Norskies next up for T-Birds

By Pete Watson/News Republic

Two football teams charting opposite courses this season meet in a Badger North Conference tilt in Week 8.

The DeForest Norskies (5-2, 3-1 Badger North) is a squad locked in a four-way tie atop the conference. The Baraboo Thunderbirds (0-7, 0-4) is one deprived of victory so far this season.

Following the Reedsburg Beavers stunning win of Waunakee two weeks ago, the Norskies jumped into the conference fray last week with a decisive 28-0 win over Reedsburg.

BHS coach Jeff Oschankehl knows his team will be facing an emotionally charged and talented DeForest contingent.

"They’re bigger than us, faster than us, stronger than us and we just don’t match up well with them on paper," Ochsankehl said. "

Behind the legs of running back Cory Wipperfurth, who had a career game against the Beavers with 362 yards and four touchdowns, the Norskies have the second-highest scoring offense in the conference (30 points per game).

For a defense like Baraboo’s that has fallen victim to more experienced and athletic offenses en route to giving up 301 points this year, the final score tonight won’t be a major measure of success or failure."

"We’re just going to go out and do the things we can control well," Ochsankehl said. "We want to compete and know our assignments and do them physically as well as we can to execute them. We want to play with emotion, pick each other up and be active on the sidelines.

"It’s not about number goals, like points and those things. It’s really about our effort and whether we show up and compete."