Appleton North football drops road game at Neenah

AppletonSportsPage.com

NEENAH – Neenah overcame an early two-touchdown deficit and defeated Appleton North 29-27 in a Fox Valley Association football game Friday night at Neenah High School.

After Neenah scored early, Alijah Valeri returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown to tie the game for the Lightning.

North scored two more times in the first quarter as Grant Hardy threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Keegan Muchow, and Hardy ran in from the 1 as the Lightning took a 20-7 lead.

The Rockets scored three-straight touchdowns to forge ahead.

Quarterback Ashton VanBeek, who finished with 188 yards rushing, scored his third touchdown on a 46-yard run to put Neenah up 29-20 early in the fourth quarter.

Hardy and Muchow connected again on a 5-yard touchdown pass but the Lightning was unable to get any closer.

North (4-2, 3-1 FVA) was held to 20 rushing yards on 26 attempts, while Hardy had 190 yards passing. Both Muchow and Valeri had seven catches.

Appleton North will host Kaukauna on Friday, Oct. 3.

Rockets 29, Lightning 27
Appleton North   20   0   0   7   –   27
Neenah   7   8   8    6   –   29
First Quarter
N – Ashton VanBeek 5 run (Harry Gerdin kick).
AN – Alijah Valeri 97 kick return (Khalier Chandavong kick).
AN – Keegan Muchow 11 pass from Grant Hardy (Chandavong kick).
AN – Hardy 1 run (kick blocked).
Second Quarter
N – VanBeek 15 run (Henry St. Clair pass from VanBeek).
Third Quarter
N – Cooper Sieck 41 punt return (Cole Schaefer pass from VanBeek).
Fourth Quarter
N – VanBeek 46 run (kick failed).
AN – Muchow 5 pass from Hardy (Chandavong kick).
Team Statistics
First downs: AN 11; N 13.
Rushing (att-yards): AN 26-20; N 41-230.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): AN 19-26-190-0; N 4-11-39-1.
Total yards: AN 210; N 269.
Fumbles lost: AN 1; N 1.
Penalties (no.-yards): AN 3-20; N 1-15.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: AN, D.J. Wilson 6-9, Grant Hardy 10-8, Anthony Reischl 5-4, Brody Olp 4-3. N, Ashton VanBeek 24-188, Brock Hoehne 11-45, Cooper Sieck 3-6, Hunter Weinke 1-minus 3, Matthias Charles 1-minus 5.
Passing: AN, Hardy 19-25-190-0. N, VanBeek 4-11-39-1.
Receiving: AN, Keegan Muchow 7-116, Alijah Valeri 7-61, Gabe Meitner 4-13, Sam Schmalz 1-0. N, Charles 2-11, Cole Schaefer 1-20, Sieck 1-8.
Interception (defense): AN, Cole Hank.
Fumble recovery (defense): N, St. Clair.
Records: Appleton North 4-2, 3-1 Fox Valley Association; Neenah 5-1, 4-0 Fox Valley Association.