Dukes Season Ends with 28-14 Loss to Menasha
- Updated: October 28, 2019
Drew Garcia ran for 96 yards and ran in a 31 yard TD against Menasha.
Photo Credit: Rod Brower
The Whitefish Bay Blue Dukes 2019 season ended with a hard played 28-14 loss to the Menasha Bluejays in the opening round of the WIAA State Tournament on Friday night.
Menasha struck first early in the 2nd quarter when QB Cole Popp snuck through the Dukes D for a 1 yard touchdown. Then, with less than two minutes remaining in the half, he connected with WR Luke Maurer for an 88 yard TD to widen the Bluejays lead to 14-0.
Despite Popp running in another 1 yard touchdown at the beginning of the 3rd quarter, the Dukes rallied to narrow the score 21-7 when QB Jack Stecker, who had 50 yards rushing on the night, finally put the Dukes on the board with a 3 yard TD near the end of the quarter.
The Bluejays answered back at the beginning of the 4th quarter when Popp connected with WR Jay Pawlowski for a 19 yard TD to bring Menasha’s lead to 28-7. Undaunted, the Dukes continued to press forward. At the 5:30 mark, Stecker handed off to the RB Drew Garcia for a 31 yard touchdown, bringing the score to 28-14.
The Dukes loss was softened a bit by the numbers:
- Bay bested Menasha on the ground with 225 yards total rushing.
- RB Drew Garcia racked up 96 yards and a TD on 13 rushing attempts.
- RB Nigel Cheeks rushed for 81 yards on 17 attempts.
- WR Jayden Jackson caught a pair of receptions for 41 yards.
- Kicker Michael Kauffman, ever consistent throughout the season, added 2 extra points to the Dukes’ tally.
