DE PERE — The West De Pere Phantoms (8-0) put on a show against the Bay Port Pirates (6-2) on Friday, Oct. 10, leading a 17-point comeback in the final 6 minutes to take the 48-45 win.
“We’ve been there before. We knew we could score if we just got some stops. We could go up and down if we found some openings, we just had to make plays. There were so many penalties and things like that that took away touchdowns and we just had to stop that. We were fortunate. We had two onside kicks and that was huge. I’m just proud of our kids they always believed,” said Phantoms Head Coach Chris Greisen.
Though the Pirates began to pull ahead in the second half, both teams traded the lead back and forth in the first half following the Phantoms’ initial touchdown on a reception by running back Kainan Strong.
Bay Port’s Brady Moon retaliated by finding his way into the endzone from 8 yards out to even the score at the end of the first quarter.
With 9 minutes left in the half, Phantoms’ Quarterback Patrick Greisen found wide receiver Judeah Kniskern on 1st and 10 to take back the lead.
The Pirates worked their way down the field on a long connection with Jackson Otradovec to bring them down to the 7 yard line for another Moon touchdown.
Phantoms Wide Receiver Landon Kibbe clinched a reception from Greisen in the final minutes of the half while a Bay Port field goal brought the score to 21-17 going into halftime.
Coach Greisen said that his team’s philosophy has centered around the word ‘G.R.I.T.’ — an acronym for grind, responsibility, intensity and trust — and he felt his team executed perfectly amid the circumstances.
“You know what they showed us? Grit. That was the definition of grit right there and I couldn’t be happier. I’m proud of them. We talked about playing for each other all week and that’s what it was all about,” said Coach Greisen.
The latter half of the match up initially seemed to favor the Pirates as the Pirates Quarterback Matt Stevens dove over the pile to find the endzone to take the lead at 24-21.
Phantom Braylon Stegall dove past the pylon for his team in their final touchdown for several drives as Bay Port began to pull ahead.
With 2 minutes left in the third quarter, Moon again found the endzone taking the lead at 31-28.
The Pirates recovered their own onside kick for another drive to secure back to back Moon touchdowns as the Pirates began to pull ahead.
The Pirates defense put up a crucial stop which gave them a chance to work their way up the field for a Stevens touchdown to bring the score to a tantalizing 45-28.
“We found out that this is a special team when they want to play together. This is a special fam and I can’t wait to go back to film and watch this,” said Coach Greisen.
Though the Pirates seemed to have clinched the victory, the Phantoms still had a few key plays in their bag of tricks.
Wide receiver Darian Acevedo-Ortiz clinched a reception with 3:54 left in the game to lessen the Pirates lead to 10.
The Phantoms then recovered their own onside kick but an interception by Bay Port with 2:50 on the clock seemed dire.
The Phantoms defense put up the stop they needed to get the ball back in Greisen’s hands to lead to a Ryan Lutz touchdown with just over a minute left to play with a score of 42-45 ahead of them.
The Phantoms recovered their own onside kick yet again for their final possession of the game.
With 18 seconds left, Stegall secured a catch from Greisen in the endzone to bring the final score to 48-45.
“This was a great win, but there’s a lot to correct. We’ll be happy and we’re going to enjoy this, but obviously we have to beat Appleton West next week. It would be nice to be back to back conference champs, but then we have a lot more ahead of us,” said Greisen.
Last season saw a similar fate for the Pirates on their home turf as a field goal in the final seconds bright the Phantoms to victory.
“When you’ve got a team like Bay Port that is well-coached — they are so gifted and so talented and big and strong. It’s one of those games we have to measure ourselves against and we’ve been fortunate to come out on top the last few years,” said Coach Greisen.
The Phantoms will host Appleton West next Friday while the Pirates will travel to Pulaski to take on the Red Raiders.
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