Algoma wins Across the Bay Conference title

ALGOMA – A short-handed Algoma team came from behind to beat Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas 22-20 last Thursday at Perry Field, giving the Wolves the inaugural Across the Bay Conference title and their first since winning the Olympian-Packerland Small division in 2014.

Algoma beat the state’s fourth-ranked team despite having lost two key senior starters — Isaac Yunk and John Kirchman — to season-ending injuries in prior games.

Trailing 14-0 with the Titans driving again just before halftime, senior lineman Carson Leist’s strip of the ball from quarterback Calvin Peeters was recovered by Parker Lischka, changing the game’s momentum.

A few plays later, junior Lane Cochart hooked up with senior Wyatt Fay on a 79-yard touchdown pass.

Cochart tied the game in the third quarter with a one-yard run and a two-point conversion, but Lena/St. Thomas went back up 20-14 later in the period.

In the fourth quarter, Algoma drove down the field and faced a do-or-die fourth down from the 10-yard line. Cochart and junior Lischka hooked up for a thrilling touchdown in the right corner of the end zone, then again on the critical two-point conversion.

The Titans were driving late, but junior Joey Cabino made a key stop on a fourth and short play. After a couple runs, Cochart and Lischka connected for a first down, and the Wolves were able to run out the clock.

Peeters rushed 24 times for 149 yards, about half of the team’s 302 yards on the ground.

Algoma gained 103 rushing (Joey Cabino 17-53, Lischka 4-30, Cochart 11-20) and 154 through the air on Cochart’s 7-of-10 with two TDs. Lischka caught five for 73 yards, Fay one for 79 and Leist one for two.

Defensively, Lischka had a dozen tackles, Fay 10, Cabino 9, Leist and Logan Wilson each 8, Jerry Miller and Aiden Moen each 7 and Cochart 6.

Lena/St. Thomas received a No. 1 seed in the eight-player playoffs. Algoma’s enrollment is slightly higher than the WIAA allows, and can’t participate.