Kenosha Bradford vs EC Regis: Game Recap & Players of the Game

It was a clash of playing styles in Kenosha, WI this afternoon as the preseason #1 school for D6, Eau Claire Regis, traveled down to take on Kenosha Bradford. Regis’ ground and pound, multi- headed rushing attack went toe to toe with Bradford’s spread it out and win in space offense. In the end this game came down to who could get into a rhythm with their play style most effectively. It was a game full of big plays, momentum swings, and talented student athletes resulting in a game that looked like it was going to be a tight finish until the final half of the 4th quarter when the flood gates opened up. Continue reading to check out how the game played out overall, or jump to the bottom to find out who caught my eyes and earned a spot as one of the Players of the Game. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Game Recap</strong></span> The game opened with Bradford receiving the opening kickoff and having great  field position out near midfield. Unfortunately, the first half was a difficult rode as the Kenosha offense worked to find their rhythm. Their opening drive ended with a turnover on downs after LB <strong>Caden Weber</strong> knocked down a 4th down pass attempt over the middle. Regis’ offense took over and let it be well known what their plan was. They were going to run the ball, run the ball, and then just when you thought they might change it up they ran the ball some more. It was the two-headed monster of Theisen and Rockow that led their opening drive down the field. Theisen converted a 3rd &amp; 13, and then Rockow weaved his way through the defense for a 37 yard TD, untouched. After the 2 pt coversion by <strong>Alex Leis,</strong> Regis jumped out to an 8-0 lead with 6:35 remaining in the first quarter. Bradford’s next drive again fell short as sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="146560" first="Ian" last="Andrews"]</strong> perfectly timed a third down pass breakup against WR1 Henry Jr. Following the punt, Regis’ run heavy offense ran out the rest of the first quarter clock. Regis continued working the clock down as they moved deep into Bradford territory. At 7:44 remaining in the half, Zander took the sweep around left tackle, untouched again, for the 10 yard score. Between the talented backfield and an impressive OL unit Regis was able  to set the tone early and often in the first half. They were able to do whatever they wanted. In the end they only wanted one thing. To run the ball on every snap. After the score, and missed XP, we were left with a 14-0 Regis lead. Bradford’s offense looked like they found their groove on drive #3 of the day. QB <strong>Nate Olson</strong> found WR <strong>Quinton Henry </strong>for 13 yards to start the drive. Then he found <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="118328" first="Christian" last="Crump"]</strong> for a short pick up. Olson added a few scrambles on the ground and then <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="104372" first="Keany" last="Parks"] </strong>plowed his way through the Regis defense to put them deep in the Regis redzone. That’s where Regis dug in and eventually forced a turnover on downs with :55 remaining in the half after the Olson pass was just slightly overthrown making it so Henry couldn’t get his feet down inbounds. That is where we went into the half. Regis held a comfortable 14-0 lead. The momentum tables turned in the third quarter. Regis started their drive strong as they moved into Bradford territory, but that’s when Bradford’s defense dug in their heels and forced a turnover on downs in the redzone after Regis lost yards on their only pass attempt of the day. This is where a couple of the Bradford studs took over. RB Parks picked up 29 yards around right tackle, and then two plays later WR <strong>Quinton Henry</strong> took the top off the defense as he hauled in the deep third down pass for the 47 yard score pulling them within one possession at 14-7 with 5:03 remaining in the third quarter. Regis ran out the remaining third quarter clock and opened the 4th quarter with a punt after Bradford’s defense again slammed the door shut on the Regis rushing attack. The 4th quarter started with fireworks as the snap of the punt went sailing over the punter’s head. Bradford’s return unit swarmed to the ball and were able to jump on it at the Regis 13. Unfortunately, the Regis defense wasn’t going to break as they forced Bradford backwards on the drive and held them to a 34 yard field goal attempt. The kick was good at 10:51 in the 4th putting us at a Regis 14-10 lead. The next drive felt like a key one in the game as Regis had been able to milk a lot of clock throughout the day. That wasn’t the case on this drive. In just a few plays, RB <strong>Jack Weisenberger</strong> took the handoff, got to the sideline, and sprinted 64 yards down the sideline for the 21-10 lead with 10:22 remaining in the game. Bradford’s [player_tooltip player_id="118328" first="Christian" last="Crump"] brought the momentum back to the Bradford side on the kickoff return as he had his biggest play of the game. He picked his way through his blocks, made defenders miss, and sprinted down the sideline to the Regis 22. The momentum wasn’t able to hold, though, as at the 8:55 mark in the 4th Bradford’s pass offense went to the endzone where the pass was picked off by junior DB <strong>Josh Brickner</strong>. It didn’t take long for RB <strong>Jack Weisenberger</strong> to make another huge carry. This time he attacked the middle of the defense on the delayed FB handoff and picked up 81 yards for the score and 27-10 lead. From there, Regis’ defense forced a turnover on downs, and then their offense was able to run out the rest of the clock and end the ball game giving us the final score of Regis: 27 Kenosha Bradford: 10. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Players of the Game</strong></span> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="104359" first="Zander" last="Rockow"], RB/DL- Regis</strong> What a way to start off the season for the dominant 2023 out of Regis. Zander made impact plays on both sides of the ball consistently throughout the game. On offense, Zander’s blend of speed in the open field paired with his power and balance between the tackles led to an impressive 14 carry, 129 yards, and 2 TD performance. His ability to flip the switch mid play from running through a defender to outrunning the entire defense is not something you see every day. Especially from a kid of his size. On defense, Zander spent some time at LB and DL. His DL play surprised me. Several times the quickness he plays with at LB came through as he would shoot through gaps from his DL position and wreck a lot of havoc in the backfield. It was always at key moments as well. Bradford would break a big play off then Zander would come through with a sack or TFL one play later. He did that multiple times throughout the night. Overall, it was a big impact night by the big time recruit. <strong>Jack Weisenberger, RB- Regis</strong> The 5’9" 185 lbs junior RB had himself a breakout performance in the second half of today’s game. It only took him 5 carries to leave the game as the leading rusher as he finished with 5 carries, 171 rushing yards, and 2 TDs. Those two scores came at key moments in the game. Bradford had just gone on a 10-0 run in the third quarter and early fourth. Then with 10 minutes left in the game Jack came in and found his way off tackle and then flashed the long speed to outrun everyone down the sideline for the 64 yard score. Then a few minutes later he put the nail in the coffin as he took the FB delay handoff up the middle of the defense untouched for an 81 yard score. Regis proved to have quite the stable of RBs, and Jack proved he can produce in big ways with the opportunities he gets. Whether it’s 5 touches or 15. He’s a junior worth keeping an eye on this season. <strong>Regis OL</strong> What a day for the Regis OL! From start to finish I was amazed at how well they played as one unit instead of five individual offensive linemen. Their foot to foot splits further emphasized how much they looked like one machine opening up running lanes for the multiple backs. The five members of this unit are LT <strong>Ben Salonek</strong>, LG<strong> Hank Axelrod</strong>, C <strong>Tyler Burhop</strong>, RG <strong>Caden Weber</strong>, and RT <strong>Noah Knobloch</strong>. If this group can continue to set the tone in the trenches and therefore control the game, then Regis will be playing late into November. This team will go as far as this unit takes them. They are off to a great start after one week. They found success in so many ways too. Down blocking, crawling on all fours, pulling multiple linemen at once, everything they tried led to more success. The most impressive part is they were so successful dominating the trenches the offense only threw the ball one time all evening. Great day for this group! <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="182059" first="Gus" last="Theisen"], RB/LB- Regis</strong> The second piece of what I predicted to be the best RB duo in the state had a solid game on both sides of the ball tonight. From his FB position, Gus provided the offense with a consistent producer as he picked his way through the front seven of Bradford with his well publicized vision and acceleration. He finished the game with 12 carries for 50 yards. The senior has a nice blend of that vision/athleticism and power to win between the tackles just as his team needs him to do. On defense, Gus and the rest of the front seven did a great job of shutting down the rushing attack of Bradford. Theisen is still available as far as his recruitment goes. So, check him out! He is an impressive athlete that can help a team at the next level. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="146560" first="Ian" last="Andrews"], DB- Regis</strong> Ian came into the game with a responsibility that a coach hopes he doesn’t have to give to a sophomore getting his first heavy workload in a varsity game. That responsibility was to cover the #1 WR in the state. The ’24 prospect was up for the challenge, though. Now Andrews didn’t cover Henry exclusively, but throughout the game Ian made some impressive plays on the ball. The most noteworthy was a key pass breakup in the first quarter on 3rd &amp; long. Andrews did a great job of timing when the ball got their and got his hands between the receiver’s to break up the pass perfectly. He is only a sophomore, but I highly recommend getting to know this kid. He has the tools to develop into a very solid recruit over the next few seasons. <strong>Quinton Henry Jr, WR- Bradford</strong> WR1 did WR1 things today. Whether he was running routes underneath or taking the top off the defense, Quinton was a reliable target. He was able to show off quite a bit of his game in today’s matchup as he hauled in 6 receptions for 86 yards, and a TD. On the TD, Quinton unleashed his straight line speed as he took the top off the defense. He was able to adjust to the ball and then get back to top speed after the catch leaving defenders behind him. Henry also flashed the razor sharp route running that allowed him to create separation that he used to not only give his QB room to throw to, but also give himself room to shake defenders after the catch. Quinton has so much wiggle and speed to burn after the catch. A big year is ahead for Quinton. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="104372" first="Keany" last="Parks"], RB- Bradford</strong> It wasn’t a crazy productive game for the ’23 stud playmaker, but he gave us glimpses of his big play ability with the opportunities he was given. He finished the game with 7 carries for 34 yards. One of those carries I was able to catch on video as he let his contact balance shine while he ran through several tackle attempts before finally being drug down. Parks is such a smooth player with the ball in his hands that you forget he has some power to his game and he proved it today. Check out the play. [embed]https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneWI/status/1428853421742907398[/embed] <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="118328" first="Christian" last="Crump"], WR/KR- Bradford</strong> Crump was used in a few different ways in today’s game, but where he is at his best is returning kicks. Christian provided his offense with good starting positions several times today, and even almost broke one of the returns for a score in the second half. It’s on kickoffs where Crump is able to show off his best attributes. His pure speed, his ability to make defenders miss in tight quarters, his acceleration out of his cuts, and his vision to find daylight and see how blocks are setting up for him. Crump also contributed 2 receptions for 13 yards, and a rush for 14 yards on offense. It’s only a matter of time until Crump breaks one of those returns to the house and you know he’s just getting started on offense. A senior to watch!