Appleton North football holds off Fond du Lac in FVA opener

AppletonSportsPage.com

FOND DU LAC – The Appleton North football team used a strong defensive performance to hold off Fond du Lac 15-8 in its Fox Valley Association opener on Thursday night at Fond du Lac High School.

Fond du Lac went ahead on a touchdown and a safety in the opening 6½ minutes before North tied it on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Grant Hardy to Keegan Muchow. A two-point run by Darcel Wilson tied the game at 8-8.

Wilson scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 10-yard run 40 seconds into the second quarter and neither team scored the rest of the way.

Hardy threw for 88 yards and ran for 36 more, and Wilson totaled 63 yards on the ground for Appleton North (2-1 overall).

The Lightning will play their long-awaited home opener on Friday, Sept. 12, against Oshkosh West.

Lightning 15, Cardinals 8
Appleton North   8   7   0   0   –   15
Fond du Lac   8   0   0   0   –   8
First Quarter
F – Mason Henschel 18 pass from De’Andre Williamson (run failed), 7:26.
F – Safety, blocked punt out of end zone, 5:44.
AN – Keegan Muchow 12 pass from Grant Hardy (Darcel Wilson run), 2:01.
Second Quarter
AN – Wilson 10 run (Brendan Hyatt kick), 11:20.
Team Statistics
First downs: AN 12; F 10.
Rushing (att-yards): AN 30-120; F 31-112.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): AN 7-15-88-0; F 6-21-88-0.
Total yards: AN 208; F 200.
Penalties (no.-yards): AN 7-61; F 7-45.
Fumbles lost: AN 0; F 0.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: AN, Darcel Wilson 14-63, Grant Hardy 9-36, Anthony Reischl 4-27, Sam Schmalz 1-0, Brody Olp 1-minus 5. F, Adrian Johnson 24-93.
Passing: AN, Hardy 7-15-88-0. F, De’Andre Williamson 6-21-88-0.
Receiving: AN, Keegan Muchow 3-53, Gabe Meitner 1-14, Kaden Hackbarth 1-9, Elliott Frisch 1-8.
Records: Appleton North 2-1, 1-0 Fox Valley Association; Fond du Lac 1-2, 0-1 Fox Valley Association.