Big second half helps defending champ Arrowhead pull away from Neenah
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A big second half by the defending WIAA Division 1 state champs proved to be the difference in Arrowhead's 35-7 high school football victory over Neenah at Rocket Stadium on Aug. 28.
The Warhawks (2-0) scored 28 second-half points after a 7-7 tie at the half. The loss drops Neenah to 0-2 on the season.
"We're obviously disappointed with the result," Neenah coach Steve Jung said. "Especially how we performed in the second half. Arrowhead just dominated – dominated us offensively and defensively. We didn't expect that. We expected them to be difficult and tough to handle their speed offensively, throwing the ball and running the ball. But we thought offensively we could move the ball against them and we didn't do it. And that really took the wind out of our sails."
Neenah tied the game at the half following a late second-quarter touchdown run by Ashton VanBeek. The Warhawks made their move after the break, getting a three-and-out from their defense and then a 29-yard scoring scamper from Devin Nettles on the team's first possession of the half.
Jebari Craig Jr. added a 32-yard touchdown run and a 60-yard sprint for a score in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Craig finished with three touchdowns and 163 yards rushing on 14 carries. Nettles added 11 carries for 90 yards.
VanBeek had 21 carries for 83 yards and the 1-yard score. Cooper Sieck added 10 carries for 56 yards.
Neenah returns to action Sept. 3 with a home game against Appleton East before traveling to Kaukauna on Sept. 11.
The Rockets, who started the year with a 56-53 overtime loss to Green Bay Notre Dame, are determined to remain upbeat and Jung said he and the team knew the beginning of the season would be tough.
"We knew in the beginning of the year that there could be a good chance that we would be 0-2," Jung said. "I think we can rationalize. It's just how we performed in the second half of today's game that's the hard part. That took a lot of the wind out of our sails and now we got to go back and we just got to get better."
Appleton East wins thriller; Freedom pulls away from Xavier
James Maertz's 34-yard field goal as time expired gave Appleton East its first victory of the season as the Patriots (1-1) got past Green Bay Preble 17-14.
East also got two touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback Ryder Waters. Waters connected with Maks Chevalier on a 52-yard strike and also had a 16-yard touchdown pass to Tate Savides.
Freedom's Axzil Eggert ran for 170 yards on 16 carries and four touchdowns as the Irish rallied twice from early deficits to upend Xavier 59-14. The Irish scored 33 points in the third quarter to pull away.
Owen Henkel also threw for 253 yards and three touchdowns for Freedom (2-0).
Phillip Schmidtke led Xavier with 164 yards passing, including touchdown passes of 4 and 57 yards.
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Ryan Carrel had two touchdown passes and two rushing scores to lead the Ghosts. Kaukauna's defense had four takeaways but the Ghosts offense also had a pair of turnovers in the closing minutes.
Menasha gets first win of the season
Menasha's ground game powered the team to a 46-20 road victory over Mosinee. Keonte Thigpen had touchdown runs of 14, 67 and 20 yards to lead the way with Shamir Senyange adding scoring runs of 7 and 9 yards.
Bluejays quarterback Xavier John also had a 2-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring for Menasha (1-1).
Terrors move to 2-0 with win over Sheboygan South; SMC gets first win
Charlie Blevins had another huge game, rushing for 225 yards on 17 carries and three scores in Appleton West's 44-8 road victory at Sheboygan South. Connor Navis had 160 yards passing and two touchdowns – both to Isaac Ise – as West finished with 424 yards of total offense.
St. Mary Catholic (1-1) got its first win of the season on Aug. 27 with a 44-8 victory over Manawa. Tarver Trinkner had 150 yards passing with three touchdown passes and also added 64 yards on the ground with two more scores.
Chilton also improved to 2-0 with a 14-7 victory over Oconto. Garett Juedes led the way with 76 yards rushing and a touchdown on 12 attempts.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Big second half helps defending champ Arrowhead pull away from Neenah
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