CONTRIBUTING TO BIG WIN

WFCA EIGHT-PLAYER ALL-STAR GAME

Gilman guys help North demolish the South

Chosen to be among the state’s top 45 best from eight-player football teams was quite an honor for Gilman’s Grady Kroeplin and Branden Ustianowski.

To be on the North side that was stacked with the best of those best players made last week even more fun.

Playing on a defensive unit guided by Gilman’s defensive coordinator Tom Tallier, Kroeplin and Ustianowski both had solid outings as defensive starters for the North, who absolutely crushed the South All-Stars 74-12 in Friday’s Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All-Star Game at UW-Oshkosh.

It was just the start of a dominant weekend for the North teams, who swept all three games by wide margins. On Saturday, the North won the Small School game (Divisions 4-7) by a score of 44-12 and the North took the Large School finale (Divisions 1-3) 49-7.

“That was one of the best football experiences I’ve ever had,” Kroeplin said. “It was fun.”

“It was a good experience. It was lots of fun,” Ustianowski said. “It was good to be friends with those guys you’re playing against most of the time. You get to see how they actually are. You see their true colors.”

“You get to see their friendly side, not just their football side,” Kroeplin said.

All-star week starts with four days of practices and team bonding for the North at UW-River Falls. The team bussed to Oshkosh Friday and took care of business in the game, dominating in all three phases while building a 38-12 halftime lead and then pouring it on in the second half with five more touchdowns.

Both Kroeplin and Ustianowski recorded a fair share of tackles, including a couple where they were there on the same play. Kroeplin had a couple of eye-popping hits and had an outstanding night kicking off for the North, sending kicks inside the 10 and one for a touchback that hit the front pylon. Ustianowski broke up a two-point conversion pass and nearly had an interception in the first half.

“I thought I had one of my best games,” Kroeplin said. “I had a lot of hard hits. That felt good. I had a good game kicking too.”

“I think I did a solid 7.5,” said Ustianowski, who played the right outside linebacker/cornerback position. “It was decent. It could’ve been better.”

Tallier said it was reassuring for him to have his guys in the defensive backfield in his Cover-2 scheme, something he said most eight-player teams don’t use.

“They didn’t have any missed tackles. They were the sure kids out there,” Tallier said. “I knew it on day one when we went through and did some basic angle form tackling and not being prejudiced at all to my kids, when everyone went through and did their angle form tackles, and I knew I had two best kids there, I knew they belonged. That was neat to see just from day one and then for them to both be able to put it together for the game too it was very satisfying. I’m very proud of their performances.”

The North’s roster featured several players the Gilman Pirates have faced over the past couple years, including Central Wisconsin Conference rivals like defensive back Aiden Rosemeyer of Thorp, offensive lineman Nathan Zarins of Owen-Withee and defensive lineman Aiden Janke of Athens.

The team also featured four members of two-time state champion Newman Catholic, all of whom had significant impacts in the win. In particular, quarterback Conner Krach ran for two touchdowns and threw for three more. Newman Catholic has eliminated Gilman in the playoffs the past two seasons.

“I thought we put the kids in the right places,” Tallier said following his second straight appearance on the North’s coaching staff. “We had so many all-stars that could’ve played both ways, both offense and defense. They were so talented they could’ve played on both sides of the ball. But I think where we ultimately decided to put kids made a big difference in the end.

“We had four kids who played quarterback for their high school teams in the defensive backfield,” Tallier added. “It just shows in a small school, especially in eight-man football, you put your best athletes at quarterback. If you don’t have space to have them throwing the ball, at least put the kids back there who understand what the routes are and what a quarterback wants to do with the ball.”

“Our confidence was through the roof,” said Kroeplin, one of those quarterbacks who played defense Friday. “We knew what was going to happen.”

“Once we saw all the people there and their height and saw their athletic ability, we knew,” Ustianowski said.

“Our defense was crazy. Just seeing that made my confidence go up,” Kroeplin said.

“And then when we went to our sledgehammer formation on offense, I don’t think there was a lineman below 6-5,” Ustianowski said.

The North scored almost immediately after recovering an onside kick to start the game. Krach’s 27-yard touchdown run made it 6-0. The offense took some time to get going and an 18-yard interception return by Gibraltar’s Jack Duffy tied the game at 6-6 with 3:08 left in the first quarter. Ustianowski broke up the twopoint try, staying in his zone and stepping in front of a pass intended for Brandon Baumann of Three Lakes to keep it tied.

Momentum started to turn for good on a 52-yard punt return by Rosemeyer that put the ball on the South’s 8. James Bruhn of Phillips, who had touchdowns on his first three carries, got his first one on a 1-yard run and Janke caught the two-point conversion for a 14-6 lead with eight minutes left in the half.

Ustianowski had his near interception on the first play of the ensuing drive, deflecting a ball intended for Belmont’s Noah Fritz. Nicholas Webster of Siren almost caught the deflection as well. Kroeplin had the tackle on the next play for a 2-yard gain. After a poor punt, the North needed two plays to score again, getting the touchdown on Krach’s 38-yard run to open up a 22-6 lead.

Things really went downhill for the South when Laona-Wabeno’s Adam Seeber caught a long pass to get inside the 10, but Prairie Farm’s Tyler Rassbach popped the ball free from Seeber. It was recovered by Webster and returned to the 22. Bruhn took off on a 78-yard scoring run on the next play and just like that it was 30-6.

The South did take advantage of a 65-yard reception by Baumann to get a 1-yard touchdown by quarterback Evan Pedretti of De Soto, but another bad punt by the South set up a quick 25-yard drive in the final seconds of the half. Dale Tetrault of McDonell Central caught a 6-yard bullet from Krach at the front left pylon with nine seconds left.

The second half started with Kroeplin kicking the ball inside the South’s 5 and him making the tackle on returner Karsen Cox of Williams Bay. After a fourthdown stop by the defense, Bruhn’s 38-yard touchdown run made it 44-12. Tetrault, who Gilman has seen often as a standout receiver at McDonell, added two more touchdowns, one on a 15-yard pass with 1:46 left in the third quarter that made it 60-12 and the other on a 62-yard run that made it 66-12 with 8:10 left. After the first of those Tetrault scores, Ustianowski steered Cox toward the right sideline on the kickoff return, where he was blasted on a textbook tackle by Kroeplin.

“That one felt good,” Kroeplin said. The Gilman teammates worked to-

Branden Ustianowski of Gilman makes the tackle on the South’s Noah Fritz of Belmont, holding him to a 4-yard gain early in the second quarter. Tyler Rassbach of Prairie Farm (84) and Thomas Bates of Newman Catholic are also in on the play.

Gilman’s Tom Tallier takes his turn to address the North squad in the post-game huddle following the team’s 74-12 win over the South All-Stars. He is flanked by Thorp’s KD Stokes (l.) and the team’s head coach, Jordan LaBlanc of Clayton.PHOTOS BY MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

Gilman’s Grady Kroeplin provides press coverge on Brandon Baumann of Three Lakes late in the second quarter of the North’s 74-12 win in the Eight-Player All-Star Game.

Gilman assistant football coach Justin Young (r.) joins the All-Star trio of Tom Tallier, Branden Ustianowski and Grady Kroeplin for a post-game photo.