Antoszyk leads Cougars to last-minute win
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
After an on-again, off-again performance Friday on the home field, the Centre Cougars defeated Wakefield in an exciting 22-20 finish.
Quarterback Thieen Antoszyk, playing the first time in that position, put in a brilliant performance. The nimble, 5'8" 140-pound senior was all over the field, throwing passes, running the ball, and tackling.
The Cougars were down 14-20 in the last quarter, with a little over a minute to play. They worked their way to the 10-yard line and had four attempts to get into the end zone.
After three downs, they still had six yards to go. Antoszyk took the hand-off, rushed forward, and, dragging a defensive player hanging onto his leg, forced himself just across the line for a touchdown.
The game was tied, 20-20, setting the stage for possible overtime. However, Antoszyk followed up the touchdown with a successful carry into the end zone for two extra points, making the score 22-20.
The exuberant crowd couldn't celebrate too much because 46 seconds remained on the clock. A long runback or pass reception could have won the game for the Bombers.
But, relying on the passing game, they missed several receptions and were stopped in their tracks as time ran out, cementing the Cougars' victory.
The team had a slow start. They remained scoreless in the first quarter and were down, 0-12 when Kevin Mueller caught a long touchdown pass from Antoszyk after the quarterback scrambled back and forth for a long minute to get away from Wakefield tacklers.
Lance Diepenbrock ran in for two extra points, and the score was 8-12.
Seth Jirak stepped it up toward the end of the quarter, barreling forward for a first down, then eight yards, then into the end zone, to give the Cougars a 14-12 lead at halftime.
An exciting runback by Antoszyk in the third quarter proved worthless after the play was called back due to a penalty.
Wakefield scored again to regain the lead, 14-20. But Centre was able to gain just enough momentum in the fourth quarter to win the game.
Coach's first victory
After the team took a 50-8 beating a week earlier in the season opener at Madison, Coach Kelly Steiner was thrilled with his first victory as head coach.
He said having Antoszyk as quarterback gave the team the option to run the ball.
"After only a couple of practices as quarterback, he did pretty well," he said. "I am very proud of the kids. We played much better than the week before, but we need to continue to improve because White City has a very good team."
The Cougars play the Huskies Friday on the road.
statistics
Centre 0 14 0 8 - 22
Wakefield 12 0 8 0 - 20
Team play (Centre/Wakefield): first downs, 12/6; rushing, 54c-238/20c-8; passing, 4-14-64/11-30-180; penalties: 12-85/8-70.
Rushing: T. Antoszyk, 29-132; S. Jirak, 17-95; L. Diepenbrock, 8-11.
Passing: Antoszyk, 14-4-64.
Receiving: K. Mueller, 2-47; J. Weber, 1-7; Jirak, 1-10.
Pass interceptions: Mueller, 1-15; Jirak, 1-0.
Punt returns: Antoszyk, 2-27.
Tackles: NA
Wakefield defeats Centre JV
The Centre JV Cougars suffered a 36-8 road loss to Wakefield Monday night. Centre was overmatched in the first half, trailing 30-6 at intermission. The Cougars finally got on the board late in the fourth quarter on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Zack Slayden to Ben Krause with 6:40 remaining. Slayden connected with Konley Harding for the two-point conversion to round out the Cougars' total.
