Frisque and Spitzer leading West De Pere’s dominating ‘D’
Evan Frisque and Alex Spitzer aren’t related.
West De Pere defensive coordinator Justinn Heraly begs to differ.
“He says we play like identical twins,” Frisque said.
The pair of senior linebackers have been twin terrors in the middle of the Phantoms’ dominating defense this season.
Frisque and Spitzer lead West De Pere with 69 and 65 tackles, respectively.
While their sideline-to-sideline play has been impressive, equally as important is the adjustments the inside linebackers are able to make before the ball is even snapped.
Their reads are a key reason why the Phantoms are allowing only 6.8 points per game this season and one game away from a trip to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
“They’re like Mutt and Jeff,” West De Pere head coach Jack Batten said in comparing Frisque and Spitzer to the characters in an old comic strip.
“They make fun of one another. They pick on each other. But they always have each other’s backs. They’re the heart and soul of our defense. They really are.”
Follow Preps Agenda on Facebook
West De Pere (12-0) will have to be at its best Friday when it faces Rice Lake (10-2) in a WIAA Division 3 state semifinal game at Stiehm Stadium in Weston.
The Warriors, who play against Division 1 and 2 schools in the Big Rivers Conference, are averaging 39.3 points per game and have scored at least 40 points in each of their playoff wins.
The Phantoms, champions of the Bay Conference, haven’t allowed more than 20 points in a game this season.
“We’re just so hard-nosed on the defensive side of the football,” said Frisque, who recovered a fumble at the end of the first half in a 17-3 win over Notre Dame Academy last week.
It has been tough for any team to matchup against West De Pere, which features University of Iowa recruit Jake Karchinski on the defensive line.
The 6-foot-5, 255-pounder has seen a steady stream of double teams this season, helping to free up Spitzer and Frisque to make plays.
“They get us lined up correctly,” Karchinski said. “They get us fired up before every drive and play. They do a great job and a lot of our success comes from these two.”
Frisque and Spitzer are mirror images of each other in many ways.
Frisque is 5-foot-9, while Spitzer is 5-foot-10. They can easily get lost behind the likes of Karchinski and senior nose tackle Dylan Danforth.
The senior linebackers’ quick hips and explosive play is in part a credit to the other sports they play.
Frisque is a wrestler and placed fourth at state as a 160-pounder in Division 1 as a junior.
Spitzer competes in rugby, helping the Green Bay Mavericks advance to the state championship game last year.
“It just helps with open-field tackling,” Spitzer said. “But there is nothing better than football on Friday nights.”
Spitzer has recorded eight tackles for loss, 2½ sacks, a forced fumble and two interceptions this year.
Frisque has posted 16 tackles for loss, three sacks, a forced fumble and an interception this season after transitioning from outside to inside linebacker.
“We took Frisque and moved him from the outside to the inside and I knew within 5 minutes at practice that he was an inside linebacker,” Batten said. “Spitzer is the same way.
“They run our defense. They’re the spirit of our defense. They’re just great kids to coach. They kind of have a feistiness to them and enthusiasm to them. They have an edge to them, and you need players like that on your defensive squad.”
West De Pere will be looking to edge Rice Lake after sustaining a heartbreaking loss to the Warriors in a 2014 state semifinal loss played at Stiehm Stadium, which featured a sheet of ice on the field after a November snowfall had melted following a November snowfall.
The Phantoms had a 22-minute advantage in time of possession in outgaining Rice Lake 360-205 in yards of offense.
However, West De Pere allowed two kickoffs for touchdowns and watched a 31-19 fourth-quarter lead evaporate following two turnovers in falling 34-31.
West De Pere’s seniors would have been in eighth grade that year, so the game is a distant memory for them and their season-long goal of advancing to state for the first time since making three consecutive trips from 2009 to 2011.
“We set a goal that we wanted to get down to Madison,” Batten said. “Who we play didn’t really matter. We just wanted to make sure that we were prepared and ready to go come Friday night.”
