By CHRIS RANDAZZO
of The Gazette
The Stevens Point Area Senior High School football Panthers offense didn't look like a squad in transition as it cruised to a 19-0 victory against Wisconsin Valley Conference opponent Rhinelander in its season opener on Friday, Aug. 24.
However, SPASH coach Pete McAdams isn't placing too much emphasis on the victory. "Rhinelander just isn't a very good team. It's a good game for us to start off with. Our young kids can make mistakes and not really be penalized a whole lot for that. We learned a lot from this game and had some success which is nice," he said.
He added that the team's three fumbles really could have hurt the team in a different game.
New starting halfback Eric Napiwocki may not be Cory Flisakowski, but he did a serviceable imitation, rushing 15 times for 88 yards and scoring on a 17- yard run.
Napiwocki wasn't the only first-year starter to have an impact. Starting quarterback Jake Jahnke was 7-17 for 90 yards on the day, throwing a pair of touchdowns strikes to wide receiver Kris Fasching. "I'm real pleased with Jake's performance. He had to make some adjustments and made good decisions on the field," McAdams said.
Fasching, who played some with the varsity squad as a sophomore, had his time in the spotlight as well, scoring on his only two receptions, a 46-yarder and a 4-yarder.
Senior tight end Adam Evanoff, who also starts at linebacker, chipped in with three catches for 26 yards. "Adam did an outstanding job on both sides of the football. He was a big leader for us out there. Going both ways he carried quite a load for us the whole game," McAdams said.
The Panthers defense certainly did its part on Friday, holding Rhinelander to 134 yards total offense, including minus 11 rushing yards. That minus 11 rushing yards was within four yards of the conference's all-time mark of minus 15. SPASH's defense is currently second in the conference. "We had a great team effort from our entire defense," McAdams said.
Evanoff was one of three SPASH linebackers with an interception. His interception led to Napiwocki's touchdown and another one by Landon Quick led to Jahnke's four-yard pass to Fasching. Nate Quick had the third interception.
A solid pass rush also made things difficult for Rhinelander, with SPASH sacking the opposing quarterback four times. Defensive end Jacob Nantell contributed to three of them.
The Panthers also seem to have found a punter in Casey Kedrowski, who averaged a conference leading 39.2 yards per kick.