FOND DU LAC – Jared Scheberl claims he wasn’t thinking about the magnitude of his final kick on Friday night.
The sophomore kicker was simply focusing on what he does every day in practice.
“Just kick like I do in practice,” he said. “Nothing different. Don’t think about it too much.”
Well, it was different. But however Scheberl is able to calm himself down and zone in, more power to him. Because it worked.
Scheberl kicked a game-winning 28-yard field goal with four seconds remaining as the Fond du Lac football team won a thrilling back-and-forth affair with Oshkosh North Friday night, outlasting the Spartans 38-35 in Valley Football Association South action at Fruth Field.
“We have confidence in Jared,” Fond du Lac coach Mike Gnewuch said. “He was knocking them through from 45 (yards) over and over and over in pregame. We have confidence in the kid, even though he is a sophomore. He stepped up tonight.”
Scheberl’s game-winning kick came after Fond du Lac (3-2, 2-2 VFA South) took over at its own 40-yard line with 1:04 left on the clock. Tied 35-35, the Cardinals had just given up a 25-yard touchdown pass and two-point conversion to Oshkosh North (2-3, 2-2 VFA South) moments earlier, when Alex Kujawa found Cameron Sorenson for the score and Brett Ellestad for the conversion.
On the decisive drive, Fond du Lac quarterback Jack Cole completed his first two passes to Noah Wenger and Drew Jorgensen, immediately putting the Cardinals into Oshkosh North territory. Cole then took off for a 16-yard run and followed that up with a 10-yard scamper two plays later.
A five-yard run from Colton Wasieleski moved the ball to the 2-yard line before an intentional grounding penalty backed it up to the 12-yard marker.
Scheberl then came on for the game-winner, which was straight through the uprights — sending the Cardinals into a frenzy.
The Spartans had one final chance, but the hook-and-ladder came up well short.
It was quite the offensive night at Fruth, as Fond du Lac piled up 511 total yards and Oshkosh North wasn’t far behind, totaling 449.
Cole finished 17-of-30 passing for 220 yards and three touchdowns, all of which came in the first half, but also tossed two interceptions — the second going back for a touchdown.
Wasieleski rushed for 174 yards and a score, filling in as the No. 1 running back because Keon Jefferson did not suit up due to a head injury suffered in last week’s game against Neenah.
“That’s what we expect of him because he’s a good football player,” Gnewuch said of Wasieleski. “He’s going to wear people down because he’s a big kid and he runs hard. That’s what we expect out of him and he may be surprising people now, but that’s what we’ve expected from Day One. He did a great job and we’ll continue to see him get a lot of carries.”
Meanwhile, Kujawa threw for 260 yards and three TDs for Oshkosh North. Jordan Roen had 94 yards on the ground and Ellestad caught six passes for 108 yards.
Initially, the Cardinals seemed to be in control. Cole found Devon Krzanowski and Henry Lange for TD passes in the first quarter to put Fond du Lac up 13-0.
But the Spartans came roaring back in the second quarter, with Roen scoring on a run and a pass to put North on top. Cole connected with Peyton Nett for a 27-yard TD with a second remaining in the half to vault the Cards back in front going into the break.
Disaster struck for Fond du Lac early in the third quarter when Josh Leib intercepted Cole and returned it for a touchdown and Kujawa then found Ellestad for a 21-yard score.
However, Fond du Lac responded.
Wasieleski scored from 23 yards out on Fondy’s next possession to again put the Cardinals on top. Fond du Lac made a defensive stand after that before Cole sprinted in from 10 yards out with 4:21 left in the game — seemingly putting the Cards in great position to win.
North then drove down the field to tie the game, setting up Scheberl’s last-second heroics.
Despite his rough start to the second half, Cole put together another solid performance and played a large role down the stretch.
“My teammates picked me up after that pick,” Cole said. “On offense, my o-linemen just give me so much time. It helps so much. My receivers make plays and Waz (Wasieleski) is running great right now. We played great.”
The win moves Fond du Lac back to .500 in the VFA South and into solid position to qualify for the WIAA playoffs after losses to Appleton North and Stevens Point at the start of the conference slate had the Cards in a hole. Fondy defeated Neenah 27-7 last week.
Fond du Lac travels to Oshkosh West for another VFA South game next Friday.
Oshkosh North 0 14 13 8 — 35
Fond du Lac 13 8 7 10 — 38
Scoring summary:
FDL— Devon Krzanowski, 9 pass from Jack Cole (Jared Scheberl kick), 7:48.
FDL— Henry Lange, 12 pass from Cole (kick fail), 0:00.
ON— Jordan Roen, 1 run (DaVinci Yang kick), 10:53.
ON— Roen, 10 pass from Alex Kujawa (Yang kick), 2:10.
FDL— Peyton Nett, 27 pass from Cole (Krzanowski from Cole pass), 0:01.
ON— Josh Leib, 10 interception return (Yang kick), 8:07.
ON— Brett Ellestad, 21 pass from Kujawa (kick fail), 5:45.
FDL— Colton Wasieleski, 23 run (Scheberl kick), 1:03.
FDL— Cole, 10 run (Sheberl kick), 4:21.
ON— Cameron Sorenson, 25 pass from Kujawa (Ellestad from Kujawa pass), 1:11.
FDL— Scheberl, 28 field goal, 0:04.
Team stats
ON FDL
First downs 18 22
Total yards 449 511
Rushing 33-189 36-278
Passes (C-A-I) 16-28-0 18-30-2
Passing yards 260 233
Fumbles 1-0 0-0
Individual leaders
Rushing: Oshkosh North— Jordan Roen, 17-94. Fond du Lac— Colton Wasieleski, 26-174.
Passing: Oshkosh North— Alex Kujawa, 16-27-0-260. Fond du Lac— Jack Cole, 17-30-2-220.
Receiving: Oshkosh North— Brett Ellestad, 6-108; Cameron Sorenson, 4-72. Fond du Lac— Drew Jorgensen, 4-48; Joe Kuber, 3-45.