Dialing up the ‘D’ for a big home ‘W’

A rugged second-half defense and a marathon scoring drive sent a packed home crowd home happy last Friday in Port Washington.

The Pirates topped the Pewaukee Pirates, 15-7, to even their record to 1-1 on the young season.

Port held Pewaukee to 44 yards of offense on three possessions in the second half.

“We definitely made some halftime adjustments. We stopped their running game,” Port coach John Bunyan said.

Pewaukee, he said, was running away from Port’s defensive strengths, including end Michael Bunyan, linebacker J.D. Brahm and defensive back Patrick Lippe.

But Port figured out how to slow Pewaukee and its jet sweeps.

On offense, Port used one clock-killing, backbreaking drive that covered 80 yards in 15 plays and took 10 minutes, 48 seconds — barley one minute shorter than the length of an entire quarter.

“We kept piecing it together,” coach Bunyan said. “We threw some — Michael (Bunyan) had some catches for first downs — and Nate and Lleyton Allen had some good runs.”

Lippe closed the drive with an eight-yard touchdown catch from junior quarterback Nate Uselding with just more than seven minutes to play in the game.

The point-after by kicker Matt Esselmann made it 15-7, and Pewaukee never threatened again.

On the ensuing possession, Port’s defense allowed five yards in three plays and forced a punt.

Port was then forced to punt after five plays, and the defense stiffened again. Pewaukee moved 21 yards in seven plays to Port’s 46-yard line but turned it over on downs with less than a minute left.

Port’s first-half defense was stellar as well, with a few Pirates making game-changing plays.

Already up, 7-0, Pewaukee ripped off a huge run, but Ja’Quel Miller sprinted from his backside corner position to make the tackle at the 7-yard line.

“Two plays later, they fumbled the ball,” Bunyan said. “Great effort play from our senior there. I’m super proud of him.”

Port recovered and promptly embarked on an 89-yard drive that ended with a Lippe 23-yard touchdown catch with less than a minute left in the first half.

Lippe ran in the two-point conversion, and Port had an 8-7 lead at the break.

Three first-half possessions ended in fumbles for Pewaukee. Port sophomore defensive tackle Nick Bensen recovered two loose balls and Lippe had the other.

Port was outgained, 267 yards to 215, but those clutch defensive plays and two long drives were enough to notch this one in the win column.

Uselding went 13-for-18 passing for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Lippe caught seven passes — some on jet sweeps that count as passes since the ball is flipped forward — for 100 yards. His two scores, Bunyan said, came on passes downfield.

Tight end Michael Bunyan, who was held without a catch at Cedarburg last week, caught four balls for 45 yards.

Lippe led the team in rushing with 36 yards on eight carries. Allen had 20 yards on five runs. Uselding scampered for 11 yards on one run and finished with eight carries for 13 yards.

“We’ve got to improve our run game but we definitely have shown we can throw the ball right now,” Bunyan said.

For Pewaukee (1-1), Carter Pearson had seven runs for 111 yards. Max Sheridan ran 11 times for 79 yards, including a 48-yard first-quarter touchdown.

Port held Pewaukee’s passers to 3-for-10 for 47 yards. Zane Farra was 3-for-9.

Port defenders Michael Bunyan, Brahm, Lippe and defensive back Esselmann earned praise from coach Bunyan.

On Friday, Port starts East Central Conference play at Waupun (2-0).