Prep Football: Ugly Homecoming loss for Fondy

Well, Fondy's 4 game winning streak came to an end last Friday night as they fell to Kaukauna 7-0 at Fruth Field on Homecoming. It's always nice to win your Homecoming game so a homecoming loss seems harder to absord, as was the case on Friday night. Fondy was clearly favored going into their game with the Ghosts. Fondy was 5-1, Kaukauna was 2-4 but had won two of their last 3 games since inserting sophomore Jordan Giordana at QB. You new early that this was going to be a struggle for both teams' offenses after each team had a few chances and could do nothing.

Early on Kaukauna's defense was getting into the Fondy backfield causing havoc for not only the Cardinal running backs, but also QB Ben Anderson. Ghost linebacker Nick Martzahl gave the Fondy O-Line fits as he continually got pressure on Anderson and screwed up any chance of getting a running game going. With no time to pass and get the ball in the hands of play-making receiver Kyle Senn, and no chance to run up the middle, Fondy was pretty much stuck with trying to get to the corner and get yards on the outside, which was also a problem on this night. With the way things were falling for Fondy, you could have given the Cards the ball on the 10 yard line and they would have had trouble punching it in the end zone.

As bad as the Cardinals were on offense, they defense came to play. Paul Biolo had 2 interceptions, one of which was in the end zone, and the defense held the Ghosts on a four straight plays from inside the one yard line to keep the team in the game.
The Ghosts were in Fondy territory almost the entire night, and that eventually paid off as they turned a Cardinal turnover into the games only score in the 3rd quarter.

Yet, with all the struggles, Fondy still had a chance to tie late, but Fondy couldn't get it done after rolling up a few first downs.

Coach Koz is a good coach, so I'm sure that his team will get up, dust themselves off, and get ready for Appleton West. It would be great for Fondy to find a way to win their final two games of the season because a 7-2 regular season mark would most likely get them a home game for the opening round of the playoffs at Fruth Field. At 6-3 or 5-4 you could end up on the road in round one.

Hey, if you look at the picture at the top of this entry, you'll see the brand-spanking new Fondy Cardinal mascot hanging out with the cheerleaders. The old Cardinal did the school well, but the new one looks sharp!

Also, congrats to Springs for getting a big win at Lomira on Friday night to keep their playoff hopes alive. I admit, I was one that had written off the Ledgers and thought they'd lose on Friday night and end their long string of playoff runs. They pulled it out and now it could come down to the final game of the regular season at Kettle Moraine Lutheran. Winning their final two games won't secure a spot, but will likley get them into the postseason.

Here's what's coming up this Friday on News-Talk 1450 KFIZ for high school football. Fondy heads to Appleton West so that's where we will be. The Banta Bowl is my favorite stadium in the conference next to Fruth Field. Anyways, we're on the air at 6pm with the Trepanier's Backyard Grill Friday Night Kickoff Show. The Backyard Grill Kickoff Show will broadcast live from Fruth Field where Springs hosts North Fondy. The Cards and Terrors kickoff at 7pm.

We'll see you at the game!