Friday Night Lights: Xavier vs. West DePere FREE Recap
A chilly autumn night in Appleton set the stage for tonight’s 48 minute knock-down-drag-out West DePere vs. Xavier game was a quintessential Friday night high school football contest that was well-played and exciting from start to finish. Both teams played their tails off, and there were big plays and hard hits galore in the eventual 25-14 victory for the West DePere Phantoms. With strong RB play from both teams, a few huge receptions and defensive plays to turn the tide of the game, and an almost wild comeback by the Xavier Hawks made for a heckuva game to cover. Scroll below to get a more detailed recount of the game, and thanks for reading!
Xavier’s offense came out swinging after they received the opening kickoff and immediately got to work with their run game led by 6’2.5, 220 lb. FB/LB
Mac Strand
Mac
Strand
6'0" | 220 lbs | LB
Xavier | 2021
State
WI
. Strand exploded through the LOS for a 15-yard gain to start the game and the offensive series off, and followed it up with an impressive 7-yard rush where he carried a couple of defenders for another first down. However, the Hawks sputtered out that series and were forced to punt it to West DePere despite a promising open drive. The Phantoms got their own ground game started with stud RB
David Vanderlogt
David
Vanderlogt
5'9" | 165 lbs | RB
West De Pere | 2021
State
WI
and QB Josh Blount, who got their own offense past midfield and into Hawks territory, but fizzled out after stellar defensive play from the Xavier defense led by Strand and
Sam Loken
Sam
Loken
5'9" | 190 lbs | LB
Xavier | 2021
State
WI
, who made an impressive TFL on 4th down to turn the ball back over on downs. The two traded series before West DePere took back over on offense and popped things off with a huge completion on a wheel route from Blount to Vanderlogt out of the backfield, which Vanderlogt caught in stride and took down to the six yard line of Xavier, where freshman RB
Najeh Mitchell
Najeh
Mitchell
5'9" | 175 lbs | ATH
West De Pere | 2023
State
WI
finished off the drive with a TD run to put the Phantoms up 7-0. West DePere then made a big defensive stop after kicking the ball back to Xavier, and DL Justin Benoit ended the first quarter with a nice third down TFL to force Xavier to punt back to WDP to begin the second quarter. END OF ONE: West DePere 7, Xavier 0
The Phantoms offense got back to work with Vanderlogt and Blount using a balanced combination of running and passing to march back down the field, where Vanderlogt made one of the coolest plays of the game and absolutely TRUCKED a would-be tackler in the open field on the way to a TD run through the heart of Xavier, but unfortunately the play was called back due to holding. It looked like the Hawks may have caught a break and could halt this drive here, but Blount made a sharp throw on a slant to WR Robert Jones, who slipped through a tackle and hit daylight for a TD to put West DePere up 13-0. Luckily, Xavier had an answer the following drive led by QB
Ray Zuleger
Ray
Zuleger
6'0" | 175 lbs | QB
Xavier | 2021
State
WI
, who used his legs and his arm to drive down the field where he eventually took the ball over the endzone line himself to give Xavier some life before halftime, putting the score at 13-6 in favor of WDP. This lead built up quickly for West DePere, and they took the 7 point lead into halftime after 24 minutes of play. Despite the deficit, Xavier really started to find their footing and running the football well, and their defense was only a couple plays away from playing a really good half. An exciting second half awaited, and at the end of two quarters the score remained West DePere 13, Xavier 6
West DePere began the second half with the ball, and got right back into their balanced offensive groove, and they looked like they were on the verge of putting together another complete drive. However, Xavier’s Loken read, reacted, and stepped in front of an attempted RB screen and picked the ball off to give the Hawks a big chance to get themselves back into the game. However, they couldn’t capitalize, and ended up having to try a FG, which was unsuccessful. West DePere made Xavier pay, and a few plays later Blount found an open Aaron Wagner for what turned into a 81-yard spring of a reception for a TD and a 19-6 lead for WDP. Xavier then fumbled the ensuing kickoff by accident, and Vanderlogt took advantage and ran in another TD from 28-yards out to put the score at 25-6 with 3:08 left in the third.
The fourth quarter was still exciting and contained an almost crazy comeback attempt by Xavier, as Ethan Severin made a great interception, which the Hawks followed up with a double pass to get inside the 10 where Zuleger ran in his second TD of the game to put the score at 25-14 with 8:04 left in the game. They then attempted an onside, and somehow recovered. The sideline went crazy, and the game’s momentum really seemed like it had swung completely into Xavier’s favor. However, the refs called illegal touching, and the ball went back to WDP where they ran out the clock slowly with their run game and stout defense when Xavier got the ball back one last time. That onside recovery would have been a game-changer, but alas West DePere had done more than enough up to that point to have a tight hold on that lead to the point where two scores in 8 minutes was looking challenging at best for the Hawks. Either way, it was great football. I hope you enjoyed the recap, stay tuned tomorrow for the players of the game feature on PrepRedzoneWI.
David
Vanderlogt
5'9" | 165 lbs | RB
West De Pere | 2021
State
WI
and QB Josh Blount, who got their own offense past midfield and into Hawks territory, but fizzled out after stellar defensive play from the Xavier defense led by Strand and
Sam Loken
Sam
Loken
5'9" | 190 lbs | LB
Xavier | 2021
State
WI
, who made an impressive TFL on 4th down to turn the ball back over on downs. The two traded series before West DePere took back over on offense and popped things off with a huge completion on a wheel route from Blount to Vanderlogt out of the backfield, which Vanderlogt caught in stride and took down to the six yard line of Xavier, where freshman RB
Najeh Mitchell
Najeh
Mitchell
5'9" | 175 lbs | ATH
West De Pere | 2023
State
WI
finished off the drive with a TD run to put the Phantoms up 7-0. West DePere then made a big defensive stop after kicking the ball back to Xavier, and DL Justin Benoit ended the first quarter with a nice third down TFL to force Xavier to punt back to WDP to begin the second quarter. END OF ONE: West DePere 7, Xavier 0
The Phantoms offense got back to work with Vanderlogt and Blount using a balanced combination of running and passing to march back down the field, where Vanderlogt made one of the coolest plays of the game and absolutely TRUCKED a would-be tackler in the open field on the way to a TD run through the heart of Xavier, but unfortunately the play was called back due to holding. It looked like the Hawks may have caught a break and could halt this drive here, but Blount made a sharp throw on a slant to WR Robert Jones, who slipped through a tackle and hit daylight for a TD to put West DePere up 13-0. Luckily, Xavier had an answer the following drive led by QB
Ray Zuleger
Ray
Zuleger
6'0" | 175 lbs | QB
Xavier | 2021
State
WI
, who used his legs and his arm to drive down the field where he eventually took the ball over the endzone line himself to give Xavier some life before halftime, putting the score at 13-6 in favor of WDP. This lead built up quickly for West DePere, and they took the 7 point lead into halftime after 24 minutes of play. Despite the deficit, Xavier really started to find their footing and running the football well, and their defense was only a couple plays away from playing a really good half. An exciting second half awaited, and at the end of two quarters the score remained West DePere 13, Xavier 6
West DePere began the second half with the ball, and got right back into their balanced offensive groove, and they looked like they were on the verge of putting together another complete drive. However, Xavier’s Loken read, reacted, and stepped in front of an attempted RB screen and picked the ball off to give the Hawks a big chance to get themselves back into the game. However, they couldn’t capitalize, and ended up having to try a FG, which was unsuccessful. West DePere made Xavier pay, and a few plays later Blount found an open Aaron Wagner for what turned into a 81-yard spring of a reception for a TD and a 19-6 lead for WDP. Xavier then fumbled the ensuing kickoff by accident, and Vanderlogt took advantage and ran in another TD from 28-yards out to put the score at 25-6 with 3:08 left in the third.
The fourth quarter was still exciting and contained an almost crazy comeback attempt by Xavier, as Ethan Severin made a great interception, which the Hawks followed up with a double pass to get inside the 10 where Zuleger ran in his second TD of the game to put the score at 25-14 with 8:04 left in the game. They then attempted an onside, and somehow recovered. The sideline went crazy, and the game’s momentum really seemed like it had swung completely into Xavier’s favor. However, the refs called illegal touching, and the ball went back to WDP where they ran out the clock slowly with their run game and stout defense when Xavier got the ball back one last time. That onside recovery would have been a game-changer, but alas West DePere had done more than enough up to that point to have a tight hold on that lead to the point where two scores in 8 minutes was looking challenging at best for the Hawks. Either way, it was great football. I hope you enjoyed the recap, stay tuned tomorrow for the players of the game feature on PrepRedzoneWI. 
