Ben Grota completed his junior season with a strong performance at the WIAA State Meet.

Grota covered the course in the Division 3 Boys Race in a time of 17:27, averaging 5:38 per mile to come in 46th place overall. Iola-Scandinavia's Charlie Vater won the meet with a time of 15:49, building a lead early as the only runner to break five minutes in the race's opening mile.

Picture courtesy of Southern Door School District

It is cliche to say that the team that wins the turnover battle will win the game, but that is exactly what happened Friday night in Brussels as the Southern Door Eagles season ends in Level 2 of the WIAA playoffs at the hands of the Wrightstown Tigers with a 21-6 loss.

Neither offense could find the endzone until the end of the first half.  Punt returner for the Eagles, Mason Motquin would mishandle a punt deep inside Eagle territory, setting the Tigers offense up first and goal at the 2.  Running back Aiden Humphreys would score on the first play of the new drive.  The Tiger run game would add a pair of touchdowns in the second half, one by Daniel Buntin on a 5-yard carry, the other by Landon Helphrey from 2-yards out.

The only score the Eagles would muster came inside the final minute of the game when Drew Daoust would run in from 10 yards.  The 2-point attempt was no good, and set the final score at 6-21.  Southern Door finishes the season with a 9-2 overall record.

Southern Door runner Ben Grota's road to the WIAA State Cross Country meet did not start when he broke 17 minutes for the second time this season at the WIAA Sectional Meet in Manitowoc last week, but the heavy miles he put in this summer.

That hard work paid off when he qualified for the state meet with a personal best 16:44 on the 5K course. Before this year, his personal best was 17:14 at the Panther Invite. Grota posted seven top five finishes during the season. When we talked to him earlier this season, he was the top local finisher at the Chief K Invite in Fish Creek, and he chatted about the big things he was expecting out of his junior year. 

Grota will run his race at Saturday at noon.

The Southern Door Eagles welcome the Wrightstown Tigers as a part of the Level 2 slate of games for the WIAA Football Playoffs.

The Eagles buried the Hatchets of Tomahawk in their playoff opener 48-7, with four players getting at least 40 yards rushing. Drew Daoust racked up the most yards on the ground with 96, while Zach Lynch rumbled through the Hatchets' defense with three touchdowns. It marked the sixth time in their ten games that the Eagles allowed a touchdown or less in a game.

The Tigers got their matchup against the Eagles via a 29-12 win against Sturgeon Bay last week. Aiden Humphreys took the game over for the Tigers, rushing for 164 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries. Losses to Xavier and Luxemburg-Casco were the only blemishes on the Tigers' resume heading to the playoffs as they took second place in the Northeastern Conference.

Jacob Nate and Matthew Malvitz will have the call on U-102.1 and NEWRadioSportsNetwork.com beginning at 6:45 p.m. with the pregame show followed by the kickoff at 7 p.m.

Southern Door linebacker Will Jandrin leads an impressive list of All-Packerland Conference honorees that were announced over the weekend.

Jandrin was a unanimous selection with 114 tackles on the season.

FOOTBALL

Zach Lynch: First Team Running Back

Matthew Malvitz: First Team Offensive Lineman

Will Jandrin: First Team Linebacker Unanimous

Matthew Malvitz: First Team Defensive Lineman

Drew Daoust: Second Team Quarterback

Cruz Calvillo: Second Team Offensive Lineman

Mason Motquin: Second Team Defensive Back

Cruz Calvillo: Second Team Defensive Lineman

Gaige Geisel: Honorable Mention Tight End/Fullback

Will Jandrin: Honorable Mention Tight End/Fullback

Lauden Berg: Honorable Mention: Offensive End

Hayden Jeanquart: Honorable Mention Defensive End

VOLLEYBALL

Paige Olson: First Team Middle Hitter

Sophia Counard: Honorable Mention Libero

Isabella Price: Honorable Mention Outside Hitter

In Manitowoc, Southern Door's Ben Grota took third place overall at 16:46 to punch his ticket to the state meet.

Emma Bousley finished just above 21 minutes on the 5K course to pace the girls' team.

 6.   215  Southern Door                     (18:47.3  93:56.5 3:36.8) ================================================ 

1      3  Ben Grota               11   16:44.6 

2     21  Lucas Conard            11   18:04.9 

3     47  Brayden Vogel           11   19:08.2 

4     61  Owen Larios Amezq       9    19:37.4 

5     83  Ethan Kaser             11   20:21.4 

6   ( 98) Cody Penovich           12   21:13.6

 16.   374  Southern Door                     (23:48.4  119:01.9 3:57.4) ================================================ 

1     21  Emma Bousley            10   21:09.9 

2     71  Elise Jackson           9    23:41.6 

3     86  Paige Penovich          9    24:21.8 

4     96  Kelsey Johnson          11   24:41.3 

5    100  Maddie Finger           11   25:07.3 

6   (107) Nora Lefevre            10   25:34.0 

7   (116) Sydney Turner           10   26:53.8

The Southern Door Eagles started the 2023 WIAA playoffs on a positive note Friday night in Brussels, running over the visiting Tomahawk Hatchets on the way to a 48-7 victory. 

The Eagles' defense started the game strong, intercepting a pass by Tomahawk's QB Caleb Dickens on the game's third play. Zach Lynch would take the ball in from 6 yards out, giving the Eagles a nearly 7-0 lead.  The defense came out too strong again on the second drive, forcing a three and out that was capped by a mishandled snap on the punt, which set the Eagle offense up first and goal from inside the 5.  Lynch would again take the ball across the goal line, putting the Eagles up 13-0 through the first.

In the second quarter, Zach Lynch would add his third rushing touchdown, this time from 16 yards out, before Drew Daoust would find James Fish III in the corner of the endzone in the final 1:30 of the half to put the Eagles up 28-0 at halftime.  The third quarter would be more of the same as Daoust would outrun the Hatchet defense for an 80-yard touchdown run on the opening drive of the half, and Gage Geisel would run one in from the 4, which put moved the score to 41-0.  

Teams would trade touchdowns in the closing minutes of the game.  Tomahawk's Brett Marheine would return a Lauden Berg fumble for a touchdown, and Southern Door's Grant Webber would finalize the score when he took the ball in from the 16-yard line, sending the Southern Door Eagles into the second level of the playoffs.

The Eagles will host the Wrightstown Tigers on Friday, October 27th, in Brussels on U102.1 starting at 6:45 p.m. with the pregame and kick off at 7 p.m. 

The Southern Door Eagles will look to defend their home turf on Friday night when they open the playoffs against Tomahawk.

The Eagles responded to their loss to eventual conference champion Kewaunee with a 28-14 win against rival Sturgeon Bay. Zach Lynch sparked the come-from-behind victory with over 300 yards rushing and three scores on the ground. That ground attack helped the Eagles be the number two scoring offense in the Packerland Conference with over 250 points.

The Hatchets snuck into the playoffs with a 4-5 record, but a 29-20 win over Clintonville in the season's final game was just enough to get them into the field. Rex Reilly is a dual-threat quarterback with over 730 yards passing and 430 yards rushing on the season.

Jacob Nate and Matt Malvitz will have the call on U-102.1 and NEWRadioSportsNetwork.com beginning at 6:45 p.m. with the pregame show followed by the opening kickoff at 7 p.m.

The Door County United Girls High School swim team remains on top of the Bay Conference with their win at the Shawano Sprints All-Conference meet. The team scored 383 points, 130 points ahead of the second-place team. Anika Steinbach (SBHS) finished 6th overall in the 50-yard backstroke and was a member of the 3rd place 200-yard medley relay and the 6th place 200-yard freestyle relay. Senior Hannah Schley (SDHS) dropped 3 seconds from her best time in the 100-yard freestyle and was a member of the 6th place 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle relays. Finally, the 100-yard medley B relay consisting of Anna Massart (SDHS), Emma Moyer (SDHS), Shambo Wienke (SBHS), and Cata Gobbato (SEV) finished 5th overall, even ahead of two A relays. The team will go into conference championships undefeated. The conference meet is on Tuesday, October 24th, at Seymour High School.

Southern Door fought until the bitter end but was upset by 11-seeded Reedsville 3-2 (17-25, 27-25, 25-22, 17-25, 7-15).

No other stats were made available from this match.

The Southern Door Eagles volleyball team opens their WIAA run at home, with Reedsville making the trip.

The Eagles ended the season with a 20-16 mark but lost four of its final five matches, including three of their four matches at the NEW Lutheran Tournament in Ashwaubenon. A 2-0 win over Peshtigo salvaged the tournament for the Eagles, which lost to Crivitz, Sturgeon Bay, and NEW Lutheran earlier in the day.

The Panthers lost six of their final seven matches, which included a 1-2 mark in its Big East Conference tournament. They beat Sheboygan Lutheran while losing to Hilbert and Pacelli.

The first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Door County United swim team carried their winning ways straight through the weekend.

They reigned supreme in the Bay Conference with their win against Wittenberg Birnamwood High School. The team scored 113 points to Wittenberg's 46. Isabella Jimenez Seyfer (SBHS) contributed greatly to the team during this meet with contributions in the 1st place finishes in the 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relays along with her 2nd place finish in the 100-yard fly and 3rd place finish in the 50-yard freestyle. Danica Neville (SDHS)  was also an integral team member with her 2nd place finish in the 200-yard individual medley and her 3rd place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. Finally, Shaeffer Rass (SEV) had the best time in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke.

On Saturday, DCU held its own non-conference invitational at Shorewood High School. The team placed 5th out of 17 teams, scoring 187 points total. Julia Michalski (SBHS) was the top scorer for DCU, scoring 30 points with her 3rd-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke and her 5th-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley. She was followed closely by Cassie Rankin (SEV), who scored 24 points, and Danica Neville (SDHS), who scored 14 points. Caitlyn Hasenjager (SEV) also supported her team with 13 points in her events. The relays were the star of the show on Saturday. DCU placed fifth in the 200-yard medley relay (Michalski J, Neville D, Jimenez Seyfer, Hasenjager), fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay (Rankin, Michalski N, Neville K, Hasenjager), and seventh in the 400-yard freestyle relay (Rankin, Michalski N, Neville D, Michalski J). The season is winding down, but the team will travel to Shawano High School for the conference sprints meet on Tuesday October 17th. 

The Southern Door cross country teams conquered the hills of Cherry Hills Golf Course as a part of the Packerland Conference championships on Thursday.

The boys placed two in the top five en route to a second-place finish with 44 points. The girls came in fifth place with 118 points. 

Emma Bousley paced the girls' squad with a time of 21:24 and a fourth-place finish. The boys placed two in the top five, led by Ben Grota's second place finish with a time of 17:35.

1.2.11Ben Grota17:35.93Southern Door

2.4.11Lucas Conard18:17.13Southern Door

3.13.11Brayden Vogel19:44.54Southern Door

4.16.9Owen Larios Amezquita19:59.93Southern Door

5.19.11Ethan Kaser20:22.51Southern Door

6.28.12Cody Penovich21:44.98Southern Door
 

1.4.10Emma Bousley21:24.22Southern Door

2.26.9Paige Penovich24:31.45Southern Door

3.28.9Elise Jackson24:45.42Southern Door

4.32.11Maddie Finger25:31.25Southern Door

5.36.11Kelsey Johnson26:04.26Southern Door

6.38.10Nora Lefevre26:24.85Southern Door

7.39.10Sydney Turner26:28.65Southern Door

The Southern Door Eagles' offense pulled away towards the end of the game to win the iconic Eagle-Clipper rivalry game 28-14 on U-102.1. 

The game was moved up from its original Friday date to make sure the game would be played, and no playoff seedings would be affected. Southern Door’s offense came out early looking to avenge a rough outcome against Kewaunee as Drew Daoust ran in the first touchdown of the game from one yard out. 

Sturgeon Bay kept the score close, however, as they answered the Daoust touchdown with a 20-yard passing touchdown from senior quarterback Danny Lodl to Patrick Haese, giving the Clippers the 7-6 advantage. Lodl and Haese would find each other for another touchdown in the first quarter, this time from 33 yards out, to put Sturgeon Bay up a full score 14-6. 

Southern Door’s Zack Lynch entered the night just 136 yards shy of 1,000 on the season and he provided a spark for the Eagles, scoring his first touchdown of the game with 11:51 left in the second quarter from 27 yards out to cut the Clippers lead to two. That would be the score entering the half, as the Eagles and Clippers' offenses would threaten to score, but ultimately the defenses stood up to the tests. 

Lynch gave Southern Door more offensive fireworks after the Eagles defense forced a three-and-out. He scored another rushing touchdown and the two-point conversion from Drew Daoust gave Southern Door their first lead since 2:37 in the first quarter at 20-14. 

Mason Motquin shined on the Eagles' defense with two interceptions, and after a third-down pass to Will Jandrin, Lynch rushed in for touchdown number three with a direct snap. 

The Eagles and Clippers will learn their seed for the WIAA Playoffs on Saturday at 10 a.m. 

With both teams heading to the playoffs, Southern Door and Sturgeon Bay will battle for bragging rights and possibly higher seeds when the two teams meet on Thursday night.

The Eagles could not get their usually potent rushing attack going while struggling to stop another in a 48-6 loss to Kewaunee last week. The loss halted a regular season streak that dated back to October 15th, 2021. They have not lost a conference game to a non-Kewaunee opponent since 2019.  Zach Lynch is the second-leading rusher in the Packerland Conference at 864 yards with a chance to crack 1,000 yards rushing for a second straight year. 

The Clippers rebounded from their own lopsided loss to Kewaunee with a 28-7 win against Mishicot last Thursday. Danny Lodl, who leads the conference with over 1900 passing yards, threw for three touchdowns and 266 yards while Mason Sacotte punched in another score on the ground. The Clippers are trying to get their first win against the Eagles since a 27-3 win in 2012. 

Eric Fischer and Reece Robillard will have the call on U-102.1 and NEWRadioSportsNetwork.com beginning at 6:45 p.m. with the pregame show followed by the kickoff at 7 p.m. The game was moved from Friday night to Thursday due to poor weather conditions predicted for the regularly scheduled date.

The Southern Door volleyball team makes the short trip north to face their rivals at Sturgeon Bay on Tuesday night.

The Eagles split their matches at the Brillion Invitational over the weekend, losing to Goodman/Pembine and Roncalli while beating their Saturday hosts and Green Bay West. They have played just over .500 volleyball in Packerland play with a 4-3 mark.

The Clippers suffered their first Packerland loss last week when Algoma swept them 3-0. The defeat snapped a five-match winning streak for the Clippers.

The opening serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Southern Door's Ben Grota and Emma Bousley finished in the same exact place with a tough field chasing them at the Russ Fameree Invitational hosted by Luxemburg-Casco on Friday.

Both Bousley (20:49) and Grota (17:31) finished in 14th place overall in their respective races. They were close on the team side as well too, with the boys coming in ninth place and the girls finishing in 11th.

1.14.10Emma Bousley20:49.58Southern Door

2.61.9Paige Penovich23:26.72Southern Door

3.75.9Elise Jackson24:05.95Southern Door

4.81.11Maddie Finger24:14.42Southern Door

5.88.11Kelsey Johnson25:05.49Southern Door

6.99.10Nora Lefevre26:26.63Southern Door

7.101.10Sydney Turner26:28.96Southern Door

8.111.12Hailey Veeser27:52.01Southern Door
 

1.14.11Ben Grota17:31.36Southern Door

2.29.11Lucas Conard18:14.96Southern Door

3.64.11Brayden Vogel20:11.29Southern Door

4.77.9Owen Larios Amezquita20:41.63Southern Door

5.78.11Ethan Kaser20:41.80Southern Door

6.92.12Cody Penovich21:19.29Southern Door

7.106.11Lukas Kallin23:00.86Southern Door

The Door County United (DCU) Girls High School Swim Team brought home yet another win on Thursday, October 5th.

The girls defeated Shawano High School 136 to 33 total points. DCU took 1st place in every varsity and junior varsity event during the meet. Kailyn Neville (SDHS) scored 10 points with her first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley and her second-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. She was followed closely by Anika Steinbach (SBHS)  who scored 9 points with her first-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly and her third-place finish in the 50 free.  Hannah Schley (SDHS)  assisted the team in scoring two additional points with her best time finish in the 100-yard freestyle.

Please come out to support our seniors at the Door County YMCA on October 10th for their senior night meet versus Seymour High School. The racing starts at 6:00 p.m.

The Southern Door volleyball team could earn an important victory and help tighten the Packerland championship race with one win on Thursday when Algoma comes calling.

The Eagles topped the Gibraltar Vikings in four sets on Tuesday night to claim three games to-one victory in Packerland Conference volleyball action in Fish Creek. Southern Door won with scores of 25-16, 25-18, 22-25, and 25-18.  The Eagles were led by Isabella Price who had 12 kills and 13 digs, along with six aces.  Ashlyn Delfosse chipped in 18 assists and Sophia Counard had 16 digs. 

The Wolves swept the Sturgeon Bay Clippers in Packerland Conference volleyball action Tuesday night in Algoma. The Wolves came away with victories in sets of 25-20, 25-17, and 25-22.  MyLee Jones had 12 Kills and 10 Digs to lead Algoma. Ryley Zimmerman added 6 Kills, 11 Digs,  and 1 Ace while notching her 1000th career dig. Olivia Cabino contributed 16 Receptions and 10 Digs, while Hannah Nell had 20 assists 9 Digs,  and two kills to help the Wolves cause as well. 

The opening serve is set for 7 p.m.

The Eagles will soar again Thursday afternoon with their first of two scheduled cross country meets this week.

Southern Door is scheduled to join Appleton North and West, Ashwaubenon, Denmark, Fox Valley Lutheran, Seymour, Green Bay East and Southwest, Freedom, Little Chute, Marathon, Marinette, Menasha, New London, Notre Dame,  Oshkosh North and West, Peshtigo, and Shawano Community for a meet hosted by Seymour beginning at 4:30 p.m.

The Southern Door Eagles topped the Gibraltar Vikings in four sets on Tuesday night to claim three games to-one victory in Packerland Conference volleyball action in Fish Creek.

Southern Door won with scores of 25-16, 25-18, 22-25, and 25-18.  

The Eagles were led by Isabella Price who had 12 kills and 13 digs, along with six aces.  Ashlyn Delfosse chipped in 18 assists and Sophia Counard had 16 digs.