Photo Credit - Manitowoc Lutheran High School
The Manitowoc Lutheran Lancers move up a spot from six to five in this week’s Division Six Bound Wisconsin Football Coaches Poll.
The Lancers have dominated the first four opponents they’ve played this season by dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
They’ve established the run with a bevy of backs that can do damage and keep defenses off balance.
Senior Josiah Martin leads the way with 314 yards and a team-leading seven touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Isiah Hockmuth has run for 160 yards while sophomore Ethan Brooks has added 137 yards on the ground.
This has enabled the Lancers to throw the ball when they want to instead of when they have to.
Seven different receivers have caught passes, led by junior Charlie Vogel’s 5 catches for 60 yards, and sophomore Julian Stuebs has a team-leading 17.7 yards per catch. Defensively is where the Lancers have shined this season.
They’ve recorded three, well, actually four, shoutouts in four games, as the only touchdown scored against them was a defensive score by Brillion back in week two.
Manitowoc Lutheran has a rare luxury for a smaller school, as they can rotate seven different defensive linemen throughout the game, which allows juniors Roman Di Marco and Evan Wagner to seek out ball carriers and make plays.
Di Marco leads the team in total tackles with 26, 21 of which are solo that leads the team, while 15 of Wagner’s 16 total tackles are solo, which includes a team-leading five tackles for loss.
In fact, 107 of the Lancers 141 total tackles are solo, including 25 tackles-for-loss.
The Lancers hit the road Friday night for a Big East contest against Random Lake/Ozaukee.
The kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Bonduel is the only other local or area school listed among the D-6 top ten at number two.
In Division Five, the Brillion Lions debut at number 10 after a convincing 41 to 7 win over last week’s number ten team, the New Holstein Huskies.
The Lions play at Roncalli on Friday night. Freedom and Little Chute remain one and two, respectively, in Division Four.
The undefeated Plymouth Panthers (4-0) fall a spot from five to six in Division Three.
Notre Dame Academy of Green Bay sits atop the Division Two poll with Kaukauna ranked sixth.
In Division One, Bay Port is ranked third, West De Pere is fourth, De Pere is ninth, with Appleton North coming in at number ten.
The lone Division Seven area representative is Lourdes Academy of Oshkosh who is ranked ninth, and in 8-man football, Valley Christian of Oshkosh is ranked fourth.
