Prep football: Memorial takes positives from 2nd half in DeForest loss

Jack Goods, The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.
·5 min read

Apr. 18—DeForest football showed why it was worthy of a Division 3 state title in 2019 with a dominant first half Saturday afternoon at Carson Park. But a quieter second half gave Eau Claire Memorial reason to be optimistic.

The Norskies still boarded the bus back to the capital region as 35-12 victors, yet the final score was much closer than expected considering DeForest's torrid start. The visitors scored on each of their first four drives of the day, then returned an interception 30 yards to the house with less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter to take a commanding 35-0 lead at the break.

The Memorial defense stood tall the rest of the way, even while DeForest kept many of its top playmakers in until the final few minutes. As the running clock ticked, the Old Abes forced three second half punts and turned an errant snap into a defensive touchdown as part of a late scoring surge.

"In my four years here that's the best team that we've played," Memorial coach Mike Sinz said. "They're big, fast and physical. We knew that coming in and I think we were shellshocked at first. I think you could see that. Just the speed and the strength that they showed early on.

"With that said, at halftime we talked about how we need to raise our level to DeForest's level. I was happy with how we came out and played. ... We were able to get a push up front. Defensively we were flying around making plays. That kind of shows what we're capable of. I wish we had played like that in the first half."

The Norskies went up 28-0 14 seconds into the second quarter, riding an efficient offense and taking advantage of advantageous field position. DeForest started three of its first four drives inside the Memorial 45 and needed just one play to get to the Old Abes' side of the field on the fourth early possession.

"You can't give them a short field," Sinz said. "They're way too talented and too well coached."

DeForest rotated its two quarterbacks — Mason Keyes and Kellen Grall — and it didn't seem to matter which was under center in the first 24 minutes. Both kept their offense in a good rhythm and got strong help from the team's reliable back, Gabe Finley, and wideout Deven Magli. Finley finished with 83 yards on 14 carries and Magli caught three passes for 70 yards.

"Both kids lead our offense in different ways and both kids are pretty dynamic," DeForest coach Aaron Mack said of the signal-callers. "It's a nice problem to have. That's a thing we talk about. No matter who's in there, the standard doesn't change."

Keyes scored the Norskies' first two touchdowns on runs of 10 and 15 yards in the first quarter, while a Finley 8-yard run, a 30-yard pass from Grall to Magli and a pick-six from Bryan Sels helped build the DeForest lead.

"The next thing is how you're going to handle it, and we didn't handle (the lead) great in the second half," Mack said. "I thought Eau Claire Memorial played better in the second half, too. That had something to do with it."

The Old Abe defense pitched a second half shutout and got Memorial on the board by taking advantage of a DeForest error. Trevin Kison snagged a wide snap and ran the ball back 70 yards to the house with 7:53 remaining in the game. After coming in for starter Brice Wingad, junior quarterback Tyson Allen ran nine yards for a score in the final minute to get the offense in on the action.

Sinz said that late effort is something to build on, which will be needed given the upcoming opponents. Memorial hosts 4-0 Green Bay Notre Dame next Saturday and 3-1 Menasha a week later before closing with the intracity game against Eau Claire North.

"We knew what these young men have been through in the past year and we wanted to put a schedule together that was going to challenge us, be fun, play some of the top teams in the state," Sinz said. "And we're definitely doing that. We're learning a lot and that's hopefully going to pay off our next three games."

Sinz coached the Old Abes for the first time Saturday since being named the next head coach at Menomonie earlier in the week. He'll command Memorial for the remainder of the spring before moving to his alma mater next fall.

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DeForest 35, Eau Claire Memorial 12

DF 14 21 0 0 — 35

ECM 0 0 0 12 — 12

First quarter

D: Mason Keyes 10 run (Jagger Lokken kick), 6:37.

D: Keyes 15 run (Ty Tisch kick), 3:04.

Second quarter

D: Gabe Finley 8 run (Lokken kick), 11:46.

D: Deven Magli 30 pass from Kellen Grall (Tisch kick), 6:42.

D: Bryan Sels 30 interception (Lokken kick), 1:21.

Fourth quarter

ECM: Trevin Kison 70 fumble (pass failed), 7:53.

ECM: Tyson Allen 9 run (pass failed), :33.

Team & Individual Statistics

RUSHING (att-yds): DeForest (27-119): Gabe Finley 14-83, Mason Keyes 2-25, Kellen Grall 6-12, Mitchell Hahn 2-8, Deven Magli 1-4, Cale Drinka 1-2, Tyler Ebel 1-(-15). Memorial (27-74): Reese Woerner 22-75, Tyson Allen 1-9, Easton Tok 1-0, Brice Wingad 2-(-1), Grant Gerber 1-(-9).

PASSING (comp-att-int-yds): DeForest (7-14-0-95): Keyes 4-7-0-58, Grall 3-7-0-37. Memorial (5-18-1-43): Wingad 5-18-1-43.

RECEIVING (rec-yds): DeForest: Magli 3-70, Nolan Hawk 1-9, Max Weisbrod 1-9, Oliver Vandehey 1-7. Memorial: Jack Redwine 2-22, Peter Albert 1-14, Gerber 1-5, Tom Schiefer 1-2.