The end zone turned out to be a familiar place for Croix Gardebrecht.
The Oconto Falls running back had five rushing touchdowns for the Panthers Oct. 8 in a 39-7 Packerland Conference win over Southern Door.
He wasn’t the only area player with a big night on the football field, as Mason Borseth’s 18-yard field goal with 14 seconds to go snapped a 14-14 tie and gave Pulaski a 17-14 win over De Pere on Oct. 9.
Meanwhile, two local 8-player teams – Suring and Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas Academy – have qualified for the 32-team WIAA 8-player playoffs and now know their opponent for Level 1 games, scheduled for 1 p.m. Oct. 17.
Oconto Falls 39, Southern Door 7
Gardebrecht opened his five-touchdown night with a 59-yard run on the Panthers’ opening drive.
Two more rushing scores from Gardebrecht gave Oconto Falls a 20-7 halftime lead.
The second half belonged to the Panthers, as Gardebrecht scored two of the team’s three touchdowns while the defense kept the Eagles from scoring.
JJ Pytleski also scored for Oconto Falls in the second half ,and the Panthers can wrap up a spot in the upcoming playoffs with a win Oct. 16 at Peshtigo.
Pulaski 17, De Pere 14
Pulaski led 7-0 at halftime and took a 14-0 lead into the fourth quarter before the Redbirds tied the game with a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Bohdan Schmidt scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter and a 22-yard run in the third quarter.
De Pere answered with a 19-yard touchdown pass in the first minute of the fourth quarter and a 6-yard scoring run.
Schmidt finished with 192 of the Red Raiders’ 286 rushing yards while completing three of his four passes.
Pulaski improved to 4-2 in Fox Valley Classic Conference-North play and 6-2 overall.
Lena/STAA 46, Niagara 22
The Titans tuned up for the 8-player playoffs Oct. 8 with a road win over the Badgers and finished the regular season with a 5-3 record.
Lena/STAA led 24-22 at halftime but outscored the home team 22-0 in the second half, with all three touchdowns coming in the third quarter.
Isaac Peterson led the Titans with 195 rushing yards and touchdown runs of 30 and 82 yards, while Luke Kosolowski added 100 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Owen Dunkes led Niagara with 98 rushing yards and a 73-yard touchdown reception.
The Titans, a No. 1 seed for last year’s 8-player playoffs and ended up one win away from a trip to the state championship game, are a No. 5 seed this season and will head to Flambeau High School on Oct. 17 to face the fourth-seeded Falcons at 1 p.m.
Xavier 41, Shawano 13
Porter Meach completed 10 of 15 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns and Ben Kappell added 138 rushing yards and three scores for Xavier in a win over the Hawks.
The Hawks fell to 2-6 on the season and 1-5 in the Bay Conference.
Marion/Tigerton 60, Wild Rose 44
The Thundercatz wrapped up their season Oct. 9 in Marion with a win over the Wildcats, a team that qualified for the 8-player playoffs.
Suring at Iola-Scandinavia
Suring was originally scheduled to travel to Scandinavia Oct. 9 for a nonconference game with Iola-Scandinavia, but opted out of the contest.
The Eagles have qualified for the 8-player playoffs and are one of five teams that received a No. 2 seed. Suring will host No. 7 Elkhart Lake/Glenbeulah at 1 p.m. Oct. 17.
Oct. 16 schedule (all games start at 7 p.m.): 11-player: Appleton West at Pulaski; Wittenberg-Birnamwood at Amherst; Oconto Falls at Peshtigo; Shawano at Seymour; Bonduel at Southern Door.
Oct. 17 schedule (all games start at 1 p.m.): 8-player Level 1 playoffs: No. 7 Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah at No. 2 Suring; No. 5 Lena/STAA at No. 4 Flambeau.
