Whitefish Bay Blue Dukes Football

Red Knights “Trap” Blue Dukes, 35-31

WFB vs. Milwaukee Lutheran
Cade Garcia

QB Cade Garcia threw a 50-yard bomb to Maurice David Lee on the opening play for a touchdown.

Photo: Brad Caspari | Full Photo Gallery

A Trap Game is defined as a game played against an opponent generally deemed easy to defeat, and as a result, the attitude and preparation is less than normal, as the team looks beyond that opponent to the next game. This game had all the signs of fulfilling that definition. Milwaukee Lutheran came into the game with a 1-5 record, Bay was 5-1. The last four years, the Dukes beat the Knights by a combined score of 147-14. However, the iceberg laying in wait was the 2016 Red Knights who were just 7 points shy of being a 4-2 team. One or two points was the difference in three of their losses. They featured a talented young quarterback and several great athletes he passed or handed-off to, coming off of their first win of the season. Milwaukee Lutheran would love nothing more than to break Bay’s five game winning streak … and they did.

Fast Start for Dukes

The game looked to live up to expectations when Cade Garcia threw a 50-yard bomb to Maurice David Lee on the opening play for a touchdown, scoring with just 16 seconds elapsed in the game. Minutes later, it was Garcia hitting Alex Anthony on a 39-yard touchdown pass, with Zach Lichosik converting his second extra point attempt to give the Blue Dukes a 14-0 lead not even two and one half minutes into the contest. Lutheran delivered a wake-up call when they methodically moved the ball downfield before scoring on a 10-yard TD pass to make the score 14-7. The teams traded possessions before Bay would move the ball downfield with Garcia connecting on a big play to Anthony to get the ball in the red zone. From there it was Bo Bassindale carrying the ball 3 yards around the right side and into the end zone for the touchdown. Lichosik’s conversion made it a 21-7 game early in the second quarter.

Momentum Shifts

The Red Knights put together a long drive and grabbed the momentum away from the Dukes, scoring when their slippery quarterback eluded the rush and raced 18 yards up the sideline for a TD. The Blue Dukes defense could not seem to find a way to contain the Red Knight’s offense. The score was 21-14 and it was obvious to all that the game was “on.” Whitefish Bay quickly moved the ball but the Red Knights stopped them on the Lutheran 20-yard line. Lichosik made a 34-yard field goal to give the Dukes a 10-point lead, 24-14. Milwaukee Lutheran proceeded to drive downfield taking big chunks of real estate on almost every play. The Red Knights scored on a 27-yard TD pass with 39 seconds remaining in the half to close the score to 24-21.

Whole New Ball Game

Bay came out of halftime re-energized and held the Red Knights to a three-and-out possession. The Dukes offense then put together a sustained drive culminating in a 7-yard TD run by Bassindale to take a 31-21 advantage. But from that point on, Milwaukee Lutheran proved to be the better team on this rainy night. Even after a 75-yard Red Knights TD pass was called back because the quarterback had crossed the line of scrimmage, and another Lutheran drive was intercepted by Patrick Nau, the Bay defense could not stop the charging Knights who racked up 429 yards on offense, more than twice what Bay allowed Germantown just a week earlier. Many of these yards came via runs by Lutheran’s quarterback and running back. The Dukes offense was having its own issues establishing any running game, accumulating only 56 yards on the evening. Bay would miss a field goal attempt later in the quarter.

Knights Finish Strong

WFB vs. Milwaukee Lutheran

The Red Knights racked up 429 yards on offense, more than twice what Bay allowed Germantown just a week earlier.

Photo: Brad Caspari | Full Photo Gallery

Milwaukee Lutheran scored on a 1-yard run about one minute into the fourth quarter to make it a 31-28 game. Bay could not sustain a drive as the Red Knights aggressively defended the pass.
Thankfully, the Blue Dukes benefited from Lichosik’s punting, which helped maintain decent field position. The Knights next drive was stopped short of the goal line when Case Fleck intercepted the ball deep in Blue Duke territory. Lutheran took over late in the game and moved the ball downfield courtesy of a couple of questionable pass interference calls. The Knights quarterback eluded the rush and rolled to his right before finding his receiver on a 5-yard TD pass in the back of the North end zone with less than 90 seconds remaining in the game, giving the Knights a 35-31 lead.

Whitefish Bay tried to cash in on some come-back magic but the Red Knights defenders literally mauled the Dukes receivers. It seemed like every pass defense could have been called for pass interference, but wasn’t. Bay managed to reach midfield before their drive ended, giving Milwaukee Lutheran their second win of the season.

The Blue Dukes still control their conference championship hopes. A win against Homestead next week would position them for another conference title. Let’s hope our boys learn the hard lesson from this week’s trap game, and come out with their best next Friday in Mequon.

See you all in the stands!

Dukes of the Game

Cade Garcia and Alex Anthony share honors for Dukes of the Game offense, and on defense Zach Lichosik gets the nod for his punting performance.