Whitnall tops New Berlin West as kicker steals the show
Last-second field goal closes come-from-behind win
New Berlin — Whitnall is a team that hardly utilizes its kicking game.
In fact, coach Rob Laboeuf said his team only punted 15 times all of last season.
But Danny Miskov, the little-used sophomore kicker, drilled a 21-yard field goal as time expired Friday night to cap a 31-28 comeback win against New Berlin West.
"We thought about it," Laboeuf said when asked if he debated going for the touchdown instead of the field goal - something he had done earlier in the game in a red zone situation. "But we wanted to be safe about it. In hindsight I should've called more of a quarterback-designed run.
"But we love Danny Miskov. He's ice veins."
The Falcons (1-1 overall, 1-0 Woodland) needed more than just Miskov's last-second kick to get their first win of the season, though. Twice, senior Ben Schaefer made big plays to bring his team back in the fourth quarter.
First, after a Vikings' clock-eating drive that took up much of the second half, quarterback Joel Stave hit Schaefer on a go route that resulted in a 69-yard touchdown to quickly tie things up at 21-21.
Then, after a quick answer from the Vikings (0-2, 0-2 Woodland) spearheaded by the combination of quarterback Dominique Bledsoe hitting Adam Ruiz, Schaefer scored again, this time on a 90-yard kick return to tie that game at 28-apiece.
"The big play hurt us tonight," West coach Aaron Mack said. "We put together a 21-play drive that eats up over, I think, nine minutes, and they come back and hit a corner route on a 60-yard touchdown."
Lost in the outcome was the big game had by the Vikings quarterback. The 6-foot, 185-pound Bledsoe finished 17-35 from the air for 267 yards and three touchdowns. The very mobile senior also beat the Falcons with his feet at times, including barely getting across the goal line on a 4-yard run to tie the game at 14 just before halftime.
One of Bledsoe's many targets is 6-foot-6 senior, Chad Mathwig. The two-time NOW All-Suburban selection in basketball caught six balls for 139 yards and two scores Friday night.
"You know, he (Mathwig) is a tough matchup because if you want to double him, I think we have three other very capable wide receivers," Mack said. "The biggest thing tonight, though, was Jake Liban got a chance to play at running back.
"I don't know what our numbers were, but I just thought his savvy, his football intelligence, and his heart really gave us a lift as a football team."
Liban started in place of running back, Steve Vogl, who is out indefinitely with an injured hamstring.
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