Week 5 high school football rewind: Duke Shovald hits historic mark as West De Pere survives test against Pulaski

DE PERE - It’s almost never easy playing the Pulaski football team.

West De Pere knows it as well as any squad in the Fox River Classic Conference-North after holding off the Red Raiders for a 21-13 win Friday.

The Phantoms (4-1, 3-0 FRCC) remain atop the North standings with Bay Port and can clinch a spot in the WIAA playoffs next week with a win at crosstown rival De Pere.

West De Pere beat its last two opponents by a combined 103-10 in wins over Green Bay West and Ashwaubenon entering the showdown against the Red Raiders, but this one wasn’t nearly as easy.

The Red Raiders have gone 1-2 against West De Pere since the FRCC-North was formed in 2021.

They held the Phantoms to a season low in points in a 21-7 win two years ago, then held them to its second-fewest points in a 16-10 loss last year.

It probably shouldn’t be a surprise West De Pere’s 21 on Friday is its fewest in its first five games this season.

“They are very athletic and well-coached,” West De Pere coach Chris Greisen said. “They do a good job. There was nothing easy for us tonight. That’s what they do. We were able to make some adjustments and get enough going.

“When you play against a team like this, it’s a great win.”

There always are things to work on, but the Phantoms still did plenty for Greisen and his coaching staff to like when they watch the film.

Senior wide receiver Langdon Nordgaard continues to make highlight reel catches, including one in each half against Pulaski.

His 43-yard reception on West De Pere’s opening drive set up a 22-yard touchdown run from junior running back Evan Ott that made it 7-0 just 1 minute, 16 seconds in and gave the Phantoms a lead they never would relinquish.

Senior quarterback Duke Shovald found a hole when there wasn’t much of one to be found to score on a 15-yard TD run in the final minute of the first half, giving West De Pere a 14-0 advantage and capping a 10-play, 53-yard drive that featured eight rushing attempts.

Pulaski cut the lead to 14-6 on a 12-yard TD throw from Logan Shultz with 2:20 left in the third quarter, only for Shovald to connect with senior tight end Joseph Riesenberg down the middle of the field for a 66-yard score a minute later.

The defense did allow 222 rushing yards and 6 yards per carry, including a 69-yard gash from Spencer Hakes in the closing minutes, but it also forced three turnovers and limited Pulaski to 14 or fewer points for the fourth time this season.

“We are always judged by the 'W' or the 'L,' we understand that,” Pulaski coach Jerad Marsh said. “But we had growth today. That was neat to see. We have a relatively inexperienced team, and they were energetic on the sideline. There were guys that jumped in and made plays. There was accountability. There was urgency.

“Did we make mistakes? One hundred percent. We will, but there definitely was no lack of effort. That probably is the biggest piece.”

Shovald makes West De Pere history

Shovald’s TD to Riesenberg wasn’t just a momentum-changing throw, it also gave him 5,000 career passing yards.

He already was the first player in school history to record 4,000 when he achieved the milestone as a junior last season.

For a program with some standout signal callers the past 60 years — part of the list includes Steve Wilmet, Josh Blount, Jay Tollefson and Jason Berken — Shovald has the numbers to suggest he might be the best even with the benefit of playing in a Greisen system featuring far more passing than some former teams.

“It’s a good accomplishment, just knowing the guys that came before me, the studs we had before me,” said Shovald, who threw for 199 yards against Pulaski and has 969 yards and 10 TDs with no interceptions this season. “It feels good, but our eyes are on the gold ball. I’m putting that aside for now.”

Greisen can appreciate the accomplishments of a quarterback as much as anyone, considering he played the position in the NFL and AFL and was a star in high school at Sturgeon Bay.

He doesn’t remember exactly how many yards he produced as a four-year starter for the Clippers, but he is confident it wasn’t 5,000.

“That’s a lot of yards in high school,” he said. “I know we chuck it around here more than I did at Sturgeon Bay, but it’s tremendous. He’s a great quarterback.

“I couldn’t be more proud of him. I push him hard, and he perseveres. He’s tough. He has got some grit.”

Baumgart is West De Pere’s battering ram

Senior lineman Andrew Baumgart is one of the heart and souls of the Phantoms’ defense. He is, as Greisen said, their version of NFL great Aaron Donald.

But Baumgart has contributed in a big way as a running back the past few weeks, and it’s likely to continue.

The 6-foot-2, 245-pound college prospect had six carries for 47 yards against the Red Raiders, with four of those going for first downs.

His only mistake came in the fourth quarter with West De Pere up 21-6. He ran for another first down in Pulaski territory, only to fumble and help put the Red Raiders back in the game after they later scored a TD to cut their deficit to eight points.

“The way I got that out of my mind was just thinking the next play on defense I’m going to run someone over,” Baumgart said. “Just try my best to get the ball back in the offense’s hands.”

Baumgart came up big after the Red Raiders’ TD.

He recovered the ensuing onside kick, then closed out the game with a 9-yard run on third down that allowed West De Pere to run out the clock.

Baumgart rushed 37 times for 227 yards as a sophomore but didn’t factor into the running game last season, with the team instead giving former linebacker Joseph Joiner a few carries.

Joiner was part of what is called the Hoss package, which consists of two fullbacks and a big guy at running back.

It’s Baumgart’s turn after Greisen approached him about it before the season.

“I love it,” Baumgart said. “Just trying to do as much as I can to help the team and make sure we can score as many points as we can.”

Baumgart has rushed 13 times for 115 yards and three TDs this season, and he turned some heads with three carries for 58 yards and two scores against Ashwaubenon in Week 4.

He plans to make a game day visit to the University of Nebraska next weekend, a team that could have interest in him as a fullback after watching what he did against the Jaguars.

“Definitely exciting to have someone reach out like that,” Baumgart said. “There are quite a few colleges talking to me right now, talking about possibly linebacker, fullback and defensive tackle.”

Pulaski is getting better each week

Pulaski has done its best to survive a brutal gauntlet to start league play, going 1-2 against De Pere, Bay Port and West De Pere.

The Red Raiders have a smaller senior class this season, which was expected to lead to growing pains and an offense that isn’t quite as explosive as recent years.

Still, this stretch should prepare them well for the rest of the season.

Pulaski came back to beat De Pere in Week 3 despite trailing 18-7 at halftime.

It gave perennial powerhouse Bay Port a tough test in the first half last week and trailed just 20-13 before getting outscored 21-0 in the second half.

It hung with a West De Pere team that played in the Division 2 title game last season and has hopes of getting back to Madison.

“As long as we survive it,” said Marsh, whose team will play Ashwaubenon in Week 6. “Last year, it beat us up physically. We weren’t able to get our group back together. We felt we had a really nice group last year and those things happen. They happen to every team.

“We are relatively healthy coming out of this game. We have gotten a lot of experience for guys against some really good competition. … Ashwaubenon has a really nice team again. I’ve been watching film on them. They have excellent skill guys and I think they are coached extremely well. We will see how it goes the next four weeks, but we have to start putting wins together and get into the playoffs.”

Pulaski (1-4, 1-2 FRCC) must go 3-1 against the Jaguars, Sheboygan North, Green Bay Southwest and Green Bay Preble to clinch a spot in the postseason.

De Pere is getting better, too

De Pere beat Southwest 35-7 on Friday, and although it will get a far more difficult game against West De Pere, a leaky defense the first three weeks of the season has held Green Bay East and Southwest to a combined seven points the last two weeks.

Sure, that’s to be expected. The Red Devils haven’t scored a single point the first five games and the Trojans are averaging 10.8, but it’s still a significant improvement for the Redbirds after allowing 46.2 points per game the previous six contests dating to last season.

“I think our kids cleaned up alignments and assignments,” De Pere coach Ben Strickland said after the East game. “The want-to is there. It’s just understanding and identifying formations and players that we have to stop. Just be smarter football players.

“We tried to simplify the defense a little bit in terms of what we were doing so guys could read their keys and react. So now it’s just a matter of building off that.”

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Week 5 scoreboard

West De Pere 21, Pulaski 13

Bay Port 63, Manitowoc 20

De Pere 35, Green Bay Southwest 7

Ashwaubenon 34, Green Bay Preble 13

Green Bay Notre Dame 50, Sheboygan North 7

Sheboygan South 50, Green Bay West 14

Menasha 49, Green Bay East 0

Appleton Xavier 41, Seymour 8

Shawano 36, Waupaca 27

Coleman 56, Loyal 6

Fox Valley Lutheran 35, Denmark 7

Luxemburg-Casco 35, Little Chute 14

Kewaunee 42, Bonduel 7

Sturgeon Bay 36, Peshtigo 2

Southern Door 54, Marinette 14

Oconto 34, Mishicot 20

Wrightstown 15, Freedom 14

Oconto Falls 48, Tomahawk 14

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: West De Pere football, Duke Shovald survive Week 5 test vs. Pulaski