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CWS Sports Desk

August 31, 2012

Oshkosh– The SPASH Panthers football team is back– just ask the Oshkosh West Wildcats.  SPASH hammered West in a VFA South match up on Friday night, running their record to 2-0 on the young season with a 33-6 win on Friday night.

Senior tailback Zach Pozorski, who had 3 touchdowns in the contest, led SPASH to its first score of the night with a 9 yard touchdown run at 8:52 in the first quarter.  With Pozorski leading the charge and handing SPASH a 7-0 lead, the Panthers did not look back for the remainder of the game.

SPASH’s defense played stellar ball in the early going, forcing the Wildcats to a 3-and-out on its first possession.

The Wildcats had a chance to make some noise in the first half when they recovered a fumble as SPASH quarterback Eric Zelhofer mishandled a snap, but West’s drive ground to a halt at SPASH’s 20 yard line and the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs.

The Wildcats got on the board later in the first quarter with a Joel Hinke 28-yard touchdown reception.  The touchdown was the result of some nifty moves by Hinke after the catch to pull the Wildcats within one point, 7-6,  after a failed PAT.

SPASH’s defense intercepted West late in the second quarter and Zach Pozorski capitalized, scoring his second touchdown with 3:53 left in the half to give SPASH a 14-6 lead.

Following a similar script, SPASH made an interception to set up an Eric Zelhofer two-yard touchdown pass to extend SPASH’s lead to 21-6 at the 6:56 mark in the second quarter.

SPASH picked off Xiong in the third quarter, setting up the Panthers’ offense at West’s 29 yard line.  But two mishandled snaps stalled the Panthers’ offense and West took over on downs to stifle SPASH’s scoring threat.

SPASH’s offense, led by Pozorski, began to wear down the under-sized Wildcats’ defensive front in the third quarter.  Pozorski scored his third touchdown of the game with ten seconds left in the third period as the Panthers took a comfortable 27-6 lead into the final frame.

SPASH picked off yet another Xiong pass with just under 10 minutes– crushing what looked like a possible West rally that had driven to all the way to SPASH’s 27 yard line.  The interception sealed the victory for SPASH and was followed by a 5-yard SPASH touchdown pass from Ryan Sullivan to Scott Walder.

SPASH improves to 2-0 on the season, while Oshkosh West falls to 0-2.