Sending the seniors out with a bang

On a night that felt more like August than November, everybody got into the final act of the regular season for Grafton High School’s football team in a 45-23 home destruction of Watertown last Friday.

Coach Jim Norris planned it that way.

“We really wanted it to be a game where every single person on the team played, and we ended up accomplishing that goal,” he said.

Of course, the Black Hawks wanted to win too, and that feat was essentially achieved by halftime. It was 38-8 at the break, and the Goslings could have had Grafton’s school song memorized since it plays after every score.

The Hawks ended the regular season 5-1, missing one game due to Covid-19.

“It feels pretty amazing that I even get to do this, this year. I’m just thankful that I can. It was pretty awesome to do this with this team too,” senior linebacker and team co-captain Kenny Likins said.

Senior Canon Pfaff ran 26 times for 198 yards and three scores on runs of 3, 8 and 10 yards, and Silvio Lanza, forced into a backup running back role due to Covid-19 and injuries, ran eight times for 120 yards and scored his first varsity touchdown on a 58-yard burst up the middle.

Quarterback Vince Cameranesi, in his second start, went 11-for-15 passing for 123 yards and two touchdowns.

Dominic Voiland caught seven balls for 68 yards and two scores, and intercepted a pass.

The defense held the pass-happy Goslings to 142 yards through the air and 81 yards rushing. Quarterback Caleb Huff was under fire all night. Andronik Ovsepyan and J.P. Benzschawel each had a sack, and countless other Hawks kept the pressure on.

“Once we get that momentum, it is just a good feeling,” Ovsepyan said.

Domination came early. The Hawks tried an onside kick to start the game, and Voiland recovered it. Two plays later, he caught a 40-yard pass and fell on the 1-yard line.

The Hawks tried a quick pass to Benzschawel, who stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall, weighs more than 260 pounds and has been recruited by the University of Wisconsin-Madison to play offensive line — not wide receiver — following in the footsteps of his older brothers Luke and Beau. The play lost a yard.

“I was a little upset about that one. I wish I would have put a better move on that other than just try to truck him,” Benzschawel said as he half laughed after the game.

Norris said Benzschawel scored on a fumble in one of his final games in eighth grade, and he wanted to get him in the end zone in his final high school regular season game.

Voiland then scored from two yards out on a jet sweep that counted as a touchdown pass since Cameranesi flipped the ball forward.

Lanza, the team’s kicker, then faked a run and threw a jump pass to Ovsepyan for an 8-0 lead.

The Hawks ran a host of fake kicks and one fake punt in the game. Lanza, the team’s kicker and punter, ran for 34 yards on fourth and 13 in the third quarter.

Lanza grew an ear-to-ear smile when talking about the fakes.

“It’s amazing because the defense has no idea,” he said. “Credit to my great blockers.”

Norris said the fakes force other teams to spend precious practice time to prepare for them, and there is another advantage.

“It’s for the kids for fun. The kids absolutely love it,” Norris said.

“They bring me ideas. I come into the office in the morning and I see three fake punts and two fake field goals that are drawn up perfectly. The kids are 100% vested, and we go out and execute.”

The Hawks built a 24-0 lead midway through the second quarter on a 32-yard field goal by Lanza and two Pfaff touchdown runs before the Goslings got on the board.

“It was huge for us,” Voiland said of the fast start. “There’s a chance this is our last home game here. We were really excited for this one.”

“We were really looking forward to this game. It feels fantastic to end it like this,” Pfaff said.

The Hawks play Friday at West De Pere, which beat them, 56-17, in the second round of the playoffs last season.

“Business trip,” Norris said of the venture north.