West De Pere cruises past Seymour

SEYMOUR – The West De Pere football team looked scary good Friday.

The Phantoms racked up 429 yards of offense while limiting rival Seymour to 60 yards in an impressive 45-0 shutout victory in a Bay Conference game.

“It’s very difficult to find a weak spot,” Seymour coach Matt Molle said about West De Pere.

“They’re big. They’re physical. They have some good players, and they don’t have to play many players both ways. That’s huge. That’s huge because you can sustain some injuries and still be out ahead.”

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That was the case Friday as the Phantoms were missing the services of one of their best players in junior running back/linebacker Cody Cavil.

Sophomore David Vanderlogt stepped up with 176 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

Vanderlogt’s longest scoring scamper summed up the night.

The 5-foot-9, 165-pounder was initially met in the backfield by a host of Thunder defenders, but slipped away up the middle for a 61-yard touchdown run to cap a one-play drive and give West De Pere a commanding 21-0 lead in the opening minute of the second quarter.

“It’s a rivalry game,” West De Pere coach Jack Batten said. “It’s also a physical football game and the kind of game our kids like to play in. We have some alumni coaching with us, and they made sure the kids understood the rivalry and some of the heated contests that we’ve had before.”

Sophomore quarterback Josh Blount added 170 rushing yards and two scores for the Phantoms, who averaged 7.4 yards per carry in rushing for 379 yards. They were 6-for-9 on third-down conversions and totaled 21 first downs for the game.

West De Pere’s defense was just as dominant in registering its fourth shutout of the year. The Thunder was limited to only 60 yards, four first downs and was 0-for-7 on third-down conversions.

While University of Iowa recruit Jake Karchinski drew double teams from his defensive end position, the Phantoms linebackers were particular spectacular in Friday’s effort.

Senior Alex Spitzer and Evan Frisque each tallied six tackles. Frisque had two of the team’s seven tackles for loss, including a sack, while Spitzer made an interception for the game’s lone turnover.

“We’ve got guys who can make plays, so if they want to run away from Karchinski we’ve got guys who are going to be able to make it to the ball,” Frisque said. “We’ve showed that this year so far.”

The victory sets up a battle of unbeatens next week when West De Pere (6-0, 5-0) visits Menasha (6-0, 5-0) in a matchup that could ultimately determine the outright Bay Conference title.

Despite the rough outing, Seymour (4-2, 4-1) still could get into the championship conversation with Menasha also remaining on its schedule.

The Thunder was led by sophomore safety Peyton VandeHei’s 11 tackles.

VandeHei came back from a shoulder injury last week and gives the Seymour another option on offense, where senior Hunter Clark has been handling the quarterback duties since VandeHei’s injury.

“We’ve gotten to where we’re at on grit and togetherness,” Molle said. “We’re not going to walk on the field and intimidate anybody with our size. I’m OK with that because I like the way our group of guys have come together, so we’re going to find out a lot about ourselves. What is our response going to be? It’s going to be big to see what we bounce back with, but I like the makeup of this team.”