STEVENS POINT FOOTBALL TOPS HORTONVILLE FOR THIRD-STRAIGHT WIN

Zaleski Sports

HORTONVILLE – Riley Warzynski threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for two more as the Stevens Point Area Senior High football team defeated Hortonville 28-13 in a Valley Football Association tilt on Friday night at Akin Field at Hortonville High School.

Warzynski hit Peyton Pumper for a 27-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter and ran in for a 1-yard score 37 seconds into the second as SPASH built a 14-0 lead.

Hortonville stormed back with two quick touchdowns. Hunter Strange scored from 3 yards out and quarterback Sam Dodd threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Jack Christnacht just 1½ minutes later, but the Polar Bears missed the extra point on the second TD and trailed 14-13.

Warzynski connected with Pumper again on a 10-yard TD pass with 34 seconds go before halftime, pushing the Panthers’ lead to 20-14 heading into the break.

The SPASH defense did the rest, holding Hortonville scoreless in the second half. Warzynski tacked on a 7-yard touchdown run with 2:30 to go in the game, capping a 15-play drove that chewed up 9½ minutes for the final cushion for the Panthers.

Warzynski finished 18-for-30 for 228 yards and Jaybreal Palbrach led the Panthers’ running game with 91 yards on 20 carries.

Strange totaled 78 yards on the ground and Dodd was 14-for-36 for 182 yards, but was picked off three times by the Panthers’ defense. Christnacht finished with five catches for an even 100 yards and a touchdown for the Polar Bears.

Stevens Point is now 3-1 overall and 2-0 in Valley Football Association play, while Hortonville drops to 2-2 and 0-2 in conference play. SPASH hosts Wisconsin Rapids and Hortonville will be at Appleton West in VFA action Sept. 17.

Panthers 28, Polar Bears 13

Stevens Point 7 14 0 7 - 28

Hortonville 0 13 0 0 - 13

First Quarter

SP – Peyton Pumper 27 pass from Riley Warzynski (Cam Saeger kick), 9:32.

Second Quarter

SP – Warzynski 1 run (Saeger kick), 11:23.

H – Hunter Strange 3 run (Drew Klein kick), 8:14.

H – Jack Christnatcht 48 pass from Sam Dodd (kick failed), 6:39.

SP – Pumper 10 pass from Warzynski (Saeger kick), 0:34.

Fourth Quarter

SP – Warzynski 7 run (Saeger kick), 2:30.

Team Statistics

First downs: Stevens Point 19; Hortonville 15.

Rushing (att-yards): SP 33-105; H 20-96.

Passing (comp-att-yards-int): SP 18-30-228-0; H 14-36-182-3.

Total yards: SP 333; H 278.

Penalties (no.-yards): SP 10-75; H 8-77.

Fumbles (total-lost): SP 1-0; H 1-0.

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SP, Jaybreal Palbrach 20-91, Riley Warzynski 11-22, Kale Roth 1-minus 1, Peyton Pumper 1-minus 7. H, Hunter Strange 16-78, Sam Dodd 4-18.

Passing: SP, Warzynski 18-30-228-0. H, Dodd 14-36-182-3.

Receiving: SP, Peyton Pumper 5-55, Jayden Zelinski 4-27, Danny Zdroik 3-67, Tommy Drohner 2-44, Palbrach 2-19, Quinton Martin 1-12, Ben Raczek 1-4. H, Jack Christnacht 5-100, Winston Peters 2-30, Adam Voss 2-25, Strange 2-0, Jayden Blondeau 1-15, Brady Mashlan 1-12, Aiden Leist 1-0.

Interceptions (defense): SP, Drohner, Mason Jelinski, Austin Simon.

Records: Stevens Point 3-1, 2-0 Valley Football Association; Hortonville 2-2, 0-2 VFA.