By Khue Lor
October 5, 2012
Wausau– Wausau East managed to hold onto the victory Friday night at Thom Field and kept their postseason hopes alive, as the Lumberjacks defeated the Appleton East Patriots by the score of 12-6.
On the coldest night of the football season, this game was crucial for Wausau East, as it was their homecoming game, but also their postseason lives were on the line.
Wausau East head coach, Steve Jung said, “This was a huge game for us…so to keep our playoff hopes alive, we needed to win this game.”
The game started with an impressive back and forth display by each team’s defense. Both Patriots and Lumberjacks were conservative with the ball and their defenses were executed well enough to contain the opposing offenses.
“I see it as a defensive running game,” said Coach Jung, when asked about how he predicted the type of game tonight.
And it was a defensive type of game with plenty of running until the final three minutes of the first quarter. The Lumberjacks started to put on a productive drive that lifted, not only their team as a whole, but their football fans in the stands as well. As the cheers grew louder, the Lumberjack team started to gain more positive yards. Finally, the Lumberjacks struck first.
At the 1:05 mark of the first quarter, Wausau East senior QB Cole Nelson threw his first touchdown pass of the night to his fellow senior teammate, Logan Taylor. The extra point failed, and after a fumble by Appleton East (which was recovered by Wausau East), the first quarter ended 6-0.
Much like the majority of the first quarter, the second quarter was a pretty even. The score was still 6-0 at halftime.
In the middle of the third quarter, at the 7:38 mark, the crowd went wild as Wausau East connected through the air once again, with the duo of Nelson to Taylor. This is the second time Nelson found Taylor for points.
“They (Patriots) gave Logan Taylor single coverage, and anytime we feel we have Logan with one guy guarding him, we’re gonna throw the ball to him,” said Coach Jung.
Appleton East trailed Wausau East 12-0, heading into the final quarter of the game.
However, the Appleton East Patriots would not go down without a final push. With 0:56 seconds left in the game, the Patriots QB Garrett Peterson threw for a touchdown pass to and brought the game to a 12-6. After a very close, but failed onside recovery by the Patriots, the 12-6 stood as the final.
Appleton East Head Coach Pat Schwanke said, “I’m not gonna defend our kids, they did not prepare this week, we did not have a very good week of practice…but you can’t take stuff away from Wausau East, they played a good, hard fought football game.”
Although the Appleton East Patriots are guaranteed to be in the playoffs, no one in Patriot colors left happy.
“We just have to prepare for playoffs and (prepare for) what comes next…it’s a lesson-learner for us, it really is.”
For Wausau East, they earned the homecoming win and are still in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Next week is the final game of the regular season and possibly the biggest. Wausau East meets Wausau West as the battle of the “Log Game” continues for the cross town rivals.
