'We can do it, we just have to do it for all four quarters': Fondy football falls to 0-3

FOND DU LAC – Two weeks into the 2023 season and the Fond du Lac high school football team has already been through quite the gauntlet.

When the dust settled following back-to-back non-conference losses to Sussex Hamilton and Franklin, half of the Cardinals’ senior captains were on the sideline watching Thursday’s game vs. Appleton North due to various injuries.

Although the circumstances weren't exactly favorable, forced to play a lot of young, inexperienced players to fill in the gaps, Fondy put up a good fight – but in the end fell to the Lightning, 21-19.

Now 0-3, the Cardinals face a rather uphill battle on their road to clinching a playoff spot this season.

“We just put in a brand new offense, so we have five sophomores trying to learn a brand new offense,” said Fond du Lac head coach Sam Plucker. “It’s just part of it, we knew it was going to happen. I actually thought we did very well for installing it probably four, five days ago.”

With a road trip to Kimberly (2-0) coming up next week and a home date with Kaukauna (3-0) after that, is it time for Fondy to hit the panic button on the season? Coach Plucker doesn’t think so.

“They’re fine,” Plucker said.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys learning lessons right now and hopefully we’ll get some older guys back soon. They love each other, they understand the process. High school football you need to have four wins in conference to make the playoffs so whether you’re an 8-seed or a 1-seed, you’re in. We don’t really say ‘we’re 0-3, the season’s over.’ Everyone’s got a really good mindset. We understand what’s ahead of us and we’re looking forward to it.”

Senior quarterback Connor Klapperich is all-in on Plucker’s philosophy.

“Coach Plucker does a good job of sending the message that ‘0-3, it is what it is, but every day we’re going to get better,’” Klapperich said.

“We know it’s going to be a process. We’ve got a lot of young guys and that’s fine. We’re going to try to peak at the end of the year. The 0-3 start doesn’t matter. We’re a family, we have everyone’s back, we’re just going to come together and play for one another despite the record.”

Appleton North, on the other hand, entered the contest 2-0 with blowout victories over Green Bay Southwest and Green Bay Preble. After earning the opening possession of the game, the Lightning struck immediately.

Fond du Lac’s defense allowed a touchdown on North’s first drive to put the Cardinals in a familiar trailing position so far this season. Senior quarterback Luke Kritzer connected with junior receiver Abraham Tomori on a 13-yard pass to put Appleton up 7-0 early.

On Fondy’s second drive, the Cardinals switched to an up-tempo offense which produced positive results. Klapperich found his senior tight end Max Mengel for 35 yards on a big play. Then, Fondy sealed it off with a 6-yard toss to junior running back Braden Bingen for his first varsity touchdown.

“It felt great,” Bingen said. “I’ve been working hard in practice every day and it finally came together.”

The second quarter was all Appleton North. Senior running back Jack Robinson extended the Lightning lead to 14-6 on an 18-yard touchdown run and the defense prevented Fondy from picking up any points before the end of the half.

Directly out of the half, the Lightning capitalized on a second Klapperich interception, as Kritzer threw his second touchdown pass of the game, a 15-yard toss to senior tight end Brock Arndt.

Down 21-6 entering the fourth quarter, Fond du Lac refused to give up. Klapperich got Fondy back in the game on a 65-yard dash to the end zone for his first of two rushing scores on the night.

“For me, that felt great,” Klapperich said as he laughed. “Usually I get hawked after about 40 (yards).”

After a clutch stop on defense, Fondy got another big play – a 31-yard run from senior running back JJ McGee. Klapperich later capped the drive off with a QB-sneak across the goal line from about a half yard out for his fifth rushing touchdown of the season. Krueger then kicked a line drive bullet just above the crossbar to make it 21-19.

Under three minutes on the clock, the drama really began to unfold. The Cardinals took over on offense at the 45-yard line with 2:50 left, still down two points. Klapperich completed a 19-yard pass to junior wide out Conor Johnson, but it came down to 4th & 6 from the 29 with 1:11 remaining. A scrambling Klapperich couldn’t find any open receivers and an incomplete pass turned the ball over on downs to dash Fondy’s hopes at a comeback win.

The momentum was there for the Cardinals. The energy was present for that signature walk-off victory, but the Fondy fourth quarter magic just ran out.

“It was fine when we all came together and we were playing the football we know that we can play,” Klapperich said.

“For the first three quarters of this game, the offense – we didn’t play well. I had two interceptions, so that can’t happen on my part. It really just felt like we had a lot more energy and camaraderie in the fourth quarter and that we were really playing for one another and that we wanted it. We fell short, but we proved to ourselves that we can compete and we can do it, we just have to do it for all four quarters.”

Plucker hopes the Cardinals will be able to re-channel that positive vibe in every game with two-thirds of the season left to play.

“I think we became a team tonight,” Plucker said. “The support for each other was awesome. Our confidence went up. I think losing some of our emotional leaders on the field, early on, affected us; but guys are starting to step up and I think you saw that the energy, the momentum, and the way that they played for each other was something special in the fourth quarter. Hopefully we can contain that and try to do that every quarter for the rest of the year.”

One thing for Fondy to look forward to, certainly, is the return of a couple of the senior captains currently on the shelf.

“We’re hoping to get Tanner (Dalske) and Kalvin (Mullins) back as soon as possible,” Plucker said. “Rocky (Duran) probably will not be able to play again this year.”

Bingen is excited to get his teammates back on the field and the team somewhat at full strength once again.

“We’re going to have some more people back next week and we’re going to be a lot better of a team,” Bingen said. “We’ve been forced to deal with a lot of injuries – it’s been bad – but they’re coming back and now we’re going to be a way better team.”

To contact Lance LeQue, email him at LLeQue@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @LanceLeQue.

This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Fond du Lac high school football Week 3 game recap vs. Appleton North