Week 7 high school football: Port Washington pulls past Plymouth in state-ranked clash
PLYMOUTH - It was a matchup of undefeated, top five football teams in Division 3 on Friday as the top-ranked Port Washington Pirates visited the No. 4 Plymouth Panthers in Week 7.
Port Washington though proved its No. 1 ranking wasn’t unwarranted, knocking off Plymouth 35-7 to take sole possession of first place in the East Central Conference.
“It’s disappointing,” said Panthers coach Dan Knaus of the loss. “We didn’t expect to come into the game and perform like this but give credit to Port Washington.”
The Pirates scored on their first two possessions and led 14-0 but Plymouth was able to cut the deficit in half with a 1-yard touchdown run by Brett Shutter at the start of the second quarter.
After a stop on defense, the Panthers were unable to get a first down offensively only to see Port Washington score again and take a 20-7 lead into the half.
“That’s when we needed to take advantage,” Knaus said. “That’s kind of where we shot ourselves in the foot.”
Knaus also feels the players might have been thrown off by playing such a huge game on the same week as homecoming.
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“Homecoming week is a squirrely week for a lot of kids,” Knaus said. “We didn’t have any option but to schedule them for homecoming but I don’t think that helped us any either.”
Following the loss, Knaus reassured his players that while they might have lost control of their fate in the ECC title race there’s a bigger picture to look at.
“They taught us a lesson today and hopefully our kids will learn from that lesson,” Knaus said. “Failure is hopefully a learning lesson for people and we can use that, it's to our advantage.”
Should the teams meet again in the postseason, Knaus doesn’t want his players to forget how it felt to see the Pirates celebrating on Plymouth’s home field.
“You just have to know that feeling of how it feels, know the physicality of how it’ll be and the speed of how it’ll be,” Knaus said. “Maybe have to work a little harder in practice every day."
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Two Rivers rolls past Valders
The Two Rivers Raiders defeated the Valders Vikings 70-8 to push the team’s regular-season winning streak to 20 games.
Two Rivers quarterback Justin Klinkner was 9-of-11 passing for 132 yards and four touchdowns while the Matthias brothers, Chase and Max, powered the ground game.
Chase Matthias carried the ball nine times for 120 yards and four touchdowns while Max Matthias scored twice and gained 95 yards on nine carries.
New Holstein, Kiel clinch playoff berths
Both the New Holstein Huskies and Kiel Raiders ensured they’ll be playing for at least 10 games this season with wins on Friday.
New Holstein edged the Roncalli Jets 18-13 while Kiel routed Kohler/Lutheran/Christian 42-19.
Don Hamilton’s strong performance not enough for Sheboygan North
Don Hamilton compiled 126 yards of total offense and scored three touchdowns as the Sheboygan North Golden Raiders fell to the Pulaski Red Raiders on Friday 49-26.
He ran the ball 12 times for 78 yards and two scores while catching three passes for another 48 yards and touchdown.
After falling behind 21-6, North pulled within 21-14 but Pulaski would score 21-unanswered before the Golden Raiders mounted a late comeback.
Complete Manitowoc/Sheboygan Week 7 football results
Friday
Bonduel 14, Mishicot 0
Pulaski 49, Sheboygan North 26
Sheboygan South 28, Manitowoc Lincoln 21
Port Washington 35, Plymouth 7
Kettle Moraine Lutheran 42, Sheboygan Falls 14
New Holstein 18, Roncalli 13
Kiel 42, Kohler/Lutheran/Christian 19
Two Rivers 70, Valders 8
Reedsville 26, Howards Grove 7
Manitowoc Lutheran 16, Random Lake 6
Cedar Grove-Belgium 14, Oostburg 10
Hilbert 22, Ozaukee 15
Contact Tom Dombeck at 920-686-2965 or tdombeck@htrnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Tom_Dombeck.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Top-ranked Port Washington pulls away past Plymouth in ECC clash
