Friday Night Lights Recap: Sheboygan Falls vs Two Rivers

Friday night was the beginning of the altered 2020 Wisconsin playoffs for high school football and it brought me to Sheboygan, WI to scout the Sheboygan Falls vs Two Rivers matchup. Two Rivers entered the game with a 4-1 record, while Sheboygan Falls came in with a 4-2 record overall. I anticipated a good matchup as both teams had athletes that have the talent to continue playing at the next level. That anticipation started to shift more towards the Sheb. Falls side as I learned that the starting QB for Two Rivers, Jayden Kiphart, was not playing the game. It also is worth noting that Two Rivers arrived later than I believe they wanted to. They didn’t get on the field until 35 minutes before kickoff, but despite all that, both teams seemed ready to play. Keep reading to see how the game played out! Thank you for reading! Sheb. Falls took the field on offense to start the game. They were able to get things going quickly through the air and the use of a no huddle offense until they got down into the redzone. A few plays after cracking into the redzone they went for it on 4th down, and they came up short turning it over on downs. Standout freshman LB/RB Chase Matthias for Two Rivers stepped up making key second and third downs stops to force the 4th down attempt. Two Rivers couldn’t get any rhythm going on offense and were forced to punt the ball back to Sheb. Falls. Sheboygan Falls was able to put together a great return and get setup at the Two Rivers 28 yard line. This time Sheb. Falls took to the ground and stayed their as they marched through the redzone and in for the score. RB Jon Mathieu broke through right up the middle untouched for the 6-0 lead thanks to exceptional running lanes opened up by stud OL [player_tooltip player_id="30776" first="Malachi" last="Munoz"] and the rest of the Sheb. Falls O-line. Two Rivers came out on offense and on their second drive started to find some space to work with through the air as they marched towards midfield. The drive was killed as they got to midfield when Sheb. Falls DB Cayden Carpenter made a nice catch for the interception. That pick triggered an amazing string of big time defensive plays with about 3 minutes left in the first quarter. On the very next play WR/DB Spencer Salta made an impressive catch of his own to create the interception giving the ball right back to Two Rivers. Just a handful of plays later Sheboygan Falls intercepted Two Rivers QB Justin Klinkner for the second time. The momentum swings to end the first quarter were wild and very back and forth. The second quarter started a few plays after the third interception. Sheboygan Falls faced a 2nd & 8 from the Two Rivers 12 to start the quarter. Three plays into the quarter Sheboygan Falls’ offensive line and RB Jon Mathieu ground and pound their way to the one yard line where Mathieu was able to punch it in for 6 and the 12-0 lead. On Two Rivers’ next drive they again can’t get a rhythm. Sheb. Falls’ defensive line dominated the trenches all night. Two Rivers found no room to run the ball and as the game went on Sheb. Falls was able to generate more and more of a pass rush on Klinkner. On the punt back to Sheboygan Falls, the Two Rivers punter dropped the snap and before he could collect it and get rid of it he was brought down setting up Sheb. Falls at the Two Rivers 20 with a ton of momentum. The drive looked like it would stall with perfect field position as LB Chase Matthias continued to pile up key tackles against the run game. Then Sheboygan Falls took to the air. QB Isaac Klemme found Preston Miller on the quick out. After the catch Preston cut up the sideline and was able to race into the endzone for the 18-0 lead with 7:00 remaining in the first half. Klinkner and the Two Rivers offense started to get a good drive going on their next possession keyed by a 10+ yard reception that also came with a 15 yard facemask penalty after the catch putting them into Sheb. Falls territory. The momentum looked like it was lost when Jacob Bretall and Ryan VanZeeland combined for the third down sack forcing a punt. The momentum wasn’t all lost however because instead of punting it away Two Rivers ran a fake to Spencer Salta. Spencer picked up the first down and setup Two Rivers at the Sheb. Falls 30 with 2:23 remaining in the half. Unfortunately, the drive quickly stalled and Two Rivers was faced with a 4th down. They elected to go for it, but on the direct snap to Chase Matthias they were stopped short of the line to gain with 1:30 remaining in the half. From there QB Isaac Klemme led a ferocious air attack down the field to get the ball inside the Two Rivers 10 yard line, but they couldn’t capitalize before the half ended. Sheb. Falls went into the half with a strong 18-0 lead, but it felt like if Two Rivers could find a groove they had the athletes to make this a tight game in the second half. Two Rivers was given that chance to find a groove as they took over on offense to start the third quarter. Nothing came of it though as they ended up going three and out and punting the ball back to Sheboygan Falls. Sheb. Falls came out and did what they did the first half. They let their big dawgs up front on the O-line dominate the trenches and open up big running lanes for Mathieu and the other RBs. [player_tooltip player_id="30781" first="Luke" last="Wezyk"], [player_tooltip player_id="30776" first="Malachi" last="Munoz"], and the rest of the offensive line had an exceptional performance from start to finish tonight. The drive wasn’t able to generate any points, though because on a carry near the Two Rivers 30 Sheb. Falls fumbled the ball and Brady Stuebs jumped on it for the turnover. Klinkner and the offense for Two Rivers came out hot. He found Zander Popp down the middle of the field for a nice chunk play. The momentum and chunk plays again couldn’t generate any points for Two Rivers. Sheb. Falls was able to get a huge hit and sack to end the drive and force the punt with 6:48 remaining in the 3rd quarter. The offense for Sheb. Falls really got in its groove on this drive. They opened up lanes for Jon Mathieu to run through leading to some big chunks plays, such as a 30+ yard gain that showed off Jon’s burst, vision, and elusiveness. Mathieu and LB Matthias also continued their battle between the tackles as they met for some pretty big collisions on this drive and all game long. With 4:01 remaining in the third Mathieu was able to punch it in for another score pushing the lead to 26-0. Two Rivers again just couldn’t find a way to move the ball on offense and couldn’t stop turning it over as QB Klinkner went deep and was picked off. Thanks to a nice return Sheboygan Falls came out and took over at the Two Rivers 30. Just before the quarter expired Preston Miller picked up 25+ yards on the ground and was brought down just outside the goal line. Two plays into the 4th quarter Preston Miller lowered his shoulder and busted his way into the endzone for the 33-0 lead with 11:20 to go in the game. Once on offense again, Two Rivers started going backwards. Multiple flags pushed them back and the drive ended when Klinkner was picked off by Junior Gilliam of Sheb. Falls. Gilliam made a nice return and was able to put Sheb. Falls’ offense at the Two Rivers 13. Two plays later and Sheboygan Falls’ RB Easton Moberg went untouched up the middle for the score and 40-0 lead. That 40 point lead started a running clock due to the score spread. On what turned out to be Two Rivers’ final drive they rode the legs of RB/LB Chase Matthias as he picked up a couple of nice chunks. Unfortunately, that didn’t net them anything. Two Rivers had switched QBs to Brady Richards for the drive and he ended up throwing an interception to Sheb. Falls’ Jamison Nickolai with 2:45 remaining in the game. From their Sheboygan Falls ran out the clock and ended with the 40-0 victory. Congratulations to both teams on a great season and congratulations to Sheboygan Falls for continuing on to the next round. Make sure to tune back in tomorrow for my players of the game!