Air attack tops land invasion

Many of the Cedar Grove-Belgium  High School football players remember being shut out at Hilbert last season, and they sought revenge this year.

While last year’s game was in hand for Hilbert, 19-0, this one came down to the final quarter with the Rockets clinging to a one-point lead.

Quarterback Logan Arrowood, who threw for four touchdowns in the game, hit Cole Augustiniak for a four-yard score to make it 25-18. The Rockets hung on.

“We challenged them to step up and do what we couldn’t do last year,” coach Dan Schreurs said. “This was the game they worked for all summer long.”

It was a game of contrasting styles. Hilbert operates a run-first offense that Schreurs said is designed around gaining five yards per play.

“If you can’t get them in negative yardage on first or second down, they’ll just keep moving on you,” Schreurs said. “They will come after you over and over and over.”

The Rockets, on the other hand, just assume get to the end zone as quickly as possible.

“We look for that one big explosive play. We try to put the defense in situations that will benefit us and score in a hurry.”

Arrowood, a junior starting for the second straight season, has found his favorite target in junior wide receiver Sam Peiffer, who had three catches for 86 yards and two scores.

“They are something else. It’s almost getting to that Reid and Josh level,” Schreurs said in referring to 2016 state passing and receiver record-setters Josh Weiss and Reid Hilbelink.

Arrowood and Peiffer’s first touchdown, an 80-yarder in the first quarter, was a play the pair discusses on the sideline.

“We’re kind of, like, ‘Go for it, guys,’ and they executed it,” Schruers said.

Hilbert tied the game in the second quarter on a six-yard run by quarterback Dylan Dohr. A 31-yard run gave Hilbert a 12-6 lead, but Arrowood hit Peiffer for a nine-yard touchdown with less than 90 seconds left in the first half to tie the game, 12-12.

Augustiniak caught a six-yard score which, along with the only extra point either team hit all night, gave the Rockets a 19-12 lead in the third quarter. Hilbert’s Reed Breckheimer scored from 18 yards out to make it 19-18.

From there, the Rockets put up one more score and the defense kept Hilbert out of the end zone.

Schreurs credited running backs sophomore Colton Sellin and senior Cayden Fisher for their play. Sellin had two huge screen passes that set up scores in the second and fourth quarters. It took Hilbert’s fastest player to catch Sellin from behind both times.

“They were bringing so much pressure up the middle. Their defensive line is so fast, so big, so strong,” Schreurs said. “To have a weapon like that, he really showed what capabilities he has.”

Fisher, he said, stepped up big in the second half with a 75-yard run of pure speed and athleticism on second-and-15.

“He really took it upon himself to take the lead and take the charge,” Schreurs said.

Sellin ended up with two catches for 115 yards. Fisher ran for 101 yards on 15 carries. Arrowood went 9-for-13 passing for 233 yards, four touchdowns and two interception. The first turnover led to a Hilbert touchdown but the second was more like a punt on third and long, Schreurs said.

Defensively, the Rockets especially came through in the fourth quarter. Platooning with only a handful of guys playing both sides of the ball helped.

“Deep into the fourth quarter you could tell that Hilbert started to wear down a little bit, and our guys continued to go,” he said, but added Hilbert never backed down.

The Wolves had 267 yards rushing, led by Dohr’s 165 on 27 carries. He went 1-for-3 passing for seven yards and an interception.

This Friday, the 2-0 Rockets travel to another Big East favorite, Reedsville, which returned much of its team from last year. They feature a 260-pound fullback, a shifty and fast running back and a pure athlete at quarterback.

“We’ll definitely have our hands full with them,” Schreurs said.

One focus of practice this week is extra points, after missing two and having one blocked. Schreurs said the timing between the snap and hold with kicker Matt Peterson isn’t quite there yet.

Reedsville is 2-0 after winning at Oostburg, 26-21, on Sept. 25 and against Howards Grove, 44-0, last Friday.