Fox Valley Lutheran football slams Xavier to win 55th Apple Bowl
Fox Valley Lutheran receiver Jacoby Dobberstein drives into the end zone
for a touchdown during the first quarter of the Foxes’ win over Xavier
on Friday night at Xavier High School. (Photo by Paul Lecker/AppletonSportsPage.com)
By Paul Lecker
AppletonSportsPage.com
APPLETON – The 55th Apple Bowl was marred by turnovers. The outcome of the game came down to what the respective teams did with them.
Despite committing four turnovers, none of them came back to hurt Fox Valley Lutheran as the Foxes posted a decisive 35-7 win over Xavier in the Bay Conference opener for the Appleton crosstown rivals on Friday night at Rocky Bleier Field at Xavier High School.
On the other hand, Fox Valley Lutheran (3-0 overall) forced three turnovers and converted that into 14 points as it rolled to the road victory. FVL now holds a 29-26 lead in the rivalry.
FVL quarterback/safety Gabe Heiges was responsible for all five of the Foxes’ touchdowns as he ran for two, threw for a pair and returned an interception for another.
“He’s always been a leader for our program,” Fox Valley Lutheran coach Seth Jaeger said about Heiges. “He’s resolute in what he wants to do and how he does it, and the guys follow him. That’s something important thing with program to have these good leaders that stimulate those guys to make good decisions and play hard for each other.”
The Foxes wasted little time, taking the opening possession of the game and going 62 yards in six plays. Blessings Kapande ripped off three runs of 13, 12 and 14 yards, and Heiges tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Dobberstein as FVL took the lead just 2:07 into the game.
The first quarter ended and second quarter began with turnovers on three of seven plays before Fox Valley Lutheran put together an impressive drive.
The Foxes overcame a bad snap that lost eight yards and a holding penalty to go 84 yards in 13 plays, culminating with a 1-yard TD run by Heiges and the Foxes led 14-0.
FVL was able to cash in on Xavier’s second lost fumble, recovered by Jack Schlueter on its own 40 with 47 seconds to go before halftime.
The Foxes needed just four plays to go the distance as Heiges connected with Riley Lindell for an 18-yard touchdown 20 seconds later and FVL took a 21-0 lead into halftime.
Xavier had the ball to start the second half, but it didn’t take long for the Foxes to blow the game wide open.
On the Hawks’ third play, Heiges picked off a tipped pass and outran Xavier for a 55-yard return for a touchdown, making it 28-0 and demoralizing the Hawks.
Heiges tacked on a 27-yard touchdown run later in the third quarter to start a running clock.
While Xavier managed its only touchdown late in the fourth on a 2-yard run by freshman Porter Meach, the Foxes’ defense was the story as they allowed just 140 total yards and six first downs.
“It’s huge to get that first one (in conference) and it felt like a home game,” Jaeger said. “Our crowd was amazing, our student section, our parents…it’s great to give us some extra energy in the game today.”
Both teams are back in action next Friday, Sept. 12, with Fox Valley Lutheran hosting Waupaca and Xavier (1-2 overall) traveling to Seymour. Both games start at 7 p.m.
Foxes 35, Hawks 7
Fox Valley Lutheran 7 14 14 0 – 35
Xavier 0 0 0 7 – 7
First Quarter
FVL – Jacoby Dobberstein 9 pass from Gabe Heiges (Levi Hermann kick), 9:53.
Second Quarter
FVL – G. Heiges 1 run (Hermann kick), 3:51.
FVL – Riley Lindell 18 pass from G. Heiges (Hermann kick), 0:27.
Third Quarter
FVL – G. Heiges 55 interception return (Hermann kick), 10:23.
FVL – G. Heiges 27 run (Hermann kick), 4:02.
Fourth Quarter
X – Porter Meach 2 run (Ethan Bires kick), 3:59.
Team Statistics
First downs: FVL 16; X 6.
Rushing (att-yards): FVL 37-250; X 39-134.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): FVL 7-14-109-1; X 3-6-6-1.
Total yards: FVL 359; X 140.
Penalties (no.-yards): FVL 2-15; X 2-20.
Fumbles (total-yards): FVL 5-3; X 3-2.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: FVL, Gabe Heiges 11-100, Weston Beyer 6-82, Blessings Kapande 12-66, Jacoby Dobberstein 1-12, Luke Beyer 1-0, Team 1-minus 8.
Passing: FVL, G. Heiges 7-14-109-1.
Receiving: FVL, Dobberstein 3-49, Riley Lindell 2-29, Brady Nilson 1-21, Braden Heiges 1-10.
Interceptions (defense): FVL, G. Heiges. X, Finn Schanke.
Fumble recoveries (defense): FVL, Jack Schlueter, B. Heiges. X, Ben Kappell, Ethan Bires, Carson Tylinski.
Records: Fox Valley Lutheran 3-0, 1-0 Bay Conference; Xavier 1-2, 0-1 Bay Conference.