Week 2 high school football takeaways: Doering gets his kicks with Papermakers; Dean has another big day for Neenah

KIMBERLY − A clutch kick, another standout performance by a rising star, a hot Kaukauna quarterback and a China Bull rout. Here are some takeaways from Thursday and Friday's high school football games in the Fox Valley.

Doering's kick lifts Kimberly

Lance Doering isn't a kicker by trade, but one out of necessity. And he would probably rather be catching passes in the Papermakers offense instead of kicking extra points.

Team needs trump all, however, and the 6-foot, 190-pound senior was more than happy to boot the game-winning 21-yard field goal with 47 seconds left that lifted the Papermakers to a 17-14 victory over Bay Port in a rematch of last year's WIAA Division 1 state semifinal, won by Kimberly.

Thursday's big kick was for his teammates, Doering said.

"(I was thinking) about all the work we all put in and wanted to (finish) the game and finish it for us," he said. "I knew that would make all my teammates happy and I wanted to make sure that I could do great things for this team ... just building off what they did. It was the least I could do for the team and I’m glad I could help us win this game."

Doering credits his older brother, Bryce, as an inspiration to kick. He also said the Papermakers' special teams room has "a lot of great competition."

"We got a freshman, Maddux Hermus, and he's a great kicker and he will be a great kicker to come," Doering said.

Doering added that kicker Hunter Berry, the team's starter, also provided guidance. Berry did not play on Thursday.

"He really helped me along the way and I couldn't have done it without him," Doering said. "He taught me a lot about kicking. And really the team also believing in me. I had some bad days in practice. They were really just telling me to fix my plant foot and get it through and giving me plenty of reps got me to this moment."

Late drive set up Kimberly game winner

It was Kimberly's first game of the season after their Week 1 opponent, Milwaukee Marshall, had to cancel due to competitive reasons. That meant the Papermakers were less than sharp, but the team also showed some of that championship resolve that helped earn them the WIAA Division 1 state title last season.

With the game tied 14-14, Kimberly embarked on an 18-play, 72-yard drive to set up Doering's field goal. Kimberly converted on a pair of third downs and also had a key fourth-down conversion in the drive. Bay Port's defense saw a steady diet of Gavin Tyson, who carried 12 times on the drive for 46 yards. He finished with 26 carries for 113 yards and also had a 2-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

"That’s something we pride ourselves on, the four-minute period, even though it there was six-and-a-half minutes left," Kimberly head coach Chad Michalkiewicz said. "We game (simulate) in practice as much as we can. It's not like we we're waiting for the back judge to count every time but we're not in a hurry ... we're clear in the huddle and understanding play calls and that's kind of been our M.O. when we want to milk the clock, control the line of scrimmage and traditionally we've been able to do that."

McGivern closes out Bay Port

Doering's field goal left just 43 seconds for Bay Port to attempt a comeback. Sam McGivern made sure there would be no game-tying field goal attempt.

With the ball on the Kimberly 45, the 6-3, 250-pound defensive end shot past the Bay Port left tackle on a third-and-10 situation with 10 seconds left and sacked the Pirates' Carter Kallies to end the game.

McGivern, who recently committed to play collegiately at Yale, said he let instinct take over in that crucial moment.

"I really wasn't thinking much," McGivern admitted. "I just fell back on my habits. When I practice it's all about just falling back on that when times get tough."

Michalkiewicz said the team was in quarters coverage and he could hear defensive assistant coaches Josh Heisler and Mike Chalupny in his headphone set, imploring the defensive linemen to "get home" and sack the quarterback.

"That's what your D-I kid does," Michalkiewicz said of McGivern. "He was shot out of a cannon. Game over."

Dean shines again in Rockets' win over Menasha

Grant Dean had another spectacular night and the Rockets' defense shut down the Bluejays in the Rockets’ 40-0 win at Calder Stadium.

The game was called with just over 10 minutes remaining due to lightning in the area. The win improves Neenah's record to 2-0 and Menasha drops to 1-1. It was the 99th meeting between the rivals.

Neenah's win was the most lopsided in the series since Menasha's 42-0 victory in 1992. It was also Neenah's biggest win in the series since a 47-0 victory in 1966 and the Rockets' largest victory at Calder Stadium since a 56-0 triumph in 1965.

Dean, a junior, finished with three touchdown runs (50, 43 and 30 yards) and totaled 188 yards on 15 carries. He scored six touchdowns last week in Neenah’s win over De Pere.

Neenah freshman quarterback Ashton Van Beek also had a solid night, finishing with four rushes for 101 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown scamper in the second quarter. He also passed for 85 yards on 4-of-4 attempts and a touchdown.

Menasha did move the ball on Neenah and had two drives finish inside the 20 but came away with no points in the first half.

Ghosts upend Phantoms

Kaukauna's Finnley Doriot put the Ghosts' offense on his back Friday in the team's 25-22 victory over West De Pere.

The senior quarterback passed for 302 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Ghosts to the big win over the Phantoms on the road.

Kaukauna's rushing game struggled, totaling 53 yards on 27 carries but Doriot picked up the slack and hit three different receivers for touchdowns: Nolan Hall, Parker Schuh and Tucker Hofmann, with Hofmann's score coming on an 82-yard strike.

Around the Valley

Winneconne pummeled Omro, 49-7, to retain the China Bull for another year. Winneconne raced to a 27-7 halftime lead and never looked back in the victory. ... Hortonville bounced back from a Week 1 loss to West De Pere with a 13-0 blanking of Pulaski. Quarterback Broden Butzin had 152 yards passing, including a 49-yard touchdown to Colin Wendt for the game's first score. Wendt finished with three catches for 136 yards. Levi Strange also scored on a 2-yard touchdown run for the Polar Bears. ... Freedom, Little Chute and Wrightstown are all 2-0 heading into next week's North Eastern Conference openers. Freedom shut out Seymour 30-0, Little Chute beat New London 33-6 and Wrightstown defeated Waupaca 28-0. ... Weyauwega-Fremont improved to 2-0 with a 50-0 victory over Rosholt.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Doering kicks Kimberly past Bay Port; Rockets' Dean has big game