Football beats St. Clair for first time since 2016
It was an excellent day for Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton. Not only was it a beautiful day for a home game which was the team’s first win of the season, but it marked some historic firsts with a record broken.
The 53-34 victory for the Bulldogs was the first time that they beat any incarnation of a St. Clair football team since 2016 when they defeated them 38-22 en route to a state tournament appearance. It also marked the first win against the combined St. Clair-Loyola Spartans since their inception in the 2018-19 season.
“It was a great game all-around by our team,” Head Coach Ryan Luedtke said. “When St. Clair got ahead, we could have given up. But we didn’t, which helped us win the game.”
This game was also a record-breaker for junior wide receiver Caleb Quast. He had 184 yards receiving in the game, which broke Ryan Kronbach’s previous single-game record of 181 that he set last year in the 41-13 win against Cleveland at home.
It started with JWP taking the first shot across the field as senior Lucas Morsching sliced through the Spartan defense for a 15-yard touchdown. However, St. Clair-Loyola blocked Ethan Born’s extra-point attempt. That opened up St. Clair to stead the lead via a pass from Preston Grams to Austin Ward for a 35-yard touchdown and an extra point.
The Spartans took a second shot at JWP when Grams connected to Ward again for six. After taking a 14-6 lead, their run defense couldn’t hold back junior Chase Gerdts as he put the Bulldogs within two. A stalwart defensive stop set up the JWP offense with decent field coverage. Lucas Morsching broke free for a 65-yard touchdown run to help JWP take an 18-12 lead.
The Spartans were in the drivers seat after another successful touchdown pass from Grams, this time to Hunter Winkler for a 20-yard touchdown. However, the kick was blocked. As it looked like the Spartans would have a 20-18 lead on the Bulldogs at halftime, though, quarterback Daulton Bauer found Caleb Quast for a 50-yard dot for a last-second touchdown to steal the lead. Bauer then slung the ball to senior receiver Landon Johnson for the two-point conversion for a 26-20 halftime.
JWP dominated the rest of the game, as the Bauer-Quast connection couldn’t be broken and the Morsching train had no brakes. Bauer connected with Quast for a 35-yard touchdown pass followed by Morsching clawing through Spartan defenders for a well-earned seven-yard touchdown to put JWP up 39-20. St. Clair-Loyola responded with a short red-zone run and a successful two-point conversion between Grams and Ward.
Special teams also had a great day. Although Born’s extra point kick was blocked on JWP’s first touchdown drive, the Bulldogs returned the favor with senior Jaxon Miller blocking a Spartans punt and setting up excellent field position for one of the Bulldogs’ touchdowns in the second half.
The fourth quarter was all insurance points, which also helped Quast break the single-game yards record, as Bauer connected with him for an 84-yard touchdown. Grams did get an extra touchdown for the Spartans, but it was too little, too late. The four-yard run for six by Bauer was salt in the wound.
The win was JWP’s first of the season and evened their home record to 1-1. When asked if returning home helped the team after having three of four games on the road to start the season, Luedtke acknowledged it was a factor. “The fans always show up for us and are loud and proud. They definitely gave us some motivation for this game.”
Quast admittedly didn’t share many thoughts about breaking the record. “I had only found out when they announced it. It’s great that I have the record. It feels better to get the win, though.”
When asked about what Kronbach would say about his record being broken, he said, “I think he’d be happy. He’s taught me a lot.”
Bauer ended the day 9/13 for 255 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. Grams also had his best game so far with the Spartans this season, going 11/22 for 189 and three touchdowns with no interceptions. However, that wasn’t enough.
Morsching had a field day, rushing for 171 yards and three touchdowns. Chase Gerdts also rushed for a touchdown and half 32 yards on the day. Bauer only ran twice, but had 14 yards and a touchdown. Landon Johnson had a two-point conversion on the ground as well. Grams had 29 yards on the ground with a touchdown for St. Clair-Loyola. Lentz led the Spartans with 47 yards and a touchdown.
Quast’s 184-yard day led the team, scoring all three of the Bulldogs’ passing touchdowns. Johnson had a good day, too, getting four receptions for 43 yards.
On defense, Davien Weis and Jaxon Miller collaborated to get a sack while each getting an assisted tackle for loss; Miller also had an additional solo tackle for loss. Morsching led the team in assists with ten on the day while also tying for the lead in tackles with Aidan Rider with three. Isaac Gahlon led in passes defended with three.
The Bulldogs are now 1-4. The win over St. Clair-Loyola was a massive win within the section and will surely help them improve their Section 2AA standings once the playoffs begin.
The next game will be their homecoming game against United South Central on Friday, October 4. The Bulldogs have been close to beating the Rebels in the past several years, but they haven’t defeated the Rebels since the 2016-17 season, where they shut them out on the road 27-0. USC ruined the Bulldogs’ homecoming in 2022 with a close 22-14 victory. But if the offense and defense play like they did against the Spartans, it could be a much better homecoming for the Bulldogs.
