MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (July 16–23)
WFCA 8-Player All-Star Game: North 36, South 34
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial
North wins Eight-Player game in final minute
OSHKOSH — This year’s Wisconsin Football Coaches Association 8-Player All-Star Game wasn’t decided until the final minute.
It was a back-and-forth contest the entire 48 minutes, with seven lead changes, the final one coming with just 30 seconds remaining when Thorp’s Denzel Sutton caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Almond Bancroft’s T.J. Lamb to secure a 36–34 win for the North squad over the South.
Sutton then put the nail in the South coffin when he intercepted a Hail Mary pass at the 9-yard line as time expired.
Belmont’s Bradley Riechers started at left tackle and Logan Hardyman started at defensive end and recorded five tackles, including half a sack in the loss.
The South took a 34–30 lead with 3:50 remaining when Florence’s William Kelley caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Three Lakes quarterback Jared Kaufman, but the South defense couldn’t hold on.
The high-scoring game featured big performances from both Lamb and Sutton, as well as Sutton’s prep teammate at Thorp, Logan Hanson.
Lamb completed 20-of-30 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns, while Sutton caught nine passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 25 rushing yards and passed for 15 yards as well. Hanson tallied 120 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, as well as the on carried it 18 times for 120 yards, scoring two touchdowns on the ground to go with a 9-yard TD catch early in the fourth quarter.
Lamb and Sutton hooked up for the game’s first score as well, with Sutton hauling in a 31-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter (as well as the two-point conversion) to put the North up 8–0.
The South team answered quickly, with Kaufman hitting fellow Three Lakes graduate Tyler Janikowski for what was the first of two touchdown connections between the former teammates.
Kaufman added a 1-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, and the teams took turns getting into the end zone the rest of the way, as the game was never separated by more than one score.
Janikowski caught a 12-yard TD pass with 51 seconds left in the first half and Griffin Steffl hauled in the two-point conversion to give the South a 22–16 halftime advantage.
Janikowski caught nine passes for the South team, accounting for 182 yards with two scores. Kelley and Steffel (Green Bay NEW Lutheran) also caught touchdowns. Kaufman finished 19-of-28 passing for 280 yards and four touchdowns, adding a short rushing score as well.
Luke Lawton (Flambeau) of the North team led all tacklers with 11, while Nels Anderson (Luck) had 1.5 sacks and Denzel Sutton recorded an interception. Bailey Schepp (Oakfield) and Jedi Gbaja-Biamila (Green Bay NEW Lutheran) tied for the most tackles for the South team with 8, as Gbaja-Biamila recorded 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and fumble recovery. Both Tyler Janikowski and Jared Kaufman had interceptions on defense for the South.
North 36, South 34
(from Friday, July 19 @ UW–Oshkosh)
South 8-Man 8 14 6 6 — 34
North 8-Man 8 8 8 12 — 36
First quarter
N: Denzel Sutton 31 pass from T.J. Lamb (Sutton pass from Lamb), 2:57
S: Tyler Janikowski 55 pass from Jared Kaufman (Paul Emmel run), 1:22
Second quarter
S: Jared Kaufman 1 run (Griffin Terlizzi pass from Kaufman), 10:16
N: Logan Hanson 3 run (Hanson pass from Lamb), 5:57
S: Tyler Janikowski 12 pass from Jared Kaufman (Griffin Steffel pass Kaufman), 0:51
Third quarter
N: Logan Hanson 8 run (Hanson pass from Lamb), 6:48
S: Griffin Steffl 6 pass from Jared Kaufman (pass failed), 1:54
Fourth quarter
N: Logan Hanson 9 pass from T.J. Lamb (Isaiah McKelton pass from Lamb), 9:25
S: William Kelley 23 pass from Jared Kaufman (pass failed), 3:50
N: Denzel Sutton 28 pass from T.J. Lamb (pass failed), 0:30
Team statistics
First downs — S 22, N 20. Rushing – S 35-76, N: 28-144. Passing (comp-att-int, yards) — S 19-28-1, 280; N: 22-33-2, 242 Fumbles-lost – S 0-0, N 0-0. Penalties-yards — S: 1-15, N 8-65.
Individual Leaders
Passing — S: Jared Kaufman (Three Lakes) 19-28-1, 280; N: T.J. Lamb (Almond Bancroft) 20-30-2, 227; Denzel Sutton (Thorp) 2-3-0, 15.
Rushing — S: William Kelley (Florence) 7-39, Paul Emmel (Abundant Life) 9-21, Grant Vandervest (Algoma) 6-18, Jared Kaufman (Three Lakes) 13-(-2); N: Logan Hanson (Thorp) 18-120, Denzel Sutton (Thorp) 6-25, Isaiah McKelton (Shell Lake) 1-17, Lamb (Almond Bancroft) 1-(-18).
Receiving — S: Tyler Janikowski (Three Lakes) 9-182, William Kelley (Florence) 6-72, Griffin Steffl (Oneida Nation/GB NEW Lutheran) 4-23; N: Denzel Sutton (Thorp) 9-120, Logan Hanson (Thorp) 6-58, Tannar Lewis (Clayton) 3-23, Isaiah McKelton (Shell Lake) 3-30, Seth Taylor (Siren) 2-29.
Tackles — S: Bailey Schepp (Oakfield) 8, Jedi Gbaja-Biamila (Oneida Nation/GB NEW Lutheran) 8 (1.5 sacks), Treyden Marchenkuski (Oakfield) 7, Vernon Stevens (Oneida Nation, GB NEW Lutheran) 6, Logan Hardyman (Belmont) 5 (0.5 sacks), LJ Terlizzi (Three Lakes) 5; N: Luke Lawton (Flambeau) 11, Troy Duellman (Gilman) 9, Ryan Nelson (Owen Withee) 9, Shan Klismith (Almond Bancroft) 7, Colin Dallman (Owen Withee) 5, Spencer Wold (Prairie Farm) 5.
