NGM Knights Dominate in First Game

It had been 518 days since the NGM Football team suited up for a game and on Friday, the long awaited season finally arrived. The team traveled to Princeton for its first game against the Montello/Green Lake/Princeton Phoenix. While autumn was not in the air, high school football was back and so were the New Glarus-Monticello Knights.
The game didn't start out well for the Knights, who chose to take the ball for the first possession. The Phoenix intercepted a pass and returned it to their 31-yard line. On the next play, the Phoenix scored on a pass to take an early 6-0 lead. The stingy NGM defense held on the 2-point conversion to keep the score at 6-0. The Knights punted on their next possession and the Phoenix were back on the move once again.
The Knights were able to halt the Phoenix attack and went back on offense and found their groove. The Knights drove down the field courtesy of an 8, 11, and 15-yard passes from Darris Schuett to Nathan Streiff. The drive culminated with a 2-yard touchdown run by Darris Schuett, and the game was tied at 6-6.
The Knights defense, which only allowed 140 yards on the evening, set the tone once again and forced the Phoenix to punt after only several plays. Leading the defensive effort was Nathan Streiff, who led the team with 8 solo tackles and 3 assisted tackles on the evening.
The Knights Air Raid took off with its next possession as the Knights went on an 8-play drive to score. Cade Femrite led the rushing attack with runs of 8 and 15 yards as the guys upfront started to establish their superiority. The front consisted of Dain Walter, Cole Walter, Jaxson Darrow, Mitchell Murray, and Logan Roach and during this drive, they put the Phoenix on their heels. The drive ended with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Darris Schuett to Peter Gustafson, and the Knights had a 12-6 lead.
The Knights scored once more in the half on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Schuett to Dom Tollakson to push the lead to 20-6. The NGM defense once again rose to the challenge with a goal line stand to thwart another Phoenix attempt to score and the halftime tally was 20-6 in favor of the Knights.
In the second half, NGM continued to put the pressure on the Phoenix as the defense held MGLP to under 60 total yards. The Knights also forced a couple of key turnovers, with the first one being an interception by Gustafson.
Offensively, the Knights would score three more times. Darris Schuett and Peter Gustafson connected on an 11-yard touchdown pass and Schuett scored two more times. The scoring ended with an exciting interception by Nathan Streiff that was returned for a touchdown to cap the scoring at 47-6, which was the final.
The Knights offense was led by Darris Schuett, who was 16-25 for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns. Schuett also rushed 7 times for 45 yards and scored three touchdowns. Cale Weeden was also 2-2 for 22 yards on the evening. Jack Parman led the Knights with 7 receptions for 90 yards, including an exciting 41-yard catch to set up a score in the 2nd half. Cade Femrite led the Knights ground attack with 10 rushes for 90 yards.
Defensively, the Knights were led by Streiff and defensive end Cole Walter, who added 4 tackles. Outside linebacker Jack Parman added 4 tackles and a sack and junior Nate Brandes added 2 tackles and a sack. On special teams, the leader was Streiff, who punted 3 times for 102 yards and pinned the Phoenix deep inside the 5 with one of his punts.
This week, the Knights host Poynette on Thursday, April 1st, at 7:00 p.m.