SPORTS

Fond du Lac races past Rapids

Mark Massoglia
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

WISCONSIN RAPIDS - An opportunistic Fond du Lac squad took advantage of everything Wisconsin Rapids was giving during a key Valley Football Association-South Division game.

The Raiders fumbled six times and the Cardinals turned that into four touchdowns as they rolled to a 54-13 win Friday at South Wood County Field.

Rapids had the ball first and marched down and scored on its first possession on a 52-yard strike from Ben Olson to Isaiah Westfall.

On their very next drive, the Raiders started to have trouble holding onto the ball.

Running back Keon Jefferson was the first Cardinal to score off a Rapids turnover and he wasn’t the last.

The Raiders’ Tommy Grube returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and a 13-6 lead, but it didn’t last long.

Fond du Lac quarterback Jack Cole scored two second-quarter touchdowns to give the Cardinals a 20-13 advantage at the break.

“Our defense played great today and our offense capitalized on all the mistakes they made,” Cole said. “Our offensive line played great today, the holes were huge. Keon was so patient, Colton (Wasieleski) just ran over people and I was just getting outside and following my blockers.”

Jefferson’s other scoring runs were for 11 and 15 yards and he finished with 177 yards on 18 carries. Cole ran for scores of 5, 26, and 3 yards. In addition to his running the ball, he completed 6 of 8 passes for 112 yards.

Olson completed 7 of 8 passes in the first half, but finished completing 10 of 20 for 111 yards and a touchdown.

“You don’t win games when you have that many turnovers, even when they don’t score on every one,” Rapids coach Tony Biolo said. “We need to execute better and need to be a little more ball secure. Our defense kept us in it for a while, but that only lasts so long. They were out there for a long time tonight.

Fond du Lac scored on its first drive of the third quarter to go up two scores, then quickly made it a three-score game after another Rapids fumble.

“Anytime you can get six take-a-ways, you usually are in pretty good shape,” Cardinals coach Mike Gnewuch said. “I’ve been telling the kids all year it’s about taking the ball away from the other team. We work on turnover drills every practice and it paid off tonight.

“We’re used to blocking a 3-4 defense because we see it so often. Our guys did a great job up front setting a precedent. We wanted to be physical with their line and run the ball well.”

Fond du Lac replaced 14 starters from last year’s 8-1 team that eventually reached the third round of the playoffs.

Rapids will attempt to get back on track next week at Oshkosh West in their regular season finale.

“The kids have to get back to playing the way we did early in the season,” Biolo said. “We have to throw the ball around and run the ball hard and have fun.”

Fond du Lac

7

13

20

14

54

Wis. Rapids

13

0

0

0

13

First quarter

WR: Isaiah Westfall 52 pass from Ben Olson (Nathan Hepp kick), 9:12

FDL: Keon Jefferson 1 run (Jared Scheberl kick), 2:59

WR: Thomas Grube 99 kick return (Kick failed), 2:41

Second quarter

FDL: Jack Cole 5 run (Scheberl kick), 7:19

FDL: Cole 27 run (Kick failed), 4:58

Third quarter

FDL: Jefferson 12 run (Kick failed), 9:55

FDL: Jefferson 15 run (Scheberl kick), 6:42

FDL: Colton Wasieleski (Scheberl kick), 3:27

Fourth quarter

FDL: Cole 3 run (Scheberl kick), 11:54

FDL: Drew Jorgensen 13 run (Scheberl kick), 4:48

Records: Fond du Lac 6-2 5-2 VFA-South; Wisconsin Rapids 5-3, 4-3 WVA South.

Mark Massoglia: 715-424-7309 or mark.massoglia@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter @markmazzy.