Fly by Knights

What looked to be a blowout early in the game turned into a dogfight that came down to the final few minutes for Port Washington High School’s football team on Friday.

But Port’s senior stars Jacob Lippe and Deron Spicer wouldn’t be denied.

The pair, behind a strong offensive line, combined to account for five touchdowns and two fumble recoveries in a 42-27 win over visiting Nicolet on a humid night.

“They’re special kids. They’re college-bound athletes who are going to have some success later on,” coach John Bunyan said.

A 21-7 first-half lead turned into a 21-21 tie after a blocked punt was returned for a score in the third quarter, and it was gut check time.

The Pirates outscored the Knights, 21-6, the rest of the game.

“It shows just how confident we are as a team. We’ve got players obviously that step up and do their job pretty well,” Spicer said.

Bunyan was pleased with the effort after an odd week of practice that had the team in the parking lot on Monday due to soaked field conditions and inside on Tuesday because of a tornado warning.

“It says that we’re resilient and that we know that you’ve got to play four quarters and finish it up,” Bunyan said.

Spicer had three scores in that pivotal fourth quarter. After his first, linebacker Hunter Kanneberg picked off an overthrown middle screen on third and 10 and returned the ball 14 yards to Nicolet’s 17 to set up the next touchdown. Kanneberg said he read the back and made the play.

“It’s my first time ever getting an interception. It felt great,” he said.

Spicer had an 11-yard touchdown run, blasting through tackles, and Lippe used both hands to make a diving catch to his left for the two-point conversion.

That put the Pirates up, 35-21, but Nicolet answered.

Two plays after a 26-yard pass completion, C.J. Kobe scampered 30 yards for a touchdown to make it 35-27.

Port answered right back with a 12-play, 61-yard drive capped off by a Spicer 1-yard run to make it 42-27.

Backup quarterback Ethan Baierl, who was filling in for his injured older brother, hit Lippe on third and six on an out route for 11 yards to keep the drive alive.

“I was out by myself, one-on-one with the safety over. Ethan just put the ball in a place for me to make a play and I made the play. It was huge because then we could run the ball out the rest of the game,” Lippe said.

It was one of two passes on the entire drive.

“Our o-line finished the game with that long drive and pounding the football, so I was pretty excited,” Bunyan said.

On the ensuing possession, the Knights drove the Pirates’ 1-yard line, but Port’s defense, which had been gashed up the middle throughout much of the first half, stuffed a quarterback sneak up the middle, stacking enough players to make pyramid-making cheerleaders proud.

The Pirates forced four turnovers in the game, getting their first on the second play from scrimmage. Deion Edwards forced a fumble, and the ball fell in front of Lippe, who fell on it.

“Just being in the right place and the right time,” Lippe said with a smile.

Baierl instantly found tight end Devon Edwards on a short pass that he turned into a 21-yard score.

Nicolet answered with 17-play, 76-yarddrive.

A double handoff that Lippe took 28 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown put Port back up by a score, and a Kanneberg fumble reovery led to another touchdown. A double pass from Baierl to Lippe to Edwards for 41 yards helped make it 21-7.

The Knights then went on a 13-play, 67-yard drive that took more than seven minutes to cut the lead to 21-14 at half.

“Credit to them. They’re a good football team. They’ve gotten better. We had some issues with their veer a little bit in the first half,” Bunyan said.

“We had to widen our backers a little bit to get to the quarterback and make sure our ends took care of the dive.”

Spicer ended with 183 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. Lippe had 83 yards and a score on 12 runs.

“They couldn’t really get us inside so we just kept pounding it down their throat and it worked out pretty well,” Spicer said.

Edwards had five catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns.

For Nicolet, Kobe had 68 yards rushing and three scores on 15 carries. Quarterback Carson Trimborn ran 20 times for 74 yards.

After last week’s flood from 9 inches of rain, Port’s field held up OK, Bunyan said, since it drains well.

Port improved to 2-1 in the North Shore Conference and on Friday plays at Cedarburg (0-3), which likes to throw with Jake Leair, who has 534 yards passing this season.