Hanging by a thread

Big plays have been the bane of the Sauk Prairie defense this season. Last Friday night, it was host Portage that used three long touchdowns – two on the ground and one in the air – to cruise to a 34-17 victory over the Vikings in a Badger Small Conference matchup. “With some injuries, we had to make some adjustments on defense,” Sauk Prairie coach Randy Wallace said. “Portage was able to take advantage of that. “Going into the game, we were confident we would come out on top. But were on the bottom side of it. We had 22 missed tackles and 14 missed assignments, which led to big plays for them.” That also led to Portage dominating the time of possession. The Warriors finished with 37 carries for 306 yards, an average of 8.2 yards per attempt. Sauk Prairie fell to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in Badger Small Conference play. The Eagles will need to record wins in their final two regular season games at home against Stoughton on Friday and at home against Edgewood on Oct. 18 to secure a berth in the WIAA playoffs. “This could be the game like the game against Stoughton last year that comes back to bite us in the butt,” Wallace said. “We’re trying to learn from this and about improving our mental attitude going into next week.” It didn’t take long for Portage (3-4, 1-4) to make a statement. Following a Sauk Prairie three-and-out on the game’s opening possession, the Warriors used a long punt return to set up shop on the Eagles’ 29-yard line. Portage needed just three plays to reach paydirt when senior running back Max Kreuziger blasted up the middle and scampered into the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown with 8 minutes, 56 seconds left in the first quarter. The only saving grace for Sauk Prairie was that the Warriors’ pass for a two-point conversion fell incomplete. Sauk Prairie then got on the board, capping an eight-play, 50-yard drive with Nick Keyser’s 32-yard field goal with 5:12 remaining in the period. After the Sauk Prairie defense forced a punt, the Eagles put together their longest possession of the game. Junior quarterback Caden Hermsdorf connected with senior wide receiver Casey Brickl on a 19-yard touchdown pass off a fake screen-and-go call to cap a 13-play, 79-yard drive that consumed 4:20 off the clock to give the Eagles a 10-6 lead. A 6-foot-5 senior wide receiver playing in his first high school football season, Brickl made an athletic play on the high arching pass from Hermsdorf. “We had been running that bubble screen and ran the fake and the cornerback bit on it. I just went up and got it,” Brickl said. “That’s what I’m out there for.” Hermsdorf earned his first varsity start at quarterback due to an injury to senior starter Landon Schultz in Sauk Prairie’s 30-7 loss to Mount Horeb on Sept. 28.  A 5-foot-9, 165-pound starter on defense the first six games of the season, Hermsdorf completed 19-of-37 passes for 186 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for 80 yards and a touchdown. “He managed the clock well and held the team together,” Wallace said of Hermsdorf. “That’s what we were looking for out of him this week.” However, Sauk Prairie’s lead proved to be short-lived. Portage promptly moved down the field and took the lead for good when Kreuziger ripped off a 33-yard touchdown run, and Daven Delgado converted the PAT for a 13-10 lead. “We played a very physical Sauk Prairie team that offensively was very successful early in the game,” Warriors’ coach Chris Rice said. “Max Krueziger had great vision running all night as well as did a very good job run blocking when he didn’t have the ball.” Portage forced a Sauk Prairie three-and-out on its ensuing possession and then quickly got back to work on offense. The Warriors needed only three plays and 76 seconds to unleash a 77-yard scoring drive.  Senior David Nadolski found a seam on the left side and sprinted down the sideline for a 56-yard touchdown run to push the Warriors’ lead to 20-10. That didn’t faze the Eagles, though, who matched that drive with a touchdown on their next possession. Hermsdorf carried the ball on three of the four plays on the 55-yard drive for Sauk Prairie, capping it with a keeper around left end for a 10-yard touchdown to pull the Eagles within 20-17. But that was as close as Sauk Prairie would get. “We went to our heavy formation, so we had an unbalanced line left to right,” Wallace said. “We put the ball in Cayden’s hands and tried to get the right matchups. We let him read the field and go.” Sauk Prairie recovered a fumble on Portage’s next possession, but the Eagles were unable to capitalize and were forced to turn the ball over on downs. A late turnover, though, proved to be costly for Sauk Prairie when the Warriors recovered the ball on their own 48 with 43 seconds before halftime. Hermsdorf completed a pass to Boden Frosch on the sideline, but officials ruled Frosch fumbled and Portage recovered the ball on its own 48. “To me, it should have been an incomplete pass, but they called it a fumble,” Hermsdorf said. Portage then took advantage on the next play when Johnson found Nadolski down the right sideline behind the Sauk Prairie defense for a 52-yard touchdown with 33 seconds before the break. “That catch gave us great momentum going into the half,” Rice said. Johnson connected with Donovan Navone on a 3-yard touchdown pass with 8:46 remaining in the third quarter for Portage to end the scoring. Sauk Prairie failed to mount much of a threat on offense the rest of the way. “That was a big turning point,” Wallace said of the Warriors’ final points of the first half. “We were really looking to rely on the running game this week. That was a strong part of our game plan. We just fell behind had to start passing again.” However, one positive takeaway from the game was the experience Hermsdorf gained in his second appearance at quarterback this season. “I feel really comfortable,” Hermsdorf said. “I’m thinking that I want to play quarterback next year. This experience will help me a lot.” • On deck: Sauk Prairie hosts Stoughton in a Badger Small Conference game on Friday at 7 p.m. The Eagles then host Madison Edgewood in the regular season finale on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.   Oct. 4 Portage 34, Sauk Prairie 17 Sauk Prairie ….. 3 14 0 0 —  17 Portage ….……. 6 21 7 0 —  34 P: Max Kreuziger 24 run (pass failed). SP: Nick Keyser 32, field goal. SP: Casey Brickl 19 pass from Cayden Hermsdorf (Keyser kick). P: Kreuziger 33 run (Daven Delgado kick). P: David Nadolski 56 run (Delgado kick). SP: Cayden Hermsdorf 10 run (Keyser kick). P: Nadolski 52 pass from Oskar Johnson (Delgado kick). P: Donovan Navone 3 pass from O. Johnson (Delgado kick).   TEAM STATISTICS Rushing (Att.-Yds.) — SP 20-125, P 37-306. Passing yards — SP 205, P 108. Passing (Comp.-Att.-Int.) — SP 20-38-1, P 7-7-0.        INDIVIDUAL LEADERS Rushing (Att.-Yds) —SP: Cayden Hermsdorf 6-80, Lawson Maier 14-45. P: Max Kreuziger 11-100, David Nadolski 8-82. Passing (Att.-Comp.-Int.-Yds) — SP: Hermsdorf 19-37-1-186, Nick Keyser 1-1-0-19. P: Oskar Johnson 7-7-0-108. Receiving (Att.-Yds) — SP: Casey Brickl 6-82, Boden Frosch 6-55, Cade Kinney 6-49, Bryan Breunig 1-17, Maier 1-0. P – Nadolski 1-52.