Pirates pile on 34 first-quarter points, cruise to opening win

GILMAN 41, TRI-COUNTY 0

Bryson Keepers ran for three early touchdowns, setting the tone for an easy 41-0 win for the Gilman football team over Plainfield Tri-County in its eightplayer season and home opener Thursday afternoon.

Keepers ran for 101 yards and just four carries and the three scores as Gilman built a 34-0 first-quarter lead and coasted from there.

“Bryson ran four middle traps and three went for touchdowns, 42, 33 and 18 yards,” Gilman head coach Robin Rosemeyer said. “He got tackled on the last one for an 8-yard gain. He was one shoestring tackle away from probably scoring another one.”

The Pirates had to do some shifting of personnel to account for a couple of absences, but they didn’t skip a beat on either side of the ball. Gilman piled up 263 rushing yards with most of that coming in the first quarter before the JV unit took over and got some beneficial work in a varsity setting. The Penguins managed just 64 yards of total offense.

Along with his big rushing game, Keepers, normally a tight end on offense, caught the only pass quarterback Grady Kroeplin threw for a 15-yard gain.

“We have a few kids that are like that,”

Bryson Keepers Grady Kroeplin

Rosemeyer said. “You can put them in different spots and just let them be players basically. They really have no one set position, but they can do a lot of good things for you, whether it’s receiving or running. Bryson’s a really good blocker too. He’s very versatile offensively and defensively.”

Troy Duellman returned the opening kickoff 33 yards to Tri-County’s 47. After a 5-yard penalty on the Penguins, Keepers ran 42 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first official play from scrimmage. The Penguins fumbled the ball away and a third-and-short quarterback sneak and the Pirates turned that into Keepers’ 33yard touchdown. Keepers also caught the two-point conversion pass from Kroeplin to make it 14-0 just 2:28 into the game.

Keepers scored from 18 yards out on Gilman’s next possession, then Duellman got his first touchdown of 2021, scoring from 6 yards out. Kroeplin kicked the extra point to make it 27-0 with 4:01 still left in the quarter.

Kroeplin called his own number on Gilman’s next drive, going 35 yards for a touchdown with 1:03 left in the opening period. Duellman’s 6-yard run midway through the third quarter closed the scoring.

Duellman finished with 98 yards on 12 carries. Kroeplin had 49 yards on four rushing attempts. Wayne McAlpine got his first four varsity carries for 4 yards and freshman Lee Zagorski gained 12 yards on his first three carries.

Nate Severin led Tri-County with 32 rushing yards on 16 carries. Quarterback Cayden Weis completed one of three passes for 22 yards, but gained only a yard on 14 rushing attempts.

“They did have some nice linemen so we were happy about how we were able to control their running because they do have some big boys up front,” Rosemeyer said.

The Pirates remain at home this Friday when they host 0-1 Port Edwards at 7 p.m. The Blackhawks lost 20-14 to Phillips Friday in a game that was halted early in the third quarter due to weather.