Level 2 presents challenge for the Fond du Lac football team

The Fond du Lac football team takes the field on Friday night for their respective second-round playoff game and they will be facing unique challenges.

After beginning its postseason journey with a 64-0 demolition of Milwaukee Washington/Science/Collegiate last Friday, No. 2 seed Fond du Lac (8-2) hosts third-seeded Milwaukee King (10-0) this week in a WIAA Division 1 Level 2 game at Fruth Field.

Champions of the Milwaukee City Blackbourn Conference, the Generals have a high-powered offense (45.8 points per game) and have allowed a total of just 22 points on defense this season.

However, Milwaukee King’s level of competition this season is questionable, with Fond du Lac easily taking care of one of the Generals’ conference foes last week.

That in mind, King also dominated that conference and has a number of talented playmakers.

Quarterback Justice King is a dual threat, having thrown for nearly 500 yards and nine touchdowns in addition to 757 yards and 16 TDs on the ground. Primary running back Devin Lacy (984 yards, 12 TDs) has also been an efficient player for the Generals.

Milwaukee King defeated Milwaukee Morse-Marshall/Carmen/Juneau/Languages 39-0 in Level 1.

“I think they’ve got a ton of skill,” Fond du Lac coach Mike Gnewuch said of Milwaukee King. “Their quarterback can scoot. He’s dangerous with his legs and when he gets out of the pocket, he throws the ball pretty well on the run. I think we have to contain Justice King. Their running back is a good downhill runner. He also has a little bit of shake to him, so we have to contain him. They have some real athletic receivers and are real multiple (formations) up front. … We’ve just got to be able to adjust to their variety.”

The Cardinals come into Friday’s contest having won seven games in a row and much of that success can be attributed to their ability to control the line of scrimmage on both offense and defense.

That’s again the goal against Milwaukee King.

“Watching their offensive and defensive lines, I think their strength is their skill (players) and our strength has been up front on both sides of the ball,” Gnewuch said. “It will kind of be our strength against their weakness and their strength against where we haven’t been as strong at times. We’re going to absolutely try to establish the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and turn it into a physical football game.”

Fond du Lac football overwhelms Milwaukee King  38 – 6

FOND DU LAC – Two turnovers on its first two possessions was not part of the Fond du Lac football team’s game plan on Friday night. No matter. The Cardinals did little wrong after that.

Keon Jefferson rushed for 180 yards and No. 2 seed Fond du Lac thoroughly dominated No. 3 seed Milwaukee King following a shaky start as the Cardinals routed the previously-unbeaten Generals 38-6 in a WIAA Division 1 Level 2 playoff game Friday night at Fruth Field.

“We knew we were going to have our hands full,” Fond du Lac coach Mike Gnewuch said. “You hate to turn the ball over three times, but we’ll fix that and clean that up. There’s a lot of athletes over there on Milwaukee King. They’re loaded with talent, so I was happy with the way our guys responded even when we turned the ball over.”

Following a fumble on its first drive, in which a shotgun snap went past quarterback Jack Cole, Fond du Lac gave Milwaukee King the early lead on its second possession when Cole’s pass was intercepted by Justice King and returned 36 yards for a touchdown.

On the play, Cole found an open Devon Krzanowski in the flat, but the ball bounced off Krzanowski’s hands into the waiting arms of King, who ran untouched the other.

Trailing 6-0, Fond du Lac (9-2) immediately drove 55 yards down the field, with Colton Wasieleski gaining every yard on the ground, before the 210-pound junior bulled his way into the end zone on an eight-yard rush to put the Cards on top.

Fond du Lac would cruise from there, as the Cardinals offense piled up 373 yards — including 309 rushing — and the defense held a Milwaukee King offensive attack that came in averaging over 45 points per game to just 113 total yards.

“I thought they were awesome,” Gnewuch said of his team’s defense. “I thought they were fantastic. (Milwaukee King) came out and did a couple different things, but we only had two game (films) on them, so the adjustments and the way our kids were able to respond to the different things that they didn’t show on film or at least we didn’t see on film, our kids did an awesome job.”

Wasieleski finished with three rushing touchdowns, gaining 123 yards on 15 carries, while Jefferson added two scores to go along with nearly 200 yards.

Although Cole and the passing game weren’t able to get much going on Friday, accounting for only 64 yards, the Cards received more than enough production from their rushing duo as Milwaukee King (10-1) had few answers defensively.

“They’re running the ball hard,” Gnewuch said. “But that’s what we expect from them. We pound the rock. We expect them to get positive yards every single play and put the ball in the end zone.”

Added Wasieleski: “The guys up front did their assignments. They did their jobs and they did it really well.”

King finished 8-of-19 passing for 69 yards to lead the Generals, while Calvin Matthew had 32 yards rushing. Milwaukee King managed a couple decent drives, but was never able to finish against a stout Fond du Lac defense.

Fond du Lac advances to face No. 1 seed and two-time defending WIAA Division 1 state champion Kimberly in a Level 3 game next Friday, the Cardinals’ third straight year in the state quarterfinals. The Papermakers blew out Appleton West 42-7 on Friday.

“They’re good, but hopefully our guys don’t shy away from them,” Gnewuch said of Kimberly. “We’re happy. The kids are excited they’re in our bracket and now we finally get an opportunity to play them. It’s an honor to be playing the best team in the state, so we’re excited.”

Milwaukee King 6 0 0 0 — 6

Fond du Lac 7 14 7 10 — 38

Scoring summary:

MK— Justice King, 36 interception return (kick fail), 7:48.

FDL— Colton Wasieleski, 8 run (Jared Scheberl kick), 5:33.

FDL—Wasieleski, 6 run (Scheberl kick), 11:19.

FDL—Keon Jefferson, 15 run (Scheberl kick), 8:02.

FDL— Wasieleski, 4 run (Scheberl kick), 2:00.

FDL— Jefferson, 1 run (Scheberl kick), 7:04.

FDL— Scheberl, 26 field goal, 0:48.

Team stats

MK FDL

First downs 5 18

Total yards 113 373

Rushing 31-44 47-309

Passes (C-A-I) 8-20-0 4-9-1

Passing yards 69 64

Fumbles 0-0 2-2

Individual leaders

Rushing: Milwaukee King— Calvin Matthew, 7-32. Fond du Lac— Keon Jefferson, 22-180; Colton Wasieleski, 15-123.

Passing: Milwaukee King— Justice King, 8-19-0-69. Fond du Lac— Jack Cole, 4-9-1-64.

Receiving: Milwaukee King— Lucas Johnson, 3-22. Fond du Lac— Keon Jefferson, 1-44.