OWEN-WITHEE 24, GILMAN 22 - Last-minute chance falls short; Gilman loses, misses playoff cut
OWEN-WITHEE 24, GILMAN 22
The Gilman Pirates began the eightplayer football season believing they were on the short list of potential state championship candidates, but they also knew the new North Central East Conference was going to present some challenges.
At season’s end, being unable to overcome two of those challenges prevented the Pirates from even getting the chance to compete for a title.
Knowing they were likely in a win-toget- in situation Friday, the Pirates had their chances to knock off undefeated and top-ranked Owen-Withee. But three turnovers, a handful of untimely penalties and a bad break or two left them on the short end of a 24-22 final that ended their season at 6-2 overall and 5-2 in the conference.
Gilman initially was included in the 16team WIAA tournament field when it was released at 10 a.m. on Saturday, but an error was discovered and, a little more than two hours later, head coach Robin Rosemeyer got the call that Clayton got the last spot in the field as the only two-loss team to qualify.
At first, the Pirates were doubly and pleasantly surprised by seeing they were in a four-team grouping that didn’t include Owen-Withee and McDonell Central, the two teams who beat them.
“It was pretty emotional Saturday,” Rosemeyer said. “It was a surprise. We went to bed knowing we were not in once Rib Lake got beat by Hurley. That was emotional in itself seeing Hurley scored with about 1:45 left. But then seeing on the TV screen at 10 a.m. that we were in, well somebody got something wrong. I got that phone call from the WIAA at 12:15 p.m. As soon as he identified himself as Chad Schultz from the WIAA, I knew it was not good news because we were surprised that we were there. “They got it right,” Rosemeyer added. “They made a mistake on defeated opponents’ winning percentage. Like I told them, it would’ve been more of a travesty if Clayton deserved to get in but didn’t in the long run. It was done right by the book, whether or not we like it. We believe that we’re one of the 16 best teams, but it really doesn’t matter. A 6-2 record isn’t good enough this year.”
Friday’s game ended with high drama and emotion as well.
The Pirates never led but answered all three of Owen-Withee’s touchdowns to stay right with the Blackhawks. Gilman’s last score was a beautiful 43-yard connection between quarterback Dawson Krizan and running back Tony Sryczuk that got the Pirates within two with 6:12 left. Syryczuk swung out of the backfield along the left sideline and caught Krizan’s perfectly-thrown ball at the 12.
“We’d had some success dragging our tight ends over on some play action,” Rosemeyer explained. “This was just a throwback hoping the cornerback would kind of chase the tight ends and Tony would try to get outside those cornerbacks. It was actually open earlier in the game but we didn’t run that play then. It was defended a little bit. It was just a good throw by Dawson and a good catch by Tony.”
Unfortunately for Gilman, Owen-Withee guessed right on its blitz call on the two-point conversion, dropping Krizan at the 5-yard line before he could even get started.
“We kinda ran that play a couple too many times. I knew from past experience from watching them and playing them in the past that they do blitz that safety and middle linebacker on two-point conversions. They did that time and it was right where we were running the ball. That was a time where we maybe needed to run wide. They made the right call on defense.”
The Blackhawks then threatened to put the game away, driving from their 20-yard line to Gilman’s two. The last 29 yards came on Owen-Withee’s only pass attempt of the game, a 29-yard completion from Dominic Sherwood to Tim Stock on third and four. With just over a minute left, Sherwood tried to push his way into the end zone but fumbled the ball right at the goal line. One of Gilman’s fastest players, Chad Konsella, picked up the ball and took off on a 100-yard dash toward the other goal line.
But Owen-Withee’s speedster, Mason Gay, caught up with Konsella near midfield, forcing him to cut back to the middle and Stock tripped him up at the 28. Still, the Pirates had a great chance with 1:02 and two timeouts left. On first down, Krizan got outside to his left and gained 16 yards, but the play was nullified by a holding penalty. A throw over the middle on the next snap was intercepted by Sherwood, ending the hope of a lastminute win.
“Chad made it exciting with almost going the distance,” Rosemeyer said. “What a swing of emotion that was right there. If they score there, but we stop them on the two-point conversion at least it’s still an eight-point game. Then to have him be close to going 100 yards for the touchdown was an exciting moment. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
Sherwood also had another of the game’s biggest plays with a 71-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter. It came one offensive snap after Gilman had tied the game at 8-8. Rosemeyer said a combination of overpursuit and good blocking allowed that play to happen.
Owen-Withee had taken the lead on a 1-yard run by its big fullback Sully Poehler on the first play of the second quarter and Poehler’s two-point run. The Pirates came right back with a 74-yard, seven-play touchdown drive that included a 21-yard pass from Krizan to Konsella and a personal foul on the Blackhawks. Syryczuk got the touchdown on a 5-yard run and Krizan hit Max Ustianowski with the twopoint pass.
Gilman quickly answered the Sherwood touchdown with a three-play, 60-yard drive. Syryczuk scored on a 53-yard run and Ustianowski again caught the twopoint pass to tie the game at 16-16 with 7:21 left in the second quarter.
“That was just a straight dive,” Rosemeyer said of the touchdown. “It was pretty well-executed at the line of scrimmage and then he broke some tackles on the back end. It was a nice effort.”
Owen-Withee scored its third straight touchdown, grinding out a 65-yard, 11play drive that ended with Sherwood’s 8yard touchdown run and two-point run with 1:28 left.
Gilman had two good chances to answer that score in the third quarter. The first drive into Owen-Withee’s red zone ended with an interception by Blackhawk Colin Fritz. The Blackhawks’ ensuing possession ended with Gilman senior Joey Syryczuk making back-to-back stops in the backfield on third and one and fourth and two.
“Joey is kind of jack of all trades for us,” Rosemeyer said. “He’s given us good defensive line play. When we needed him because of injury at linebacker, he filled in spectacularly. He’s going to be tough to replace when you have a kid that is tough, physical and fast. It’s just what you want to have playing football on defense is a kid like him.”
That stop gave Gilman the ball at its own 45. The Pirates drove inside the five and had fourth and one when a motion penalty kicked them back 5 yards. Another penalty knocked them back another five yards and, on fourth and 11, Stock tipped a pass over the middle to himself for an interception on the second-to-last play of the quarter.
Along with his three touchdowns, Tony Syryczuk had 88 yards on 11 carries and 11 total tackles. Krizan ran for 82 yards on 12 carries and completed five of 11 passes for 94 yards. Konsella caught two passes for 34 yards and had 38 rushing yards on six carries. Joey Syryczuk had 10 total tackles. The Pirates had 326 yards of total offense.
Owen-Withee had 360 total yards. Sherwood ran for 139 yards on 18 carries, Gay had 130 yards on 20 carries and Poehler had 46 yards on 10 totes.
“The one that hurt us in the second half was Sully Poehler, the big fullback, getting those yards up the middle,” Rosemeyer said. “Mason Gay did his thing in the first half. Then the 71-yard run by their quarterback was a big play too. Overall, we did OK. We were a little bit better defending them last year. This year we just weren’t quite as quick defending them on the off-tackle stuff.”
As odd as it will be for Gilman fans not to see their team in the post-season, it still was a successful season in the eyes of the coaching staff.
“Everything we asked for they gave it to us,” Rosemeyer said. “It was a similar schedule to two years ago. We had the tough two road games at Thorp and Owen. This year, it was Owen and McDonell that were the tough road games. We just weren’t quite good enough to overcome that. Next year we get those games at home. It’s going to be tough because Rib Lake is going to be good next year, Frederic is going to be good next year. Fortunately for us we’ll have those tougher opponents at home. We’ll see if that matters or not.
“We lose nine good seniors. They all brought something to the table for us.”
Joey Syryczuk
