The Lincoln Ships started their season with a tough 44-21 loss to Appleton West. The Terrors are primed to have themselves a good season. That being said, Manitowoc fans shouldn’t let the 0-1 start get to them. This isn’t the first time the Ships have started off their season 0-1, in fact, the last time they were 1-0 was back in 2015.
The 44-21 loss wasn’t always as lopsided as it seems. The only bit of scoring in the first quarter was a safety that found Lincoln down by 2. A 2-0 deficit through the first quarter of the season is quite the way to begin. Things got worse before they got better. Ryder Hoffman began to get loose after a pick-6 put Appleton West up 23-0 at the half.
Lincoln wasn’t about to go down without a fight.
An incredible 14-point third quarter made things interesting once again. With one quarter left to play in the opening game of the season, the Ships were down 23-14. Brock Peterson took lead as the Ships quarterback, unlike Max Maigatter as mentioned last week. Brock had a few passing touchdowns on the night. More than one went for over 30 yards. This is a great sign for the program going forward as their explosiveness is clearly present.
The Ships defense did secure two interceptions off of Ryder Hoffman. However, that didn’t stop him from exploding for 294 yards and 4 touchdowns on the night. The nearly 300-yard effort landed Ryder Hoffman at number 7 in the entire state for passing yards through one week of play.
Up Next: Michigan
That’s right, Manitowoc Lincoln will travel via water for the next few days. They head to Mona Shores high school. It’ll be Friday night lights action in Michigan for the Ships in what is being dubbed the, “Battle of the Badger”.
Coach Greg Enz is looking forward to this game as the two schools work towards a home-and-home schedule in years prior. Anticipation is even higher on the Mona Shores side as this will be their season opener. Mona Shores will be honoring their 1963 squad on Friday evening as that was the inaugural year of Mona Shores football. Going along with that, the team will be wearing special throwback uniforms.
Ron Rubick Municipal Field, the home of Manitowoc Lincoln is a turf field, so they shouldn’t have to adjust to Mona Shores brand new turf field. That could be an adjustment for the Mona Shores Sailors as it is their first bit of live action this season.
On paper, the biggest concerning factor about Mona Shores is the fact that they captured back-to-back division 2 state championships in 2019 and 2020. At one point, the team had an 18-game winning streak. Now they’ll be coming off an 8-3 season, returning 3 of their top offensive linemen along with other various studs at the skill positions.
Mona Shores has one other non-conference game on their schedule, that being next Thursday at Rockford. Manitowoc Lincoln begins FRCC-South conference action next week at home against Menasha.
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