Whitefish Bay gets past Greenfield
Whitefish Bay — Maybe years from now, Zach Lichosik will stretch the truth a bit to tell family or friends he kicked a winning field goal and was carried off the field on the shoulders of his Whitefish Bay teammates.
“Probably,” Lichosik said.
For now, the story is how his wind-aided, booming 75-yard punt completely turned the game in the Blue Dukes’ favor, leading to a 48-31 victory over visiting Greenfield Friday in the second round of the Division 2 playoffs.
“I think that 75-yard punt was still really great,” he said. “I just knew if I got it up in the wind, it’d go. And it went.”
Second-seeded Whitefish Bay (8-3), which has scored 146 points in winning its last three games, is in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2012.
The Blue Dukes face top-seeded and reigning state champion Homestead next weekend, hoping to avenge a 29-12 loss to the North Shore Conference champion Highlanders on Oct. 7.
Third-seeded Greenfield (7-4) was trying to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in school history — this was just its second trip to Level 2 — but lost for the third time in the last four games after a six-game winning streak.
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“I think (the wind) is just an element of football,” Hustlin’ Hawks coach Shane Covington said. “That’s just the game.”
The score was tied, 7-7, in the second quarter when Whitefish Bay had to punt from its own 15-yard line. With a stiff, steady wind at his back, the junior Lichosik unleashed his 75-yard punt. Not only did the ball sail in the air, it took a favorable bounce and rolled to the Hustlin’ Hawks’ 10-yard line.
“That was amazing,” Whitefish Bay coach Jake Wolter said. “It turned the whole game around for us.”
Greenfield quarterback Rayvon Bartlett Jr., who entered the game 10th in the area with 1,914 yards passing, threw three straight incompletions into the wind. Hustlin’ Hawks punter Elijah Valero tried his luck against the stiff breeze and Mother Nature won. His short punt was downed at the Greenfield 30-yard line, and Whitefish Bay ended up scoring the next 34 points.
“The wind, you couldn’t control it,” Valero said. “I wasn’t prepared for it, and the kicks, they weren’t as good as they were supposed to be.”
Whitefish Bay quarterback Cade Garcia, who began the day seventh in the area with 2,116 yards passing per game, threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Alex Anthony for a 14-7 lead with 3:11 left in the first half.
Greenfield had to punt again, and this time Valero dropped the snap and was forced to run out of bounds at his 13-yard line. That led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Bo Bassindale with 13 seconds left.
The Hustlin’ Hawks also faced the wind in the third quarter, so instead of another punt, they went for it on fourth and 3 despite the ball being on their 38-yard line. They lost a yard, and four plays later, Maurice David Lee caught an 11-yard touchdown pass for a 27-7 lead.
Greenfield had punt again, this time from the back of its end zone, and the short kick was returned 14 yards to the Hustlin’ Hawks’ 27. It took two plays for the lead to increase to 34-7 on a 9-yard touchdown run by Bassindale, and he added his third touchdown run early in the fourth for a 41-7 lead.