CG-Belgium’s offense answers the call in crunch time

A game seemingly in hand all of a sudden became harrowing and nearly turned into a horror show against Hilbert last Friday for the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School football team.

The 33-18 final was closer than it looked.

“We talked about it all week, not playing to lose, and we still went back and played to lose,” coach Dan Schreurs said.

“It was a good lesson for them. They did answer the call at the end.”

The Rockets led, 23-3, at halftime and nearly turned the game into a blowout after recovering a punt that touched a Wolf.

But the Rockets’ offense went backward from there, and strong-legged kicker Noah Peterson hit the left upright on a 48-yard field goal attempt that easily had the distance.

Peterson later hit from 25 yards to make it 26-3 with three and a half minutes left in the third quarter, but the Wolves came back.

Hilbert’s Ezra Sevela broke through off-tackle right for a 57-yard touchdown run, and leading rusher Jack Pakala later ran right and cut back to the middle for a 55-yard score. It was 26-18 with more than six minutes to play, and it was gut-check time for the Rockets.

Cedar Grove-Belgium’s ground game came through.

The Rockets drove 75 yards in 10 plays, eating up five minutes. The only passing play on the drive was the capper. Evan Halleman rolled left and found Adair Herrera cutting across the end zone for a five-yard touchdown on second and goal.

Senior Austin Knapp had five carries for 46 yards on the drive, and Griffin Knight ran twice for 18 yards.

Halleman ran sneaks up the middle to convert on fourth and one and later third and one.

Knight, who moved to running back from wide receiver to better fit this year’s offense, said his team had to put that drive together.

“We just knew we had to pound the rock down the field. We had like five minutes left. We knew we had to run that clock down. They just scored two times in a row and we just had to pound it back down,” he said.

Lineman Noah Teunissen revealed the plan for the drive.

“The goal was to lay somebody out, drive them five yards and let the running backs do the rest,” he said. “That was awesome. I love running the ball.”

Knapp said it was time for the offense to get hot.

“Our offense hasn’t been kicking it the last couple of weeks. We were strict this week. Little things mattered,” Knapp said. “Our line did their jobs today. Our line played amazing. I give credit to those big guys. They did what they needed to do and we got the win.”

Lineman RJ Griffin said, “We fell apart a little bit coming out of halftime. We all realize we needed to just lock in and be better and we got it done.”

Hilbert was forced to pass on the ensuing drive, and linebacker Josh Anzia put himself in the right place at the right time for an interception to seal the game.

“They ran the same play before and they completed it. I knew that they were going to run that slant-through-post again. So I kind of just sat back there. I saw him throw it and I knew I could get that,” he said.

Knight had touchdown runs of one and 50 yards in the first half. Peterson hit a 33-yard field goal and Halleman pushed up the middle for a one-yard score with 30 seconds left in the second quarter.

Hilbert was forced to go on long scoring drives because of Peterson’s leg. He regularly registers touchbacks, sometimes with the ball sailing to the back of the end zone, and he punts so deep he sometimes outkicks the coverage.

“He is truly a weapon. We’re going to take those three points when we can,” Schreurs said.

Peterson said he put on 25 pounds in the offseason through protein shakes and working out. He loves kicking and might be getting some looks from colleges.

“When it comes off the foot just right it’s amazing,” he said.

Sevela ran 11 times for 81 yards and a score. Pakala ran 13 times for 79 yards and a score. Kendrix Grenzer went 5-for-15 passing for 71 yards and an interception.

The Rockets got through their gauntlet to start the season at 2-2. Their first three opponents were 40-1 last year and won two state titles, and Hilbert is regularly ranked in the top 10 in Division 7.

Now, as many Rockets put it, it’s “red is dead week,” as they travel to rival Oostburg, which is 3-1, on Friday, Sept. 18.