GILMAN 38, RIB LAKE 6 - RL gets movement, but Gilman gets points
GILMAN 38, RIB LAKE 6
As most observers probably expected, the Gilman Pirates were a convincing winner at the end of Thursday’s eight-player football season opener, earning a 38-6 nonconference victory at Rib Lake.
What those observers may not have known going in was just how the host Redmen would look, starting their new era of football independence in the eight-man game after a 35-year co-op run with Prentice.
Despite the final score, Rib Lake’s ability to hang with the Pirates, ranked second in the state in the pre-season state eight-player coaches’ poll, was nothing short of encouraging.
Gilman landed the first punch, scoring twice in its first three possessions before Rib Lake settled in and played the Pirates almost even over the middle quarters.
The “almost” part of that, however, was the big swing in the game –– a fourth-down stop by Gilman at the 5-yard line and then a 96-yard touchdown pass from Dawson Krizan to Chad Konsella –– where what might have become a one-score game became a 22-0 halftime lead that held into the fourth quarter.
“You’re not necessarily happy with the mistakes that we made, but it is encouraging that each drive was competitive, offensively and defensively,” Rib Lake head coach Jonah Campbell said. “We were able to move the ball. We were able to force stops. We just weren’t able to do it consistently enough to put ourselves in the ball game toward the end.”
The first and fourth quarters were clearly Gilman’s best in the contest.
Tony Syryczuk returned the opening kickoff 36 yards to Rib Lake’s 39 and, on third down, Krizan got just enough of a block from Konsella to break contain on the right side and go 30 yards for the Pirates’ first points of the year. The two-point pass failed, keeping Gilman’s lead at 6-0 just 1:15 in.
Rib Lake took a shot on its second possession, going for it on fourth and nine from its own 43, but the Pirates held Tucker Phillips to a yard and took over. Krizan hit Max Ustianowski over the middle for 18 yards and Konsella had a highlight-reel 26-yard touchdown run. First, Konsella bounced out to his left. He spun out of a tackle, saw a cutback lane to his right and shot through it for the score that made it 14-0 with 4:53 still left in the first quarter.
“Offensively we were fortunate that we were able to make some big plays with Chad’s couple of runs and Dawson’s first run,” Gilman head coach Robin Rosemeyer said. “All of our scoring plays were at least 26 yards, so it was nice that we were able to break those long ones and make plays. We had different kids that were able to make plays at the different distances.”
The teams traded punts and that’s when Rib Lake put together its first long drive.
Starting from its 23 with 2:03 left in the first quarter, the Redmen overcame a firstdown penalty and took nearly nine minutes to methodically drive inside Gilman’s 10. All 16 plays were running plays. But, on fourth and one, Tucker Phillips was stopped inches short of a first down, giving Gilman the ball at the five. On third and 11, the Pirates went back to their home-run threat. Krizan took the shotgun snap and threw a perfect strike downfield to Konsella, who caught the ball in stride on the right hashmarks at his 35-yard line and sprinted to the 96-yard score.
“We were getting stuffed there for a little while,” Konsella said. “Coach decided to have us run fades. He called my number, Dawson has a beautiful arm, chucked it up in the air, I looked up, beaming smile and just caught it. It happened so fast. It was a long run, it took a long time.
“It was big time,” Konsella added. “I love it. Every time I catch a pass or something, everybody on the sideline is going crazy, patting me on the back. I think it just builds everybody up and if I can keep doing that I’m going to try, every time.”
Rib Lake came back with another threat. Talon Scheithauer returned the kickoff 51 yards to Gilman’s 30. The Redmen picked up two first downs, but on fourth and goal from the four on the last play of the half, Gilman stuffed Logan Schmittfranz for no gain.
“Defensively it was kind of a bend but don’t break deal,” Rosemeyer said. “We gave up some yards, but we didn’t give up points. That’s a good thing but we still have to get better. That’s too many rushing yards to give up that we don’t usually give up. They have a nice three-headed monster with some good running backs. They had a good scheme that we didn’t see in the scrimmage. They were pretty basic at their scrimmage so we had to make some adjustments from a two-man line to a three-man line. We got a little better at the point of attack. It still wasn’t great but it was something that we haven’t practiced.”
Gilman played without its top middle linebacker Kolby Keepers and then lost Henry Syryczuk early in the game to a broken arm. Rosemeyer credited Syryczuk and Alex Copenhaver with some good work filling in. Syryczuk had 17 total tackles for Gilman.
“It was a bummer to get into the red zone and scoring range inside the five and not be able to seal the deal,” Campbell said. “But just to put yourself in those situations against Gilman, who’s a very disciplined, wellcoached team, is very encouraging moving forward.”
Scheithauer had first big play of the second half, intercepting a Krizan pass and returning it 27 yards. A 15-yard facemask penalty put the ball at Gilman’s 16. After a 4-yard Schmittfranz run, the Redmen went backwards from there with two penalties and a fourth-down sack of Scheithauer that lost 10 yards.
A high snap on a punt led to a 10-yard loss for Gilman that gave Rib Lake another chance at the Pirates’ 23, but the Redmen fumbled the ball away to Gilman’s Cooper Krug on first down.
The Redmen broke through on their next possession, which started on its 45 with 59 seconds left in the third quarter. They picked up a first down and then, Phillips got around the right end and was barely touched on a 40yard touchdown run that pulled the Redmen within 22-6 with 11:34 left in the game.
Phillips, who played in Medford’s program the past two years, had a big Rib Lake debut with 147 yards on 25 carries.
“I give a lot of credit to Ethan Cook, our guard on that left side,” Campbell said. “He led the way on a lot of those plays, just him being fast enough to get out in front of Tucker, who’s pretty fast. He made most of Tucker’s runs positive. I don’t know if Tucker had any negative plays. That’s the goal. He did really well, but give credit to Ethan Cook pulling to the right and the line.”
That score, however, re-awakened the Pirates, who dominated from there. They struck two plays into their next possession when Krizan found Ustianowski wide open and he did the rest of a 66-yard catch-andrun. Lee Zagorski recovered a fumbled Rib Lake snap and that turned into a 35-yard touchdown run by Brady McAlpine, who got free along the left sideline with 8:10 to go.
Rib Lake wound up running out the last 8:10 on its final drive, but Ustianowski intercepted a Scheithauer pass on the last play of the game.
Gilman had a 350-239 advantage in total yardage. Rib Lake had a decided 235-153 edge on the ground, but the big pass plays gave Gilman a key 197-3 advantage in passing yards on just four completions. Penalties were an issue for both teams, especially in the second half. Rib Lake was flagged eight times for 50 yards and Gilman got seven penalties for 65 yards.
“We kinda grinded,” Campbell said. “A bunch of 8-yard plays, a lot of the plays that were going positive. Most of our things that were negative were penalty-related. That’s something we need to clean up. Just small things like flinching or adjusting your stance or leaning before the snap. All little stuff that can get ironed out.”
“The penalties really put us behind the eight-ball a little bit with some long downand- distances that we just couldn’t overcome,” Rosemeyer said. “You just can’t put yourself in those spots where you’re firstand-20, second-and-18 or whatever it is and expect to be successful.
“I thought Rib Lake swarmed to the ball well,” Rosemeyer added. “They were physical. It was a good first test as far as knowing we need to be more physical and stay on our blocks better.”
Rib Lake’s Logan Schmittfranz tackles Gilman’s Max Ustianowski at the end of an 18yard pass completion in the first quarter of Thursday’s non-conference game. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
