September 10, 2021 – Plymouth, WI – Kewaskum’s valiant defense was not enough as turnovers proved costly for the Indians during a tough game on the road at Plymouth.
There was a lot riding on the game as the Kewaskum Indians and Plymouth Panthers fought to secure the top spot in the East Central Conference. Plymouth honored veterans before the game and the atmosphere was palpable from the opening kickoff.
Neither team made truly flashy plays on their opening drives, although Plymouth did kick a 20-yard field to take a 3-0 led, Kewaskum’s defense held strong preventing a touchdown.
Later in the first quarter Plymouth junior Dominic Riederer got his first of two interceptions in the game, this one setting up a touchdown run by senior Kellan Mella on the very next play.
The second quarter didn’t start much better for Kewaskum as senior quarterback Matthew Buechel threw his second of three interceptions in the game on the first play of the quarter and in was returned 60 yards by Plymouth sophomore Marco Troka.
Despite their offensive woes, the Indians managed two interceptions of their own in the second quarter, one by senior Miles Surprenant and one by junior Derek May, the latter one being in the end zone as the final play before halftime, with Kewaskum down 17-0.
The second half saw the Indians defense try to hold the line, only for Mella to score off a one-yard touchdown early in the third quarter.
Buechel was once again intercepted for another 60-yard touchdown the other way, this time courtesy of Plymouth senior Ian Struve, making it 31-0.
After that interception, Kewaskum made a quarterback change to junior Ryan Cook, whom immediate brought life to the offense with a 60-yard touchdown pass to senior Max Melzer, preventing a shutout and making it 31-6 Plymouth to end the third quarter after a failed 2-point attempt.
However, on Cook’s next drive, he threw an interception, picked off by Riederer of Plymouth for the fourth and final interception.
The Indians put to together one final offensive charge, capped off with Cook throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Surprenant, and after another failed two-point conversion by Kewaskum, the final score was set in stone 31-12 in favor of the Panthers.
Kewaskum head coach Steve Tennies was obviously disappointed and frustrated with the loss, chalking it up mostly to poor preparation. “Offensively we were not ready tonight,” Tennies said.
Moving forward, Tennies plans on using the loss as a valuable learning experience and look to put those lessons into practice as they get for a “tough Sheboygan Falls team.”
Tennies praised Cook for stepping up at quarterback and generating offense, but also made clear Buechel is the team’s starter and said both he and the team have confidence in Buechel as the team’s starting quarterback.
Kewaskum (3-1, 1-1) is still tied for second place in the East Central Conference and will look to rebound in its next game at home against Sheboygan Falls (2-2, 1-1) on Friday, September 17, 2021 with kickoff at 7 p.m.
Plymouth (4-0, 2-0) now stands in sole control of first place in the East Central Conference and will play its next game on the road against Kettle Moraine Lutheran (2-2, 1-1) on Friday, September 17, 2021 with a 7 p.m. kickoff.