WAUSAU – Through two games of the high school football season, Wausau East has made it very clear that finding the end zone against the Lumberjacks won’t come easy.
East improved to 2-0 on the season with a convincing 24-7 win over Southern Door behind a 193 yards and a pair of touchdowns from Donovan Leverette at Thom Field on a crisp Friday night.
A week earlier, the Lumberjacks surrendered just six points in a 23-6 victory over Merrill.
East (2-0) will look to remain unbeaten when it travels to winless Mosinee on Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Matt Heinrich staked East to an early lead with a 1-yard scoring plunge. Caleb Gruszynski added the extra point to make it 7-0 after the opening 12 minutes.
Gruszynski would connect on a 27-yard field in the second quarter. That would be all the scoring for the Lumberjacks in the first half.
Thanks to a stingy effort from their defense, however, Southern Door (0-2) was held scoreless and they were able to take a 10-0 advantage into the break.
Leverette, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior halfback, sparked the East offense in the second half with electrifying touchdown scampers of 49 and 72 yards to grab a commanding lead.
Southern Door 0 0 0 7 – 7
Wausau East 7 3 7 7 – 24
First Quarter
WE – Matt Heinrich 1 run (Caleb Gruszynski kick)
Second Quarter
WE – Gruszynski 27 FG
Third Quarter
WE – Donovan Leverette 49 run (Gruszynski kick)
Fourth Quarter
WE – Leverette 72 run (Gruszynski kick)
Kaukauna 35, Wausau West 9
KAUKAUNA – Another slow start left the Warriors (0-2) in too big a hole to climb out of in a nonconference loss to the Galloping Ghosts (2-0).
West returns to action Friday when it hosts Appleton East in a 7 p.m. kickoff at Thom Field.
Kaukauna running back Hank Hofmann was the biggest thorn in the side of the West defense. The shifty junior tailback finished with three touchdowns, including a pair of long scoring runs.
West found the end zone for the first time late in the fourth quarter to conclude the scoring.
Montell Howard rushed for 67 yards in the opening half filling in for starting halfback Brennan Goralski, who suffered a knee injury in the season opener.
Wausau West 3 0 0 6 – 9
Kaukauna 7 7 7 14 – 35
First Quarter
K – Hank Hofmann TD run (kick good)
WW – Nick Raasch 27 FG
Second Quarter
K – Carson Sippel 7 pass from Noah Van Asten (kick good)
Third Quarter
K – Hofmann TD run
Fourth Quarter
K – Hofmann 50 run (kick good)
K – Hunter Natrop TD run (kick good)
WW – Not available
8-MAN FOOTBALL
Newman Catholic 51, McDonell 12
CHIPPEWA FALLS – The Fighting Cardinals (2-0) have made it look easy in rolling to a pair of lopsided victories to open the 2019 season, including a beat down of the Macks.
Next up for Newman Catholic is a trip to Algoma on Friday, Sept. 6. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The second-ranked Cardinals have outscored Oakfield and McDonell by a combined 104-33, with senior quarterback Ben Bates serving as the catalyst for the potent attack.
No further information was available at the time of publication.
Everest 21, Oshkosh West 14
Read the full game story here.
