HORTONVILLE-In a homecoming game, the Hortonville Polar Bears took on the visiting Kaukauna Galloping Ghosts in a Fox Valley Association matchup on Oct. 2 at Akin Field.
The two teams traded three-and-outs to start the first quarter, and Hortonville scored first as they put together a drive and Solomon Behnke kicked a 28-yard field goal to give the Polar Bears a 3-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Kaukauna fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by Hortonville on the Ghosts’ 15-yard line.
Hortonville capitalized to give themselves a 10-0 advantage as quarterback AJ Pheifer scored on a two-yard keeper.
It became 17-0 for the Polar Bears as they drove to the Ghosts’ 14-yard line and a jet sweep to Greyson Rankin gave his team the three-score lead.
Kaukauna responded in the second quarter as they began driving down the field, and a hit out of bounds by a Hortonville defender drew a penalty that set the Ghosts up at the Hortonville five-yard line.
Running back Muhammad Jobe punched in a touchdown from five yards out to give the Ghosts their first score and make the deficit 17-7.
Kaukauna regained possession with an interception by safety Lathan Hurst on fourth down, setting the Ghosts up at their own nine-yard line.
It didn’t take long for the Ghosts to get to the Polar Bears side of the field, and quarterback Ryan Carrel found an open receiver in the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown pass to cut the Polar Bears lead to 17-14 just before halftime.
A special teams miscue in the third quarter bounced Kaukauna’s way as they jumped on a live ball that bounced off a Polar Bears player during a punt return as they recovered on their own 47-yard line.
Kaukauna took advantage of the opportunity, driving down to the Hortonville two-yard line, and Carrel scored on a quarterback keeper to go up 21-17.
Hortonville responded on the next drive as Pheifer found Connor Christensen for a 28-yard touchdown to take back the lead 24-21.
Both offenses found a rhythm as the Ghosts got down the field and Carrel scored on a five-yard quarterback keeper, and Kaukauna regained the lead 28-24.
With just over a minute to play, the Polar Bears regained the lead when Pheifer found Christensen for a 21-yard touchdown pass, but a missed extra point made it 30-28.
The Ghosts got down the field in a hurry as they set themselves up on the nine-yard line and Carrel found a wide-open receiver in the end zone for a touchdown that gave Kaukauna a 35-30 lead with 26 seconds left.
A taunting penalty by the Ghosts was enforced on the kickoff, and the Hortonville return set the Polar Bears up on their own 40-yard line.
AJ Pheifer put the Polar Bears in scoring position as they got the ball on the Ghosts’ 25-yard line with six seconds remaining, but his last-second pass went out of the back of the end zone as Kaukauna secured the victory and Hortonville fell to 3-4 on the season.
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