Both Kewaunee County teams eligible for the WIAA football playoffs are hosting games Friday night, but only one has a shot at being home again next week.

The Kewaunee Storm improved to 6-1 in the Packerland, 7-2 overall, with a 41-6 win over visiting Oconto last Friday. Meanwhile, the Luxemburg-Casco Spartans finished the regular campaign at 6-3 overall, 5-2 in the North Eastern Conference, after shutting out Denmark on Senior Night, 35-0. More on those games later.
This week, the fourth-seeded Spartans will host fifth-seeded Merrill in a Div. 3 Level 1 game. Win, and the Spartans would likely be at top-seeded Port Washington next Friday.

The Storm is a two-seed behind the state’s top-ranked team in Division 6, unbeaten Packerland Conference champion Bonduel, and hosts Loyal/Greenwood this week. Win, and Kewaunee will be at home again next Friday against the winner of three-seed Cedar Grove-Belgium and six-seed Valders.

Loyal/Greenwood’s co-op team finished the regular season 6-4, with two forfeits (one a win, one a loss). The Greyhounds have athletes from Loyal and Greenwood, neighboring communities in eastern Clark County.

They’re a run-heavy team. Slow the run, and they’re almost as likely to throw interceptions (7) as touchdowns (8).

Bonduel hosts #8 Lancaster this week. With a win, the Bears would host either St. Mary’s Springs or Belleville next week. If both Kewaunee and Bonduel can win two games, the Storm would have a shot at avenging a Week 3 loss at Bonduel, 28-22.

“I’m looking forward to that one,” said junior Dane Harrell, one of the team’s top playmakers. “But one game at a time.”

Coach Randy Charles said his players need to focus on the details and clean up the little mistakes they’re still making.

“When you get into playoff football, the margins are razor thin,” Charles said. “You’ve got to make sure you’re playing at a high level. If they focus on one game at a time, anything’s possible. If you look too far ahead and don’t take care of the here and now, you won’t have that chance at a future game.”

Harrell has a lofty goal: making it all the way to Camp Randall for the state championship Nov. 19.

Kewaunee 41, Oconto 6

For the second week in a row, the Storm’s second-team defense allowed the only points late.

Diesel Bosdeck completed 8 of 10 passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception, while rushing five times for 30 yards. He had a 48-yard touchdown run, but sacks subtracted yardage. Mason Kovacs caught four passes for 35 yards, and six other players each had a catch. Backup quarterback Brody Elliott had two completions in four attempts for nine yards.

Blake Temme gained 41 yards on five attempts, Harrell 24 in three and Drew Vaughn 24 in five.

“Any time you can rely on more than one guy to make some plays for you, it makes you a little more dynamic,” said Charles. “It can pose some challenges for the defenses when they can’t just key on one guy.”

Temme’s 24-yard run less than two minutes into the game opened the scoring. A blocked punt and a mishandled snap on a punt attempt led to two more first-quarter scores, passes from Bosdeck to Baylor Elliott (13 yards) and Harrell (8 yards).

Bosdeck scored on the long keeper with 4:51 left in the half, and Harrell later rambled in from 12 yards. Garrett LeFevre had the Storm’s final TD on a short run late in the third quarter.

Landon LaTour (6) and Harrell (4) combined for 10 pancake blocks, and LaTour and Blake Bortolini teamed up for a sack. Blake had a dozen tackles, seven of them solo and four for loss. Harrell had seven tackles, LaTour six and Benjamin VanGoethem five. Bosdeck, Kovacs and Peyton Schaller each had an interception.
Bosdeck has passed for 1,035 yards and rushed for 350 so far this season, averaging 10.7 yards per completion and 8 yards per rush attempt. He has 13 passing touchdowns and six rushing TDs.

Temme has rushed for 616 yards, averaging 5.7 per carry, with nine touchdowns. Kovacs has 30 catches for 333 yards and four TDs, and Harrell and Schaller have combined for 45 catches for 473 yards and six touchdowns.

LaTour has 36 pancake blocks; Bortolini, VanGoethem and Harrell have combined for 45 more.
Defensively, LaTour has five sacks and 34 solo tackles among 51 total, 16 for loss. Bortolini has 73 tackles, including 48 solo, with nine for loss. Harrell has 66 tackles, 43 solo and nine for loss.

Lux-Casco 35, Denmark 0

The Spartans won the first “Cow Bell” game, a new traveling trophy between the two schools.

Senior Eli Derenne gained 178 yards on 14 carries, with three touchdowns, including an 82-yarder. He completed four of 11 passes for 45 yards, with one TD and one interception.

Ben Klass had 75 yards on 17 carries, with one TD, while Trenton Price had two catches for 21 yards and Calvin Jandrain one for a 21-yard score.

Ethan Werner had five solos among his 10 tackles, and Grant Seering had three solos among his five. Max Krine had four tackles, Lane Ledvina forced a fumble, and Julian Bailey had an interception.

On the season, Derenne has rushed for 1,170 yards, averaging 11.4 per carry with 17 touchdowns. Through the air, he’s completed 84 of 162 passes for 1,036 yards, averaging 12.3 yards per completion, with seven TDs.
Klass, a junior, is averaging 5.3 yards a carry and has 584 yards rushing, while junior Joey Jeanquart and sophomore Trenton Price have combined for 61 catches for 768 yards.

Werner, a senior, has 60 solos among his 107 tackles, and fellow senior Ledvina has 12 tackles for loss, including nine sacks. Junior Talon Tassoul has 11 tackles for loss, with 3.5 sacks and four recovered fumbles. Jeanquart has four interceptions.

Senior kicker Wyatt Bailey is two for three on field goals and 30 of 32 on extra-point kicks.