Prep Football: Cards Find A Way

Here are some thoughts from last night's high school football action in the area as I get ready to head to Camp Randall....pardon any typos! ha!

First lets start with the game I was at up in Appleton. The Fondy Cardinals squeaked out a 14-9 victory over now 0-4 Appleton East. It hasn't been pretty this year for the Cardinals but they have found ways to win games....which I like. The offense did just enough last night to get the win and it was their defense came through in the end to make a play to earn the victory. Appleton East isn't as bad as their 0-4 record shows. Their QB Mike Mullins is pretty good with the football, but has missed time with injuries. He's got some zip on the ball and does a nice job of hiding the rock on play fakes.

Fondy's defense seems to always have me on edge, with a feeling like the other team is ready to make a big play, but it doesn't happen. The Cards got four INTs last night including one late in the came, by Josh Korb that sealed the deal and the win. On offense,

Fondy struggled to get the ground game going, but again it was QB Ben Anderson who made things happen through the air. Anderson coming off of a shoulder injury, was involved in two big time plays. On Fondy's first score he threw a nice pass to Kyle Duquaine that threaded the needle between three defenders for a 26 yard score. On TD #2, Andeson and WR Kyle Senn improvised on a broken play to create a 31 yard scord which saw Senn weave his way through traffic across the field into the end zone. Efficient is the best way to characterize Fondy's passing game....9-11 for 110 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT were Andreson's numbers by my broadcast parterner Bob Hoffmaster's stat book. That is pretty impressive.

This was another big win for the Cards who are now 3-1 on the season. They sit tied with Oshkosh West at 3-1, a game behind Kimberly in the FVA race. Four teams are log jammed a game back behind the Cardinals and Wildcats so it looks like another wild race to the finish. I think this race may be for 2nd place as Kimberly is GOOD! With games against Menasha and Oshkosh West on the horizon, it was good to get win #3 as Fondy has to get 5 to make the playoffs.

Here's a couple of other Fondy notes....FONDY PRIDE is a term that is thrown around quite a bit with those associated with the high school, but sometimes I wonder if those words ring true or if they are just that words. Cardinal coach Brad Kozaczuk has done something I like. Teachers around Fondy high will be wearing Cardinal jersey's on game days. You're so used to seeing a players girlfriend or just the player wearing their jersey on gameday, but the teachers....great idea coach!

One other Fondy Pride note, that came about at the Neenah game last week and it was pointed out by Bob Hoffmaster. The Rocket pep band played the Fondy fight song as part of their pregame, a unique song by the way, and the Fondy fans just sat there on their hands. The cheerleaders did their thing, as they always do, but come on Fondy fans. Show that Fondy Pride! When your pep band plays the song....stand and be proud...and when the visiting teams pep band does it show them some respect and appreciation for their efforts and stand as well!

Elsewhere around the area...

WLA got a big win last night at Brown Deer as they bounced back from last week's loss to Springs. The Vikes will finally jump into conference play next week after 4 non-conference games...sheesh.

One another WLA note, my co-worker Justin Hull tells me that former Viking star Josh McCormick, who is currently a redshirt freshman at Northern Illinois has been moved from quarterback to linebacker.

As for Springs, they are 1-3 after getting spanked by Mayville last night at Fruth. Now, I'm not pushing the panic button yet, and I'm confident the Ledgers will rally and make the playoffs, but there's not much room for error here now, and the injuries are starting to mount for Springs. I believe a couple more players got hurt last night.

Charter Sports is also a good thing, being at the Fondy game on football Friday nights, its always nice to come home and catch a game at 10:30pm on Channel 25. I wanted to see Mayville's Matt Haas play and that's the only real way to do it if you can't see other teams during the football season if you cover one team, like I do covering Fondy for KFIZ.

North Fondy is still looking for a win this season after losing to Laconia last night. The Orioles still have kept a positive attitude as they try and rebuild the program. That effort got a little recognition as they were the featured team last night on the Football Friday Night postgame show on News-Talk 1450 KFIZ. It airs on about 30 stations in Wisconsin and features scores and highlights from high school games around the state. Host Bill Scott interviewd Oriole coach Nate Lehman this week and his interview led off the show. Yes, the team is still searching for their first win of the year, but people around the state have noticed that good things are happening in North Fondy.

OK...I gotta get to Camp Randall....and I have a bad feeling about today's game against San Diego State...I think UW will win, but I dont' think it will be easy.

Next week, Fondy is back home against a tough Menasha team. The Blue Jays are coming off an upset loss to rival Neenah last night, so they'll be ready to go. You can hear all the action on News-Talk 1450 KFIZ. Coverage begins at 6pm with the Trepanier's Backyard Grill Friday Night Kickoff Show.

As always if you're at the game, stop up to the press box and say hi!

We'll see you at the games!