Phantoms escape Level 1 with come-from-behind victory over Kimberly

DE PERE – “The Kimberly football team is not your average eight seed.” 

Those were the words of West De Pere Coach Kegan Wirtz after his team escaped its WIAA Division 1 Level 1 game against the Papermakers on Oct. 23. 

The Phantoms took control late in recording a 31-21 victory over Kimberly at West De Pere High School. 

With the victory, the 2025 WIAA Division 2 state champs will host No. 4 seed Milwaukee Reagan in a Level 2 game on Oct. 30. 

Despite coming into the game sporting a 4-5 overall record, Wirtz said he knew the Papermakers would be a huge challenge for the No. 1-seeded Phantoms. 

“When I saw we’d be playing Kimberly, I was excited about that,” Wirtz said. “If you want to win a state championship – which we aspire to do – you have to beat the best. Kimberly gave us a great battle, and I’m glad to have come out with a victory.”

With Kimberly’s Maddux Hermus scoring all three of the Papermakers’ TDs, West De Pere trailed 21-14 late in the third quarter. 

That’s when the momentum changed for good. 

West De Pere junior defensive back Garrett Abts picked off a Kimberly pass and returned it about 25 yards for a pick-six. 

The momentum-changing play tied the game at 21-21 after Maverick Lor – who missed a field goal moments before the interception – booted the extra point. 

From there, quarterback Andrew Greisen threw a two-yard TD pass to Morgan Mertens on a fourth-down play with 4:22 remaining in the game to bump the lead to 28-21 after Lor’s extra point. 

Lor added an insurance field goal from 35 yards out a couple of minutes later to seal the victory for the Phantoms. 

West De Pere (10-0) jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead halfway through the opening quarter on a short TD run by Kainan Strong and a 52-yard pass play from Greisen to Darien Acevedo-Ortiz. 

That’s when Hermus – one of the best multi-sport athletes in the state – took over. 

Hermus bolted 71 yards for his first score with just over four minutes remaining in the opening quarter before returning two punts for TDs later in the game. 

The first came in the second quarter when he sprinted 75 yards to paydirt to tie the score at 14-14 heading into intermission. 

Hermus returned a second punt for a TD from 43 yards out halfway through the third quarter to bump the lead to 21-14 before Abts’ heroics turned the game the Phantoms way.