Clintonville football falls short on Homecoming
Truckers lose to Marinette
By Erik Buchinger
Clintonville football lost its homecoming game 28-7 against Marinette on Friday, Sept. 21.
Clintonville trailed 20-0 at halftime, and the Marines added another eight points in the third quarter before the Truckers got on the board on a 1-yard quarterback sneak from Sean Finger.
“The boys played hard,” Clintonville head coach Tom Burkhalter said. “Every time the ball was rolling, it didn’t seem to go our way. It is what it is, and you’re going to have those days.”
Burkhalter said the Truckers have started slow in games this season.
“As is the case for most of our games, it takes us about a quarter and a half to realize we can compete,” Burkhalter said. “I don’t understand why, but we’re going to continue to work on it. These boys are good enough to compete in this conference, and we’ve got to get them to understand that.”
Finger completed 12 of 21 passes for 132 yards, and Bailey Tate rushed for 32 yards on 14 carries.
Dylan Danforth caught seven passes for 65 yards, and Brady Kasson’s lone reception went for 45 yards.
Burkhalter said cornerback Nathan Morse had a big game for the Clintonville defense, holding Marinette’s 6-foot-4 tight end Jake Poetzl to one reception for seven yards.
“Nathan Morse is going to be a heck of a football player for us, and he is already as a sophomore,” Burkhlater said. “It’s very exiting to see. I wouldn’t take anybody else over him right now at corner.”
Burkhalter said it was nice to see the amount of support in the stands for homecoming night.
“The biggest message to the team was we’ve got to keep our heads held high,” Burkhalter said. “We’ve got a lot of people who support us in this community as you can see by the number of people that are out, but we’ve got to come back, grind and get back to work.”
Despite an 0-6 record, Burkhalter said he hopes to see the Truckers continue to realize they can compete in the North Eastern Conference.
“I hope to see switch get flipped,” Burkhalter said. “We’ve got to understand. It’s a mindset shift, and that’s all this is. It’s not easy, but we’re going to continue to work hard to switch that over to a mindset that we know we can compete.”
