Team effort needed for Pirates to hold off Jays in playoff opener

GILMAN 52, THREE LAKES-PHELPS 42

Troy Duellman scored five touchdowns, including three in the fourth quarter, and the Gilman Pirates got key contributions from unexpected sources while holding off Three Lakes-Phelps 5242 in a wild WIAA eight-player football tournament opener Friday night.

Duellman’s 33-yard scoring run put Gilman ahead for good with 2:12 remaining and he added an insurance score less than a minute later. His 84-yard kickoff return in the third quarter and his 2-yard run in the fourth also put the Pirates back on top after they had fallen behind in the back-and-forth battle.

The Pirates won despite losing three two-way starters to injury during the game. Sophomores Dawson Krizan, Max Ustianowski and Lee Zagorski all played key roles, especially in the second half, to help Gilman (7-2) advance to a state quarterfinal matchup this Friday with top-ranked Newman Catholic (9-0) that will be played at 7 p.m. in Merrill.

“Overall it was just a good team effort to get the W,” Gilman head coach Robin Rosemeyer said.

The Pirates did just enough to overcome a superb effort from Three Lakes-Phelps quarterback Jared Kaufman, who orchestrated an offensive attack that piled up 497 yards. Kaufman threw for 254 yards while completing 20 of 36 passes and he ran for 179 yards and three touchdowns.

Helped by three Gilman turnovers, the Blue Jays dug out of an early 16-0 hole and took the lead three times in the second half.

“(Kaufman) is so solid,” Rosemeyer said. “We got some pressure on him where we would hit him and he just really doesn’t budge on a hit. He can stay upright, complete some passes or at least just get rid of it and not get the big sack against him.

“Then they went to some more power running and let him run the ball,” Rosemeyer added. “Him and (LJ Terlizzi) in the backfield were kind of a load coming through. Coach (Tom) Tallier had to adjust. We probably played five different defenses on the night. We kept adjusting depending on what they were doing. Kids had to do a lot of adjusting. It worked out to where we were at least able to slow them down a little bit. Plus with the injuries, some kids were playing some new spots. It was a game of adjustments, especially defensively.”

The first key injury for Gilman took place in the first half when the Pirates lost tight end and defensive back Branden Ustianowski. His spot was filled ably by his brother Max. Quarterback and middle linebacker Grady Kroeplin went out late in the third quarter with Krizan taking over for him at quarterback in crunch time and Zagorski taking over at linebacker. Fullback and defensive end Wayne McAlpine left the game in the fourth quarter with Zagorski taking his snaps on offense and junior Dalton Wisocky taking snaps on defense to account for that loss.

Three Lakes-Phelps lost a key player too, top receiver McCain Graff, to an ankle injury in the first half.

Gilman’s Casey Grunseth recovered a Terlizzi fumble on the first possession of the game and the Pirates jumped ahead quickly with touchdowns on their first two possessions.

A 57-yard drive, with 50 of those yards coming on the ground, resulted in Kroeplin’s 1-yard run and Duellman’s two-point conversion at the 7:29 mark. The Pirates went 64 yards on their next drive with all of the yards coming on the ground, except for a pass interference call in the end zone on the play Branden Ustianowski was injured. Again, Kroeplin scored the touchdown from the one and Duellman ran in the conversion and the Pirates appeared to be on their way.

“Our offensive line got after it pretty good,” Rosemeyer said.

But then Kaufman got into a groove and the game turned in the second quarter. He completed three passes and ran for a first down on a 72-yard drive that ended with his 1-yard touchdown and two-point pass to Graff with 7:58 left in the half. After a Gilman punt, the Blue Jays went 59 yards in seven plays to score on an 18-yard pass from Kaufman to Brandon Baumann. Gilman stuffed the two-point conversion to stay ahead 16-14.

After a fumbled kickoff, Three Lakes-Phelps had a golden opportunity to take the lead before halftime, but the Pirates got a big stop, keeping the Jays one yard short at the 7-yard line on a 13-yard pass completion on fourth and 14.

The twists and turns really picked up after halftime.

The Pirates fumbled the opening kickoff and the Blue Jays turned that into a 34-yard touchdown drive. Josh Cogar’s 12-yard touchdown catch put them ahead 22-16. The lead lasted exactly 13 seconds as Duellman atoned for the lost fumbles by fielding the ensuing kickoff and bursting through the middle of the field and needing to avoid just one tackler on his 84-yard return that tied the game at 22.

Duellman also finished with 158 yards on 19 carries for an average of 8.3 yards per attempt.

“Early on, Troy was taking the kick returns a little bit too wide,” Rosemeyer said. “We had guys coming to kick out two of their guys but he was still forcing it too wide. We reminded him at halftime that he had to take it up the hash. When he did score, he found that seam. That was good. Also he was just running the ball hard when we needed to score to get the lead and score to increase the lead. He had some nice runs.”

Kroeplin’s fourth-down sack of Kaufman stopped another Three Lakes-Phelps scoring threat and his 31-yard run was the key play in a 73-yard scoring drive that ended with a 28-yard touchdown by Duellman who bounced the run out to the right side. Max Ustianowski caught the two-point pass to put the Pirates up by eight.

The Blue Jays needed just six plays to drive 67 yards and answer on a 10-yard scoring run by Kaufman, but the twopoint pass failed to keep Gilman in front 30-28 with 2:40 left in the third. Gilman fumbled the ball away again, Kroeplin was injured defensively a few plays later and the Blue Jays took a 34-30 lead with 11:15 left in the game on a 5-yard run by Kaufman.

With Krizan taking the snaps, Gilman picked up two first downs on its next drive, but eventually faced a fourth and nine from the Blue Jays’ 34. Krizan dropped back to pass but found some running room by scrambling to his right. He avoided a couple of tacklers, cut back to the left and reached the 2-yard line, where Duellman scored on the next play, Krizan then found Caleb Marion in the back corner of the end zone for the twopoint conversion and a 38-34 lead with 7:19 left.

“That was a big play,” Rosemeyer said of Krizan’s scramble. “If we don’t get that play, who knows? There were so many plays in that game that turned into big plays where if that doesn’t happen it makes you wonder what the outcome would’ve been.”

Three Lakes-Phelps came right back to regain the lead, driving 71 yards to a 16-yard touchdown pass from Kaufman to Coger with 3:00 left. The kickoff was squibbed and very nearly recovered by the Blue Jays, which could have put Gilman in big trouble. But the Pirates did get possession and needed just three Duellman runs to go 59 yards for the goahead score. Duellman got through a hole on the left side of the line, made one linebacker miss and was off to the races on his 33-yard score that made it 44-42.

Gilman finally got Kaufman under control, forcing four incompletions and a change of possession with 1:31 left. Duellman’s 20-yard touchdown on the next play sealed the deal.

Gilman’s Troy Duellman dives over would-be tackler Sawyer Szews of Three Lakes-Phelps and scores the go-ahead 33-yard touchdown with 2:12 remaining in the Pirates’ 52-42 playoff win.BILL ZUELKE/VILAS COUNTY NEWS REVIEW