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Health & Fitness

Watt Happened?

The Panthers have their winning streak snapped by T.J Watt & Company as they fall short to the Pewaukee Pirates in a barn burner of a game by a score of 38-24 out in Pewaukee.

Well let me tell you what happened.  The Panthers ran into a buzz saw with a very familiar last name Friday night out in Pewaukee.  His name is T.J. Watt, younger brother to Derrick Watt who currently plays for the Wisconsin Badgers, and even more younger than J.J. Watt who already did the Badger thing and is currently making a name for himself with the Houston Texans of the NFL.  Greendale's offense did what they normally do but the defense had no answer as they seemed flat or maybe even out matched in a losing effort to the Pirates by a score of 38-24.  The Panthers had things under control at half time and maybe even at the 3rd quarter, but then the Pewaukee offense took over and scored on each of their last two drives of the final quarter to win the game.

This was a huge game and would have a significant impact as to how the Woodland West Conference would play out, but in the end, the team with more seniors rose to the occasion and would win the game.

The Panthers would get things going right off the bat as they would take their opening drive and march 67-yards in 4-plays as running back Jake Zywicki would take a handoff up the middle and scamper 48-yards for the Panther's first score.  Kicker Frankie Rutkowski would make the kick making the score 7-0 with 10:33 left in the 1st quarter.

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The Pirates answered with a quick strike of their own as Ryan Stepanovich would take the ensuing kick and race 95-yards untouched for their first score of the night.  Jacob Stern would convert the point after and just like that, the score was tied at 7's with 10:20 left in the 1st quarter.  This pretty much was an indication of how this game was going to go as there were two touchdowns already in the first 1:40 seconds of the game.

Greendale would start their next drive from their 14.  They would run 4-plays before looking at a 3rd and long from their 27.  It was here where another uncharacteristic event would occur as the ball was snapped over quarterback Josh Ringelberg's head.  All he could do was track it down and fall on it back on his 6-yard line.  This would bring the punt team out as Peter Pekar would be kicking from deep in his end zone.

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After the kick, Pewaukee would be starting from their 39.  They would run 5-plays before fumbling the ball in the backfield of which Greendale's Mike Pulizos would recover on the Panther 17.

Greendale couldn't do anything and were forced to punt going 3 and out.

Pewaukee couldn't do much better as they were forced to punt after 5-plays.

Greendale would now take possession on their 17.  Six plays later, Ringelberg would find Mitchell Brees down the left side line for a huge 65-yard scoring strike after making a great catch.  Rutkowski would make the kick and Greendale now found themselves on top by a score of 14-7 with 10:11 now left in the 2nd quarter.

The Pirates would start their drive following the kick on their 25.  At this point the Panther defense seemed to have things under control as they forced the Pirates to punt going 3 and out.

Greendale would line up on their 31 following the punt.  They would put together a 12-play drive all the way to the Pirate's 5-yard line before being forced to call on the field goal unit.  Rutkowski would make the 23-yard try and Greendale was now up 17-7 with 2:28 left in the 1st half.

Pewaukee quarterback T. J. Watt would now bring his offense back out on the field and start this drive from their 34.  It was here where the Pirates may have found some holes as they would move the ball a lot easier-all the way to the Panther's 7 in 8-plays.  With no timeouts and only :05 seconds left on the clock, they would have to settle for a 26-yard field by Stern, which was good making the score 17-10 with :05 seconds left in the 1st half.  The clock would expire on the following kick.

The Panthers would have to kick to open the 2nd half.  After the kick, Pewaukee would begin from their 15.  It was evident that the Pirates came out with a little different game plan as they started to rip-off huge chunks of yardage on the ground.  It would only take 10-plays to reach the end zone as Watt would fool the Panthers and keep it on a fake hand-off for a 14-yard touchdown run.  Stern would make the kick and Pewaukee would tie this game up at 17's with 7:14 left in the 3rd.

The Panthers would now have to come up with an answer as they would start their first drive of the half on their 17.  Four plays later, Ringelberg would be intercepted by Watt who just jumped up from the line of scrimmage and managed to somehow hang onto the ball.  He would return it all the way to the Panther 24 before being tripped up by Ringelberg.

With momentum clearly on Pewaukee's side it would only take 4-plays when Watt ran the same play that he scored on earlier to reach the zone from 6-yards out.  Stern would make his kick and now the Pirates were on top by a score of 24-17 with 4:38 left in the 3rd.

Greendale didn't seem too rattled for they would answer with another scoring strike as Ringelberg found Brees again for a 47-yard pass play-capping off a 5-play 65-yard drive.  Rutkowski would split the uprights tying the game back up at 24's with 2:47 still left in the 3rd quarter.

It was at this point that the Pewaukee offense took control of the game.  They would put together a time consuming 14-play 83-yard scoring drive of which Watt would finish off with his favorite play from 6-yards out.  Stern would make the kick and Pewaukee would regain the lead by a score of 31-24 with 7:46 now into the 4th quarter.

It was now up to the Panther offense to see if they could answer.  They would start this drive from their 35.  They managed to run 4-plays before looking at a 4th and 7 from midfield.  On the snap of the ball, Ringelberg rolled to his left and couldn't find anyone open so he had to try and escape, but in the process, the ball would be knocked out of his hands of which Greendale recovered on their 42, but it didn't mater for it was now the Pirate's ball.

There was now only 6:09 left in the game and Greendale's defense would have to make a stop so that they could get the ball back.  It looked like they may have accomplished that for 5-plays later; they forced the Pirates to line up for a punt looking at a 4th and 8.  On the snap of the ball, Watt, who does their punting, would take the ball and run around the left side and easily made the first down and then some-keeping the Pirate drive alive.  Two plays later the dagger was inserted as running back David Grimscheid would take a handoff up the middle and score from 15-yards out.  Stern would convert the point after-making the score 38-24 with 1:42 left in the game.

Greendale who was now in trouble would take over and start from their 35.  They would run 3-plays taking the ball into Pirate territory before Zywicki would have the ball knocked out of his hands by Watt after a catch on a screen play.  The Pirates would recover thus ending Greendale's chance of scoring.

Pewaukee would just take two knees to end the game.

Greendale would have their 17 conference game winning streak snapped at the hands of Pewaukee by a score of 38-24.  This would also be the first time in 4 meetings that the Pirates have beaten the Panthers since they have become conference members.  In the end, both teams had trouble stopping each other at what they do best.  Greendale would hurt the Pirates through the air while the Pirates would hurt the Panthers on the ground.  Greendale will now fall to 3-1 while the Pirates remain undefeated at 4-0 and have the inside track of capturing the conference crown.

Greendale will return home next week to entertain the New Berlin Eisenhower Lions for their Homecoming.  Pewaukee will take to the road to play the Wauwatosa West Trojans.  That game will have a significant impact for if Pewaukee wins, they would be in the driver's seat for the conference championship.  If they lose and Greendale beats Wauwatosa West in two weeks, there could be a 3 way tie.  All you can do is wait to see how things play out because after all, that's why they play the game.

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