Black Hawks drill Merrill

The bus had barely started to cool after its 190-mile trip when the Merrill High School football team started its Division 3 playoff game at Grafton last Friday.

Within minutes, the Blue Jays could have gotten right back on it.

 The Black Hawks jumped out to a 35-0 first-quarter lead on the way to a 59-0 drubbing.

Jack Nelson ran for 227 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries, and Owen Deer ran eight times for 73 yards and a score. Nicholas Schiller went 6-for-7 passing for 107 yard and three scores. Tyler Deer caught three passes for 59 yards and a touchdown, and Parker Shaw caught two balls for 44 yards and a score.

Max Glab caught a touchdown pass and Zach Nusberger ran for a score.

Sam Cameranesi and Vince Schiller each recovered a fumble. Everett Bonk made an interception. Miles Muilenburg made nine tackles, Tyler Heinle made eight and Glab and Colton Boehlke each had six.

“We had a great week of practice and a pretty good game plan,” coach Jim Norris said.

“We definitely respected the heck out of Merrill and what their kids do. We saw a lot of things on film we had to be aware of that would give us trouble in different situations.”

The Black Hawks handled all of those. Norris was rotating out starters in the second quarter, and in the third pulled the rest of them.

The top-seeded Hawks were keenly aware of how the 4-seeded Blue Jays could play. Grafton was a 4 seed when it went all the way to the state title game two years ago, beating top-seeded Port Washington along the way.

“Our senior class recognizes it and appreciates it because they were part of that game,” Norris said.

Merrill finished 7-4.

The Hawks, 11-0, host No. 2-seeded Plymouth, which is also undefeated, in level 3 of the playoffs on Friday. The two teams both played Port Washington in Port this season. Grafton won, 28-3, and Plymouth won, 28-14.

The Hawks beat Plymouth, 31-21, last season in level 2 of the playoffs.

“It’s going to be a good game. They have some really good players and some good team speed,” Norris said.

This is the third straight season the Hawks have advanced to at least the third level of the playoffs.