August 24, 2012
Wausau– The Wisconsin Rapids Red Raiders climbed to the pinnacle of prep football last season when they earned a trip to Madison to play in the WIAA State Championship. Their 2012 season got off to a rocky start as the Wausau East Lumberjacks, fueled by an outstanding performance from senior wide receiver Logan Taylor, beat the Red Raiders 25-14.
East’s spread offense got to work in the second quarter, led by Taylor, who made a number of outstanding catches on a drive that would lead to the Lumberjacks’ first touchdown. Quarterback Cole Nelson connected with receiver Cam Gruetzmacher on a 10-yard touchdown pass to stake East to an early a 6-0 lead.
“It took us a little while to get going,” Taylor said, “but once we were able to find out what was working and how to pick apart the defense, thing started to flow well.”
While the Lumberjacks’ passing offense started clicking in the second quarter, Rapids struggled to find a groove running their signature triple option offense. Wausau East’s defense seemed to key in on Rapids’ junior running back Ryan Duxbury and was able to sniff out the ball on nearly all of Rapids’ running plays.
“Give their defense credit,” Rapids’ head coach Tony Biolo said. ”They were running a really aggressive defense, attacking all gaps. It took us a little while to get going and find where some of the holes were… Their defense played fantastic.”
The Lumberjacks mounted an impressive drive to end the first half, led once again by two big Taylor receptions, but the drive stalled on the 26 yard line and, after Bryce Widmark missed a field goal, the score stood at 6-0 Wausau East.
One highlight for Rapids in the first half was the play of Zach Bassuener, who snagged an interception and had several impressive punt and kick returns.
“Bassuener played outstanding. He was all over the field for us,” Biolo said. ”He’s put the time in. He’s just a real tough kid.”
East struck again in the third quarter on a Adam Urmanski rushing touchdown to take a 12-0 lead. That was followed by junior cornerback Hunter Woods’ interception for the Lumberjack defense in the fourth quarter. Woods returned the pick 40 yards for a touchdown. With 9:52 left in the fourth, Rapids was facing a 19-0 deficit.
The Red Raiders fought back. Duxbury broke off a 56 yard run to spark Rapids’ offense, then punched through the Lumberjack defense for a five yard touchdown to give Rapids life with 7:28 left in the game.
After a good defensive series, Zach Bassuener made an impressive 31 yard running play to set up a 7 yard touchdown run by Duxbury.
With the score at 14-19 and over three minutes remaining, it appeared that Rapids might have enough time to break through for another score.
Logan Taylor had other ideas. Taylor returned Rapids’ ensuing kickoff for a 87 yard touchdown to give East a 25-14 lead, which would hold up and give East its first win of the season.
“(Taylor) is a huge play threat,” Biolo said. ”He makes people miss… He’s a heck of a player.”
Wausau East head coach Steve Jung said his team showed a lot of heart and stepped up when it appeared that Rapids might take control of the game in the fourth quarter.
“Our kids rose up,” Jung said. ”Rapids was stinging us. They got a couple of scores and it looked like we might lose control of the game. Hunter Woods and Logan Taylor really stepped up for us… We played three great quarters of defense and (Rapids) really stepped it up in the fourth quarter. They had us on our heels. But after LT scored, we got our energy up and were able to take care of business.”
As for Rapids, who lost their first game of 2011 as well before going on to state, the team looks to bounce back against VFA opponent Fon du Lac next week.
