Stutter step
Wisconsin Dells High School senior Zach Batchelor moves the ball against Westfield Pioneers during first half action Friday night. The Chiefs pulled within a point in the fourth quarter, only to have the guests pull away one more time in a 29-20 South Central Conference win for the visiting Pioneers.
By Jim den Hollander
After a perfect lead up to the conference schedule, the Wisconsin Dells High School varsity football team was stunned in its conference opener. For a second straight year, the Chiefs started the conference schedule with a tough loss, this time dropping its Homecoming contest to the visiting Westfield Pioneers 29-20. Last year, the Chiefs followed its conference opening defeat with four straight conference wins and it will likely have to do that again if it hopes to repeat as conference champs this season. Pioneers dominated the opening half but while they carried a 14-0 cushion into the break, they also came away short on two other trips into the 'red zone.' Head coach Bob Johnson said his team made "a lot of mental mistakes," in a rough opening half, but for a while it seemed they would get out of it down just one score. But a final minute inception and ultimately, a second touchdown the guests double their margin. The Chiefs, who entered the game, coming off of a perfect 4-0 pre-season, including a win at home against Division 1 Milwaukee Bradley a week ago, knew what they had to do in the second half and wrestled the momentum away from their guests early in the third quarter - for a while. The first missed conversion of the night following an early fourth quarter score stood up as the difference as the Pioneers clung to a 21-20 lead. But a safety, about five minutes later, followed by a 16-yard run to the end zone for Nick Grant, the third score of the night for the rugged junior running back gave the Pioneers all of the breathing room they would need in an emotional win. Coach Johnson gave Westfield and their coaches full marks for the win. "Generally, Westfield was more physical and they were the better team Friday night," summed up the coach. Johnson said his team was prepared for the game, having watched film and come up with a game plan leading up to the contest "We did some things well, but Westfield did what they needed to do. Early miss The Pioneers came away empty on its first offensive chance, unable to convert a fourth-and-one on the Dells three yard-line in the game's fourth minute, but Grant finally got the guests on the board 25 seconds from the end of the opening period, carrying the ball the final two yards at the end of a nice drive. It seemed the 7-0 lead would go into the locker room with the Pioneers who missed on another fourth-down attempt, this time fourth-and-seven at the Dells' 12 with 1:22 to play in the half. But Aaron Strauss gave them yet another chance when he picked off a Theiler pass near midfield and ran it back to the Dells' 22 with 37 seconds to go. Grant scored his second, from one yard out with seven ticks on the clock. The Chiefs got a couple of breaks early in the second half, including a run from near midfield to the Pioneer's one yard-line which one play later turned into the first Dells' score of the game. The Pioneers' appeared to have responded, scoring on its next drive, Szyperek carrying it the final yard, but that 14 point cushion lasted just 12 seconds. That's how long it took Theiler to run the ensuing kickoff back 85 yards for a touchdown. Another Dells' score in the first minute of the final period, a pass from 17 yards out to Matt Snyder had the Chiefs within a point when the extra point failed. That gap was widened to three when Theiler was called for intentionally grounding the ball while in the end zone and the Pioneers awarded a safety with just under seven minutes to go. That play seemed to shift a lot of momentum back to the guests but coach Johnson said the game was far from over. "It was unfortunate for something like that (safety) to happen, but we were still within a field goal." The Chiefs had a couple of other chance with the ball, but were unable to move it against a Pioneer defense that seemed to grow tougher with each series. Westfield got the ball back late in the game when the Chiefs were forced to kick from near their own goal line and Grant put the game away with 1:41 to go on a 16-yard touchdown. The extra point was missed on this one. WESTFIELD 29, WISCONSIN DELLS 20 Westfield 7 7 7 8 — 29 Wisconsin Dells 0 0 14 6 — 20 Westfield— Grant 2 run 8 run (Mills kick) Westfield— Grant 1 run (Mills kick) Wisconsin Dells — Batchelor 1 run (Navarro kick) Westfield — Szyperek 1 run (Mills kick) Wisconsin Dells — Theiler 85 kick return (Navarro kick) Wisconsin Dells —Theiler 17 pass to Snyder (kick failed) Westfield — Safety - Intentional grounding Westfield — Grant 16 run (kick failed) TEAM STATISTICS First downs — W 11, WD 4. Rushes-Yards — W 52-286, WD 17-74. Passing yards — W 75, WD 63. Passes (Att-Comp-Int) — W 11-6-0, WD 20-7-1. Fumbles-lost — W 0-0, WD 0-0. Penalties-yards — W 5-40, WD 5-40. INDIVIDUAL LEADERS Rushing: W — Szyperek 24-199; WD — Batchelor 10-32. Receiving: W — Schrank 1-30; WD — Snyder 2-42.