With homecoming win, NG secures playoff berth

After taking a loss against Stanley-Boyd on Sept. 22, the Neillsville-Granton football team returned to their home field on Sept. 29 for a homecoming game against Osseo-Fairchild. Winning 27-6, the Warriors secured a spot in the playoffs, which will begin the week of Oct. 20.

The Warriors started strong with their opening drive, which was also the longest drive of the game at 7 minutes, 35 seconds. Braylon Boyer caught the first touchdown pass of the night to put the Warriors up by 6, but the team failed to complete the 2-point conversion.

Neillsville-Granton’s defense stalled the Thunder on the team’s next two drives even as Osseo-Fairchild tried to get a running game going. The first possession by the Thunder resulted in a punt after just three plays and the second was stopped in the red zone by the Warriors.

The third drive of the Warriors started with a pair of runs, the second of which resulted in a fumble. The ball was quickly recovered by Max Kreitlow, who turned what could have been a devastating play into a gain for the Warriors. Neillsville-Granton quarterback Bryce Erickson ran for a gain and completed a pass to get the warriors to the Osseo-Fairchild 40-yard line, but the offense was not able to make headway beyond that point, resulting in the ball being turned over to the Thunder.

Trying to move their game off the ground, Osseo-Fairchild attempted to make a pass during their next drive. Erickson managed to snag an interception on the play and ran the ball in for a touchdown. The Warriors succeeded in the two-point conversion to lead 14-0.

With about three minutes left to play in the first half, both Neilsville-Granton and Osseo-Fairchild had very short drives that failed to move either team far down the field. Neillsville-Granton’s Ashten Schultz caught an interception on the second of these drives, dashing any hopes the Thunder may have had to change the momentum of the game at the end of the first half. The third quarter of the game was a strong one for the Warriors’ offense, as the team scored two touchdowns in the next 12-minute period. Jace Pekol caught the pass that secured the first of these touchdowns for the Warriors, and Gunnar Barth made a 6-yard run into the end zone to complete the team’s second. NG completed a field goal on the first touchdown but not the second, giving the Warriors a 27-0 lead. Action cooled down in the fourth quarter for Neillsville-Granton, while Osseo-Fairchild managed to score one touchdown off a long pass with 3:22 left in the game. The Warriors stopped any attempt at a comeback by securing the attempted onside kick by the Thunder and ran out the clock to close with a 27-6 victory.

After the game, Neillsville-Granton head coach Reed Lehman said while the team was able to secure a homecoming win and spring back from their most recent loss, the team had a lot of work to do to get themselves ready for the upcoming playoffs.

“We did not play a very efficient game,” he said. “We have not executed as we would like to. This was a homecming win and we clinched the playoffs with this win, but I felt that we could have done better tonight and I felt that the kids felt the same way.”

Reflecting on how the season has progressed so far, Lehman said the team has hit a bit of a slump compared to how they were playing at the beginning of the season. If the team hopes to succeed in the playoffs, he said it is important for the team to recover the playing spirit they had when the season first started.

“We need to get back to being focused on winning and doing what we were doing in the first half of the season,” he said. “The last two weeks have been rough. We’ve been flat the past two weeks. We need to get back to competing every day.”

The Warriors will next play Eau Claire Regis in a Thursday night game on Oct. 5 and will play the final game of their regular season at home against Elk Mound on Oct. 13.

Neillsville-Granton’s Ashten Schultz prepares to give a stiff arm to a Osseo-Fairchild defender as he makes his way down the field after catching an interception near the end of the first half. The Warriors won their Sept. 29 home game 27-6 over the Thunder to guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2009.

CHEYENNE THOMAS/STAFF PHOTO