Celebrating coach Sinz
By Casey Krautkramer
A special ceremony to celebrate Edgar varsity football head coach Jerry Sinz’s 50th season took place on Friday night after the team’s 26-6 win against Iola-Scandinavia on Alumni Night. It’s remarkable the amount of success the Wildcats varsity football team has enjoyed since Sinz took the head coaching job in 1975.
Sinz recalled how there were only 15 to 16 student athletes out for football in the 1974 season when Edgar had a 2-7 record. Edgar considered dropping its football program until Sinz visited parents homes to persuade their children to play football. Sinz said he had about 40 student athletes playing football in his first season as head coach in 1975. Edgar’s football squad had a losing record, 3-6, in Sinz’s first year at the helm but he then turned the Wildcats football program into one of the most successful high school football programs in the state.
Edgar’s 1976 varsity football team won the Marawood Conference championship and finished the season with a 7-2 record. Sinz led the 1977 squad to another Marawood title and an 8-1 record. The 1978 team barely had a winning record at 5-4 but in the very next season Edgar won the conference championship and its first ever state title. The 1978 Wildcats finished the season with a 12-0 record.
Sinz currently has the second most coaching wins in state history, 476. behind only Bob Hylund of Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs Academy, 520, who is in his 54th and final season. Edgar has 14 state championship appearances which is the most in state history. The Wildcats have won eight state titles and six state runners-up trophies. Edgar has a 96-28 playoff record which is the most playoff wins in state history. He spoke to the crowd at Friday night’s special ceremony to celebrate his 50th season.
“I have seriously considered retirement a few times,” Sinz said. “ In 2001, I thought about it a little bit and Justin (his youngest son) said ‘no dad you can’t retire,’ and then in 2010 when he finished up and was going to Purdue I definitely thought about it because I knew that would be a tough stretch, but somehow we survived through that.”
“A lot of people say what keeps you going and I say well many of my next-door neighbors’ sons were playing about the time after Justin graduated, and this included people like the Wolfs, Brehms, Haffermans, Schuettes, Butts and Dahlkes, and they all threatened me and said no you can’t retire so I just kind of kept going.”
“A special thanks to the Hafferman’s and Butt’s that opened their homes and garages as a place to relax after games and enjoy pizza and watch the games. I know I’ve forgotten a lot of people that I should’ve mentioned. I know there are 100s of other people that helped out and kept me going for all of this time, but to all of you, I just want to say thank you because I couldn’t have done it without you and I wouldn’t have wanted to do it without you, because you are the best and God Bless you all.”
Gavin Borchardt, president of the Edgar Wildcat Football Alumni Club, handed coach Sinz a trophy to commemorate his 50th season as the school’s varsity football head coach.
‘Cats down Thunderbirds
Iola-Scandinavia’s football team definitely made coach Sinz earn his 476th career coaching win on Friday, as it was a much closer game than the final score, 266, indicated.
Neither team scored in the opening quarter. Edgar junior Maverick Butt scored the first points on a 50-yard touchdown run. The two-point pass attempt failed. Junior quarterback Tucker Streit connected with senior receiver Leyton Schuett for a seven-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion run was unsuccessful.
Edgar held onto its 12-0 advantage at the end of the third quarter. Iola-Scandinavia made it a much closer game when, 12-6, when senior Billy Myers scored a two-yard touchdown run. The extra point kick failed.
The Wildcats regained its 12-point lead against the Thunderbirds on Butt’s fouryard touchdown run. The two-point conversion run failed.
Edgar’s defense came up huge toward the end of the game to preserve the victory. Junior defensive back Gavin Mauer’s interception and nice return led to Butt’s six-yard touchdown run. Tucker Streit ran for the successful two-point conversion.
Senior Austin Schreiber sacked Iola-Scandinavia junior quarterback Jensen Rice on a fourth down play to give the Wildcats the football back on the Thunderbirds’ 38-yard line with only two minutes, 44 seconds left in the game.
Coach Sinz applauded his team’s strong defensive effort against Iola-Scandinavia.
“I thought we played really good team defense in containing (Jensen) Rice at quarterback,” he said. “He is a state champion in the 100 meters and 110-meter hurdles so you know he is one of the fastest guys in the state, and No. 1 (sophomore Korz Loken) is a really talented kid too so we had to try to keep him under control and I thought Leyton Schuett did a good
See FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS/ page 10
ANOTHER COACHING WIN FOR JERRY - Edgar’s football program honored varsity head coach Jerry Sinz for his 50th season on Friday after the team’s 26-6 win against Iola-Scandinavia on Alumni Night. Pictured, from left to right, are Jane Poeschel, Mary Riebe, Amber Sinz, Barb Sinz, Talen Sinz, Jordan Sinz, Jerry Sinz, Tony Poeschel, Jason Sinz, Tate Sinz, Glenda Bauer and Polly Martin.
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
INSTRUCTING THE PREGAME WARMUPS - Edgar varsity head coach Jerry Sinz keeps a close watch to ensure his players are conducting their stretches before Friday’s game against Iola-Scandinavia. Pictured are senior Corey Koeppl (77) and junior Colby Schwoerer (60) doing jumping jacks. Edgar players wore their special yellow uniform tops on Alumni Night. STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER Friday night lights
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job on him. He pretty much manned him up one-on-one. We made some mistakes but we played solid defense the whole game and I’m proud of the guys.”
Maverick Butt led Edgar in rushing with 20 carries for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Gavin Mauer added six rushes for 97 yards. Senior Ty Schnelle and junior Alex Schneider led Edgar’s defense with eight tackles each. Senior Fletcher Weiland added six tackles.
Edgar remains undefeated in the Marawood/ CWC Conference with a 5-0 record. Edgar is now in sole possession of first place in the conference after Auburndale gave Abbotsford its first loss of the season on Friday. Edgar has a 6-1 overall record this season.
Tigers dominate Raiders Stratford’s varsity football team put together two long football touchdown drives in the first half of Friday’s 49-0 road win against Marathon.
The Tigers went 67 yards on 10 plays in their first offensive possession of the game, resulting in junior Brooks Vanderhoof’s seven-yard rushing touchdown. Junior Mason Miller made the extra point. Senior Jett Schoenherr returned a Marathon punt 31 yards for a touchdown and Mason Miller kicked the extra point. Senior Reid Miller ran for a 36-yard touchdown and Mason Miller made the extra point to give Stratford a commanding 21-0 lead after the first quarter.
Stratford’s first offensive possession in the second quarter spanned 11 plays and 78 yards, resulting in senior quarterback Jack Tubbs’ eight-yard touchdown pass to Schoenherr. Kicker Mason Miller passed the two-point conversion to Schoenherr to give the Tigers a 29-0 halftime advantage.
Vanderhoof ran for a 27-yard touchdown in the third quarter but Mason Miller’s extra point failed. Stratford led Marathon, 35-0, at the end of the third quarter.
Stratford scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Tubbs passed the football to senior Caden Leonhardt for an eightyard touchdown but Mason Miller’s extra point failed. Backup junior quarterback Brady Berg passed the ball to senior Xander Curtice for a four-yard touchdown. Junior Ashton Bushman ran for the twopoint conversion.
Tubbs completed 13 of 20 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Stratford amassed 305 rushing yards compared to only 10 for Marathon. Reid Miller led Stratford’s rushing attack with 13 carries for 130 yards and a touchdown. Vanderhoof had seven rushes for 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Tubbs added four carries for 40 yards. Schoenherr led Stratford receivers with seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown.
Senior Logan Witberler led Marathon in receiving with four catches for 59 yards. Junior Blake Underwood had three kick returns for 59 yards and junior Javier Pintor had three kick returns for 47 yards.
Stratford senior Alec Chapel led the defense with seven tackles and junior Mathias Kaiser added five tackles. Reid Miller and Chapel each had an interception. Marathon junior Cale Quaintance paced the defense with 12 tackles while sophomore Landon Hilgart and Pintor added six tackles each.
Stratford remains unbeaten in the CWCLarge with a 5-0 record and is 6-0 overall this season. Stratford is now the No. 1 ranked football team in this week’s wissports. net Division 5 poll following Wrightstown’s conference loss to Division 4 Freedom. Stratford is on a collision course against undefeated Amherst, ranked No. 4 in Division 5, at Tigers Stadium at 7 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 11, to determine which team wins the conference championship this season. Marathon falls to 1-4 in the CWC-Large and 2-5 overall this season.
Bluejays fall to Loggers
The Athens varsity football squad led Phillips, 16-8, early in the second quarter of Friday’s homecoming game but the Bluejays ended up losing, 38-24, to the Loggers.
Senior Kyle Schreiner ran for a twoyard touchdown and two-point conversion to tie the game at eight points for each team. Junior quarterback Kamden Zarnke rushed for a five-yard touchdown and twopoint conversion to give the Bluejays a 168 lead against the Loggers. Phillips scored two straight touchdowns to take a 22-16 halftime advantage.
Phillips kept scoring in the second half while Athens added points at the end of the game on Zarnke’s two-yard touchdown pass to junior Gavin Frahm. Zarnke completed the two-point conversion pass to sophomore Daxton Deithelm.
Phillips improves its record to 5-1 this season while Athens falls to 0-6.
