. We make the pick, we make the pick down here [in the fourth quarter].

"And then just offensively get the ball, throwing 94 yards in about two minutes. … I think our kids believe in themselves and what we're trying to do."

It was a tough loss for Kimberly, which had a Neenah interception in the end zone nullify what looked like a touchdown pass.

"It was a heck of a football game," Kimberly coach Chad Michalkiewicz said. "That's typically the case when Neenah and Kimberly get together. Obviously, we're never going to be excited about a loss, but our kids battled. They've battled all year. They've taken a lot of criticism, and rightfully so … you know, we lost some football games. But I'm proud of the efforts.

"You take the lead late in the fourth quarter, you're in a ballgame against a Neenah team that's got VanBeek at quarterback. You're playing some good football, but we got to learn from it. We got to turn around and gear up because we're going to play a good opponent in the playoffs."

Fox Valley Lutheran keeps Apple Bowl trophy with big win over Xavier

Weston Beyer had three short touchdown runs and the Fox Valley Lutheran defense came up with several big turnovers in a 41-6 victory over Xavier in the Apple Bowl game at Xavier.

The Foxes now lead the all-time series against the Hawks 30-26.

“The unique thing about football is you work so hard an entire week for one opportunity. Other sports have more, and the boys worked hard this week for another opportunity,” FVL coach Seth Jaeger said. “And, obviously, the Apple Bowl has a little cherry on the top at the end against the crosstown rivals and the trophy. But, most importantly, they worked hard for a win tonight.”

Beyer ran for 106 yards on 20 carries. Braden Heiges ran for 138 yards on 19 carries.

The Foxes recovered a Xavier fumble at the 2-yard line when it looked like the Hawks were going in for a touchdown in the third quarter. The Hawks fumbled again later in the quarter and FVL recovered, setting up a short touchdown drive.

FVL also got an interception on defense from Malachi Robbert, and the Foxes closed the scoring with a 29-yard return of a fumble by Isaac Martin after a sack in the fourth quarter.

“I’m proud of our guys, they’re resilient,” Jaeger said. “We’re going to give some on defense, but our small, quick guys are able to make some big plays. We were able to do that tonight. They bought into what we do and then continue to execute, which we need to do obviously coming into the playoffs.”

Xavier’s touchdown came on a 49-yard run by Ben Kappell with 39 seconds remaining in the third quarter to make it 27-6.

FVL finishes the regular season 7-2 overall and 6-1 in the Bay Conference, one game behind league champion Winneconne. Xavier finishes 5-4 overall and 5-2 in the Bay.

Kaukauna holds off Appleton East; Freedom ends regular season undefeated

A huge first quarter for Freedom sparked the Irish to a 62-7 victory at Sheboygan Falls. The Irish (9-0 overall, 7-0 North Eastern Conference) erupted for 44 points in the first quarter with Axzil Eggert recording touchdown runs of 8, 15 and 50 yards. Owen Henkel had a 40-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Micke and also had a 1-yard touchdown run. George Van Schyndel added a 25-yard interception return in the first quarter.

Kaukauna earned a share of the FVA title with a 28-7 victory at Appleton East. Ryan Carrel threw for a touchdown and ran in another to lead the Ghosts (7-2, 6-1 FVA). Muhammad Jobe also had a short touchdown run for the Ghosts.

Around the Valley

Little Chute improved to 8-1 overall and finished 6-1 in the North Eastern Conference with a 54-14 rout of Waupaca. Jaden Hermsen had a 53-yard touchdown run and scoring passes of 35 and 50 yards to Trevor Verhagen and Andrew Davis, respectively. Tyler Hietpas had a 42-yard scoring run and Reece Joten added a 46-yard touchdown run during a 34-point outburst in the second quarter. Davis also had a 41-yard touchdown run with Jeshua Tobon adding a 14-yard score. … St. Mary Catholic (7-2 overall, 6-1 Eastern Wisconsin) earned a share of the Eastern Wisconsin Conference title with a 31-6 victory over visiting Brillion. … Menasha crushed Green Bay East 61-6 to improve to 7-2 overall and 6-1 in the FRCC-South. … Shiocton (8-1) earned a share of the Northwoods title (6-1) with a 31-6 victory over Manawa. … In other games, Hilbert (6-3, 5-2 Big East) shut out Random Lake/Ozaukee 42-0; Weyauwega-Fremont (6-3, 3-4 Central Wisconsin) slipped past Colby 31-29; Chilton (5-4, 3-4 EWC) beat Roncalli 37-14; and Wrightstown (4-5, 3-4 NEC) beat Kohler/Sheboygan Lutheran/Christian 41-12.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Neenah beats Kimberly for share of FVA title; FVL wins Apple Bowl