BY JOSH STALOCH

SPORTS EDITOR

TWO RIVERS/KEWAUNEE – The Luxemburg-Casco High football punched its ticket to the WIAA Division 4 State Semifinal round following a gritty 24-21 victory over top seed Two Rivers while the Kewaunee Storm pummeled St. Mary’s Springs 30-0 at home to move on to the semifinal round in Division 6 action.

In Two Rivers, the Spartans survived a slugfest with the Raiders. 

Down 21-17 midway through the fourth following a bruising drive by the home team that ended with a 40-yard carry for the go-ahead score, L-C needed a big drive.

Quarterback Max Ronsman moved the chains early in the drive with a nice pass to Trace Schoenebeck and then picked up another first down on a pass to Braeden Schley. 

On a third-and six play from the 25 later in the drive, the visiting student section at Two Rivers sounded like they might bring the bleachers down after Ronsman lofted a pass down to the goal line and somehow completed it to Schoenebeck, who was well covered but managed to reel it in, for the go-ahead score. 

“I was thinking, ‘It’s close, there’s a guy on him but hopefully it’s right in there,’ and he came up with it,” Ronsman said when asked what was going through his mind when he let the game winning pass fly. “It was amazing to see the refs hold up their hands after that one. We’re feeling good now. We just beat a very good team, we’re going to take this into next week and hopefully keep rolling.”

There was still more than four minutes left to play following the Schoenebeck reception, leaving it up to the Spartans’ defense to bring the win home. 

They did just that. Schley came up with a sack on first down to set up a second-and-20, which was followed by a third-and-13 that saw Brayden Mueller get another sack on the Two Rivers quarterback to put an end to the Level 3 nailbiter.

“Our kids came prepared to do their best job against a great team tonight,” L-C Head Coach Neil Seering said. “They were able to hold on at the end, kept believing in what we’re doing. I think our conditioning really paid off at the end. We weren’t tired, still making plays. We’re going to do our best to get another win next week, I’ll do my best to coach them.”

In Kewaunee, the Storm sprung to life after a scoreless first quarter to put up 17 in the second frame.

Running back Owen Carlson was a battering ram yet again in the ground game, racking up 252 yards on 29 carries and accounting for all four Kewaunee touchdowns. His longest was from 50 yards out in the third quarter. Maddix Mueller picked up the team’s other three points with a 31-yard field goal to begin the scoring in the second quarter.