Who's Owen?

  After a tough loss in the opening game of the season of 42-0 versus Appleton North on August 19th, the Wildcats bounced back from the loss with a comeback win of 28-26 over Kaukauna on their new multi-million dollar football complex. Even though it was a game a high stakes, junior quarter back Ben Kohl didn’t feel the pressure.  

  “I wouldn't say there is a lot of pressure on me to make plays,” said Ben Kohl. “We have a great group of guys who are all capable of making plays and it’s a huge confidence booster coming into games knowing I have them along side me.”

  This confidence was a key part to the football team’s success at Kaukauna, where the boys entered the game mentally prepared.  

  “Going into Kaukauna game we had to be prepared mentally,” said senior Dane Franke. “Coming into this week it was our conference opener and we knew it would be played at Kaukauna’s new stadium on statewide television. We all knew what a huge opportunity it was.”   

  The Wildcats started the game rough with three turnovers in the first quarter, but the Wildcat defense held back the Ghosts to only 10 points off those three turnovers. Oshkosh West head coach Levine was able to see the players that showed the most confidence and leadership during the fourth quarter.   

  “Carson Faust and Reed Yoder led the team,” Levine said. “Because they had been practicing and showing good work ethic incase they had to make those big plays, and they ended up being the excellent leaders that they strived to be.”  

  I got around to asking Starting QB Ben Kohl a question that any Wildcat football player would've answered with a lot of emotion he was asked “How did it feel winning against kaukauna after going 0-10 in the past 10 games? What was the energy like?” he said

  “It was awesome there's no better feeling in the world. After all the work we have put in it was so rewarding and the team was more fired up than i had ever seen before.”

  Ben’s stat line was 205 yards passing, three passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and three interceptions. Overall the game was played perfectly to the Wildcats standards. They executed their plays at a higher level. They picked out the bad things from the Appleton North game and improved protection and getting the first downs and moving the chains.