‘Cats outsmart Tigers

Edgar dips into its bag of trick plays

By Casey Krautkramer

Edgar junior running back Karter Butt has large quad muscles in his legs, similar to Green Bay Packers running back AJ Dillion who is nicknamed “Quadzilla.” Butt’s quads deserve their own nickname after his dominating performance running the football on Friday night, in which he broke several tackles during Edgar’s 14-0 home win against archrival Stratford.

Jerry Sinz has helped develop several players into good running backs during his 48 years as Edgar’s varsity head football coach. He also possesses a wealth of knowledge in knowing how to strategize against opponents.

“Karter Butt is a fairly tough dude so we just gave him the ball after we realized what Stratford was doing defensively,” Sinz said. “Stratford was playing with a three-man line so we thought maybe we could just run the ball at them and it worked.”

Butt ran the football 27 times while continuing to churn his legs for extra yards after contact for 119 yards and one touchdown. He scored Edgar’s first points against Stratford on a three-yard touchdown plunge in the second quarter. His cousin, junior quarterback Teegan Streit, pulled a magic trick out of the hat by throwing the ball up for grabs while nearly getting sacked on the two-point conversion attempt. Sophomore Leyton Schuett, who stands six feet, three inches tall, hauled in Streit’s pass in the back of the end zone to give the Wildcats an 8-0 lead against the Tigers.

Butt didn’t just use his legs, however, to help the Wildcats beat the Tigers. He utilized his arm to throw a successful halfback pass to junior tight end Brett Baumgartner to set up his three-yard touchdown run.

Edgar held an 8-0 lead at halftime and at the end of the third quarter. Butt threw another halfback pass to Baumgartner in the fourth quarter, but only this time it was for a threeyard touchdown. Edgar missed the extra point but still led Stratford, 14-0, with eight-and-a-half minutes left in the game.

Butt said he did pass the football a lot in middle school, so it wasn’t like Friday night was the first time he’s ever tested his arm.

“I’m asked to do a lot for this team but I step up to the challenge and do my best with every opportunity I’m given so I can help us win,” he said.

Edgar senior defensive back Avery Normington intercepted Stratford senior quarterback Braeden Schueller’s pass attempt with just over eight minutes remaining in the game. Later on, Butt tackled Tigers junior running back Koehler Kilty short of gaining the one yard he needed for a first down with just over two minutes left in the game. Edgar took over the football on downs from Stratford on the Tigers’ 11-yard line. The Wildcats went into victory formation with two straight quarterback kneel downs to seal the 14-0 victory.

Edgar’s football coaching staff utilized a few trick plays when they needed them most against Stratford on Friday night, while the Tigers ran the same offense it did against Mosinee in the first week of this season. Stratford tied Mosinee, 20-20, after lightning ended the game before the fourth quarter. Coach Sinz said Butt executed the halfback throw perfectly both times against Stratford.

“We worked on that play in practice this week because we thought if we got down on the goal line and Stratford’s defense was playing us tight, that we would need to pull that trick pass out and it worked,” he said. “You need about three of these types of trick plays in big games like this; we used two of the three trick plays we practiced against Stratford and we’ll keep the third one for another game down the road this season.”

Edgar’s defense held Stratford’s leading rusher Kilty to only 33 yards on 14 carries, after he gashed Mosinee’s defense in the season opener for 190 yards and two touchdowns.

“We had a pretty good idea of what Stratford was going to try to do on offense, and Kilty is a hard runner who’ll have some big rushing games again this season, but I think our team defense limited his effectiveness,” Sinz said.

He was pleased with his team’s defensive ability to shut out archrival Stratford.

“Our defensive secondary is young but I thought it played pretty good the first week of this season and again tonight,” Sinz said. “Avery Normington and Keagan Hartway are two new starting defensive backs this season and they played well. Our safeties are our two quarterbacks, Teegan Streit and Leyton Schuett, and they are pretty smart guys who are fast, so they are a good combination back there.”

Butt achieved the highest amount of defensive team points, 21, while playing linebacker in the win against Stratford. He had six solo tackles, an assisted tackle and two tackles for loss. Junior linebacker, Kohlbe Weisenberger was second on the Wildcats’ defense with 20 points for four solo tackles, an assisted tackle, two quarterback hurries and one tackle for loss. Edgar sophomore linebacker, Jase Apfelbeck had 17 defensive points with one solo tackle, eight assisted tackles, one sack and two hurries.

Sinz was excited about his team’s execution in all facets of the game including offense, defense and special teams against Stratford.

“I thought we played really hard and we played pretty smart,” he said. “We punted the ball well and got a big punt return to get our team going. I think special teams is always huge in these types of game and that turned out to be the case against Stratford.”

Wildcats junior Marcus Huehnerfuss punted the football six times for 189 yards. During a few times his punts went out of bounds to pin the Tigers’ offense deep in its own territory. Streit reversed the football to Butt for a 37-yard punt return in the second quarter to give Edgar great field position that helped the Wildcats score their first points in the game.

Edgar’s 14-0 win against Stratford means a lot to Butt and his teammates.

“Every time we play against Stratford, it’s the biggest game of the year for us until the playoffs,” Butt said. “Every time we see Stratford on the schedule we circle them because it’s always a fun time, especially when we shut them out.”

Edgar’s football team improves its record to 2-0 this season. The team also downed Lakeland Union, 35-7, in the season opener. Stratford, meanwhile, falls to 0-1-1 this season. Senior wide receiver Ashton Wrensch led the Tigers with six catches for 61 yards against the Wildcats.

Senior linebackers Ryan Becker and John Seitz III led Stratford’s defense with 12 tackles each. Senior defensive end Jackson Ormond and senior strong safety Conner Weigel added nine tackles apiece for the Tigers.

Although Sinz is happy Edgar has won its first two games, he doesn’t want his players to rest on one’s laurels.

“You never know how good your team is at the beginning of the season, but now we can say ‘alright we are going to be decent but we need to put some more wins together yet; you can’t be bragging yet because we are a long ways away from being a great team but we are getting better,’” he said.

Edgar plays its third straight nonconference home game at 7 p.m. this Friday, Sept. 2, against Stevens Point Pacelli. Stratford begins Central Wisconsin- Large play on the road against Manawa.

“It’s always fun to play against Stratford, especially when we shut them out.”Karter ButtEdgar junior

TIGHT TIGERS COVERAGE- Stratford Tigers junior cornerback Cole Tichy breaks up a pass intended for an Edgar wide receiver on Friday night.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER

JUNIOR TEAMMATE HANDOFF- Edgar junior quarterback Teegan Streit looks to hand the football off to junior running back Kohlbe Weisenberger early in the Wildcats’ 14-0 home victory against Stratford on Friday.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER