Football rivalry goes to the Rockets

It wasn’t the instant explosive start that the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School football team often employs, but the Rockets were still able to put their rivals on ice by halftime in the season opener at Ozaukee last Friday night.

The Rockets won, 42-0, behind five touchdown passes by junior quarterback Logan Arrowood and four  scoring catches by junior wide receiver Sam Peiffer.

“I’ve been throwing to this kid since, like, fifth grade. We’ve always had that connection,” Arrowood said about Peiffer as they talked after the game.

Peiffer said the team is cognizant that the season could end at any time due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This could be our last game, we just took advantage of it,” he said.

For Ozaukee, new coach Michael Schatz said, “Cedar Grove is a very well coached team with a lot of talent on it,” but the game could have been closer.

“I truly feel, take away a couple of mistakes, whether its me fixing a call or putting us in a better situation, it’s a much closer score. It’s a lot of small things and nothing that isn’t fixable so I still think the outlook for us this year is really good.”

Peiffer got behind the defense for a 31-yard touchdown eight and a half minutes into the game, but it was some key defensive plays and a 29-point second quarter that put it away.

Late in the first quarter, Peiffer dropped a punt and Austin Wadkins recovered it. The Warriors were in business at the Rockets’ 18-yardline.

A run lost three yards and a pass from Ty Szczerbinski to Braxton Gahan gained four. The Warriors tried two more passes that fell incomplete, and the Rockets held.
In the second quarter, Peiffer picked off a pass that was deflected and returned it about 45 yards to the Warriors’ 10-yard-line. The pass was intended for Braxton Gahan with Jack Peiffer in coverage.

“It bounced off Jack’s helmet. I just took it and started going. We got a lot of momentum behind that,” Sam Peiffer said.

The Rockets turned the turnover into points. Senior running back Cayden Fisher scored on a six-yard run.

After forcing a Warrior punt with help from a snap over Szczerbinski’s head, Peiffer caught a slant and broke into the open down the left sideline for a 37-yard score.

On the ensuing possession, the Rockets recovered a high snap at the Warriors’ 18-yard-line. On first down, Arrowood found Peiffer for another touchdown, and it was 28-0 with less than five minutes left in the half.

The Rockets’ defense then pressured Szczerbinski, forcing an intentional grounding call, and stuffed two runs for minus-five yards. A punt from the Warriors 3-yard-line ended up at their 24 with barely three minutes left in the second quarter.

The Warriors’ defense held the Rockets two five yards on three runs, and a penalty helped make it fourth and 12 from the 27.

Arrowood found Jack Peiffer underneath, who took it to the 6-yard-line with 18 seconds left.

Arrowood tried to run it in but flipped over on a tackle by Jack Genzmer. On second and goal from the 3, the play looked to be over as Arrowood was apprehended by a Warrior, but he slipped out of the tackle, stepped up and flipped a quick pass to Sam Peiffer.

With the score 35-0 and a running clock, meaning it only stops for scoring plays, injuries and timeouts, the second half went by fast. On third and 15 from the Rockets’ 17-yard-line, Arrowood hit a sprinting Caleb Beigtol in stride for an 83-yard touchdown.

Arrowood went 8-for-10 for 203 yards with five scores.

Peiffer caught five balls for 94 yards and four touchdowns.

Fisher ran 11 times for 44 yards and a touchdown.

“I’m pretty happy with it,” Cedar Grove-Belgium coach Dan Schreurs said of the game. “We started off slow. We’ve been changing stuff at practice to try to pick that up a little bit. That didn’t work again tonight, but eventually older experience popped in there and really got things jumped for us.”

For the Warriors, Szczerbinski was 5-for-12 passing for 25 yards and an interception.

Genzmer, who rushed for 1,000 yards last season, was held to 36 yards on 15 carries. Bret Hamm ran nine times for 35 yards.

“We knew our defense was going to be very fast and very quick to the ball,” Schreurs said. “It just wasn’t one person hitting Genzmer, it is three-four-five, and that’s what is needed to take down a running back like that. I think they’ll have success in the conference because I don’t know if anyone else will be able to fly to the football like that.”

Schatz praised the play of Brandon Harbison who, along with Cael Large, led the team with six tackles. Schatz said Phil McLarty jumped into different spots and did well, and Gahan, who made five tackles, “just showed he’s a problem and you need to throw two people at him to just take him out physically.”

“I’m just really, really proud of our team. These kids really showed how dedicated they are and how much they want to win and I really think we’re going to start seeing that,” Schatz said.

On Friday, Cedar Grove-Belgium hosts fellow Big East Conference powerhouse Hilbert, which beat Manitowoc Lutheran, 16-14, last week. Ozaukee plays at another rival, Random Lake, which lost, 6-0, at Howards Grove last Friday.