Amherst to defend football title
By Greg Seubert
Brandon Piotrowski picked the perfect time to have the game of his life.
The Amherst senior quarterback completed 14 of 18 passes for 303 yards – five of them for touchdowns – Nov. 11 as the Falcons improved to 12-1 on the season with a 42-15 win over Stanley-Boyd in a WIAA Division 5 state semifinal game in Merrill.
The defending Division 5 state champions will try to make it two in a row at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, as Amherst faces Cedar Grove-Belgium at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
It didn’t take Piotrowski long to make his mark, as he connected with Josh Cisewski for a 57-yard score on the game’s second play. The Orioles answered with Zak Ingersoll’s 6-yard run with 3:23 to go in the first quarter, but those turned out to be Stanley-Boyd’s only points until late in the game.
The Falcons added three more scores in a 3:52 span late in the second quarter for a 28-7 halftime lead. Piotrowski scored from a yard out with 4:22 to go before halftime to give the Falcons the lead for good. Marcus Glodowski scored on another 1-yard run after a Stanley-Boyd fumble and Piotrowski capped the scoring in the half with a 32-yarder to Cisewski with 30 seconds remaining.
Ingersoll returned the ensuing kickoff 71 yards for an apparent touchdown, but the Orioles were flagged for a chop block and the half ended with Amherst up by three scores.
Stanley-Boyd turned the ball over on downs on its first two drives of the second half while the Falcons added to their lead with a pair of touchdowns.
Piotrowski found Josh Schude in the end zone on a fourth-and-1 play and hooked up with Cisewski for the third time from 33 yards out.
Seth Hause’s 10-yard TD pass to Noah Gillingham with 9:06 remaining in the game cut the Falcons’ lead to 42-15, but that’s as close as the Orioles would get.
