Nine Pirates score touchdowns during blowout win at Cornell

GILMAN 77, CORNELL 0

Clearly the superior team, the Gilman Pirates saw Friday’s non-conference football game at Cornell as more of an opportunity to make sure they are doing things the way they want them to be done rather than looking at the scoreboard.

For the most part, they executed as they hoped in a 77-0 rout.

The Pirates moved the ball at will, only losing it once on a fumble near Cornell’s goal line and allowed only three first downs defensively, all in the first half. After allowing a couple of pass plays early, the Chiefs did nothing but go backwards in the last three quarters to remain scoreless for the season.

Gilman, meanwhile, is 3-0 heading into its Central Wisconsin Conference-East opener Friday at Greenwood.

Playing on Cornell’s 80-yard field, Gilman piled up 296 rushing yards and 360 total yards on just 25 offensive plays. The Pirates overwhelmed Cornell’s offensive line and pushed the Chiefs backwards for minus-25 rushing yards. The Chiefs’ three pass completions went for 54 yards.

Among the takeaways for Gilman, according to head coach Robin Rosemeyer, was the team’s execution against a different defensive look than the Pirates had seen from their first two opponents, Lake Holcombe and Bruce.

“We saw a four-front,” he said. “It’s good to see some different fronts. We weren’t really sure what to expect from them. We saw a three, a four and a five from them against other teams. It was good to see a new front like that and the kids executed pretty well as far as the bellies and boot keeps we ran. We weren’t too extravagant with any of our formations. We kept it pretty basic and went right at them.

“A lot of guys got to carry the ball, which was good,” he added. “We were pretty good inside and outside. Our offguard plays were good, yet we were able to get outside too on some pitches and keeps.”

Nine different players scored touchdowns, including freshman Taydyn Angell with a defensive score as he knocked an option pitch out of the air and scooped the ball up for a 5-yard touchdown return in the fourth quarter.

Troy Duellman had 94 yards rushing and two scores on just six carries. Dawson Krizan scored on both of his carries, totaling 52 yards. He also went three for three in passing for 64 yards and two scores.

The big passing highlight was a 55yard bomb from Dawson Krizan to Max Ustianowski that made it 30-0 early in the second quarter. Ustianowski turned his defender around and had a 10-yard cushion when he caught Krizan’s pass 25 yards downfield.

“Max ran a good fade pattern and it was a good throw by Dawson,” Rosemeyer said. “It’s good to have that threat that teams have to respect so when we spread people out, it’s not just Chad (Konsella) being on one side. We have to make teams think we could go either way.”

Lining up as an eligible receiver, lineman Dalton Wisocky caught a 1-yard touchdown pass to make it 37-0 midway through the second quarter, one play after a Joey Syryczuk sack and forced fumble was recovered by Gilman.

That was the last touchdown of the first half. Gilman added two touchdowns in the third quarter on a 34-yard run by Krizan and a 4-yard run by Chad Konsella, which came three plays after Konsella’s 38-yard punt return to the six.

The fourth quarter included the first touchdown of the season for Brady McAlpine, which came on a 17-yard run.

Gilman averaged 21.2 yards on six punt returns to help set up several short scoring drives.

Duellman also led Gilman’s defense with 15 total tackles from his middle linebacker position. Wisocky had nine tackles with three quarterback sacks. Joey Syryczuk had four total tackles with the sack and forced fumble and Henry Syryczuk was involved in seven tackles.

While Cornell’s offense struggled, Rosemeyer said the Chiefs’ adjustment to take snaps directly from under center rather than in shotgun helped them run the ball a bit better.

“They did hurt us with a couple of pass plays,” Rosemeyer said. “Just little things there. We kind of took our eyes off their receiver a little bit and a couple times they still did get outside of us, more than we need teams to be getting outside of us as far as leverage on pass rushes. We have to maintain that.”

Friday’s game in Greenwood (0-2) isn’t likely to go down to the wire either. The Indians canceled their game with Prairie Farm last week with some players being unavailable, but this week’s game is a go with the Pirates expecting to spread the snaps through their entire roster.

Plus, getting the game in keeps Gilman in a rhythm heading into the key stretch of the season with home games against Owen-Withee, Alma Center Lincoln and Thorp.

“They have some big kids,” Rosemeyer said of the Indians. “They’re not bad if they have a heathy enough team. They have good size, but not a lot of speed. They’re pretty much going to come right at you. They do some unbalanced formations, different formations you have to be ready for. They present a size issue, which is something we need to see.”