Angry birds climb out of early hole to dump NB West

After two turnovers in the first five minutes of the game led to a 14-0 deficit at home against New Berlin West last Friday and a legendary program on the schedule for the following week, the Grafton High School football team could have packed it in.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

“We were all super mad. We had to get ’em back. We weren’t going to fold. That’s the kind of team we are,” senior offensive and defensive lineman J.P. Benzschawel said.

Get the Vikings back they did. The Black Hawks didn’t allow a point the rest of the night and got their offense going in a 29-14 victory at home.

Benzschawel sealed the left side several times for running back Canon Pfaff, who turned into a battering ram, rumbling for 204 yards on 39 carries. Pfaff didn’t break out for a big run — his longest gain was 11 yards — instead regularly ripping off smaller chunks of yardage.

“The o-line blocked everything they needed. Meshes were perfect between me and Chase (Norton). I had some perfect blocks from our wide receivers that got me the touchdown two times, and actually three yards multiple times,” Pfaff said.

Grafton coach Jim Norris described Pfaff as a hard runner.

“You really don’t often see him get tackled backward on first contact,” he said.

Pfaff scored late in the first quarter on a 1-yard run, then on a 4-yard run in the second. With four minutes left in the first half, a snap went over the head of the Vikings’ punter on a fourth down. He picked up the ball but quickly got tackled by a rushing Daniel Fandler, who forced him to fumble. The ball rolled out the back of the end zone for a safety.

The Hawks had their first lead of the game and never gave it up.

With less than a minute to play, star receiver Dominic Voiland took an end around toss 10 yards for a touchdown, capping a 90-yard, three-minute drive.

“Jet motions — whatever else they want me to do I’m good with,” Voiland said.

It was 22-14 at halftime. Grafton turned a 14-point deficit into an eight-point advantage in 19 minutes.

Late in the third quarter, after the Vikings stopped the Hawks on fourth down at their own 4-yard line, Dylan Neumann leaped into the air to intercept a pass on third and 12. He returned it to the 2-yard line, and Pfaff took it the rest of the way off left tackle on first down.

The Hawks’ defense in the second half allowed 37 yards on the Vikings’ first five possessions before they moved the ball on their final drive in garbage time. The Hawks’ linebackers regularly crashed through the line to stuff the run or pressure quarterback Carson Rose.

“We locked up in the secondary. We figured our stuff out up front and we just played ball,” linebacker Preston Bonk said.

“After the first half, we felt confident in stopping the run and their pass,” linebacker Andrew Ovsepyan said.

Ovsepyan led the team in tackles with eight. Bonk and Kenny Linkins each had five, and Jacob Betla had four.

Norris credited his players’ preparation from Sunday through Thursday, and praised his team’s depth. The Hawks had to fill in some spots Friday morning due to contact tracing in the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is the ultimate team sport. In this case, it took all 60 (guys),” he said.

Norris said he knows New Berlin West coach Ben Chossek, who coached Grafton several years ago, badly wanted to win.  Norris said he was proud of his team for bouncing back early and not looking ahead to Catholic Memorial this week.

“It would be really easy for a group of men, especially with the adversity of Covid and everything, just to say hey, OK, whatever, it is what it is and we’ll get ready for CMH. But they dug deep and the seniors took control of the sidelines and demanded greatness from everyone,” he said.

Norton went 11-for-15 passing for 92 yards with a touchdown and interception. Voiland caught nine balls for 83 yards and a score.

Rose went 14-for-31 passing for 172 yards, two scores and an interception. Anar Fynbu ran 17 times for 55 yards as the Hawks held the Vikings to 73 yards rushing.

The Hawks are 3-0 for the first time in many years, and have won 11 straight home games. Their last home loss was on Sept. 28, 2018, to Hartford, 28-20.

Grafton plays at Catholic Memorial (2-1) on Friday night.