Football: Wausau West rallies in the 4th quarter to beat D.C. Everest and stay unbeaten.

A 14-0 edge in the 4th quarter lifted the Wausau West High School football team to a 24-13 victory over D.C. Everest at Stiehm Stadium on Friday night in a game broadcast live on Wausau Area Sports. The win for West, in the Wisconsin Valley Conference opener for both teams, snapped a three-game losing streak to the Evergreens.

It was a game where the Warriors started well and finished well. Wausau West had two first quarter possessions and scored on both. After taking the opening kickoff, West started on their own 34, on the first play from scrimmage Miles Waldvogel took a misdirection handoff and found a big opening on the right side. Waldvogel went 50 yards to the Everest 16. However, Everest got a big stop on 3rd and inches when Ethan Yang stopped Waldvogel for a 3 yard loss with the Warriors settling for a 26 yard Finn Christensen field goal and a 3-0 lead.

On the third play of the Evergreens' first possession, Ty Rohde had his first pass of the game intercepted by West's Aiden Thao at the DCE 49 and he returned the pick 13 yards to the Everest 36. West used a 22 yard Jackson Riley to Marcus Koenigs completion to have a 1st and goal at the 1. Everest then stiffened defensively and forced the Warriors into a 4th and goal at the 2. Deciding against a second field goal, West coach Matt Johnson called a sweep to the right to Miles Waldvogel who broke a tackle and scored to extend the Warrior lead to 10-0.

Everest then responded with their first sustained drive of the game. The Evergreens drove it to the West 31 but faced a 3rd and 17. Rohde tossed a short pass to the left to Will Hopper behind the line of scrimmage at the 35. Hopper moved to the center of the field, broke a tackle and got some good blocking that allowed him to get to the left side and untouched into the end zone for a touchdown. West's Angelo Nieves blocked the extra point and the Warrior lead was 10-6.

After the early scoring, the defenses took charge for most of the next two quarters. Everest would have the better opportunities but missed a 42 yard field goal and had a pair of drives into West territory stopped in the 3rd quarter. Finally, the Evergreens finished a drive late in the 3rd quarter and took their first lead of the game. Ty Rohde snuck it in from the 1 with :34 left in the 3rd and led 13-10.

The Wausau West offense did not have a first down in the third quarter and started the 4th quarter with a 3rd and 16 situation from their own 14. West QB Jackson Riley got some quick pressure from Everest lineman Niko Kleinschmidt but got away and started to run. Riley was able to maneuver 26 yards to the 40 and change the momentum of the game. Three plays later West again had a 3rd down with 6 yards to go from the 44. Riley again was forced to run and put the shoulder pads down to get exactly six yards and another critical first down. Two plays after that the Warriors regained the lead as Waldvogel took a handoff and broke into the clear, scoring from 49 yards out to give West a 17-13 advantage.

The Wausau West defense then stepped up the rest of the way. On the next Everest drive, Aiden Thao had his second interception of the game. After Everest got the ball back, the West defense forced another stop at the DCE 22. Niko Kleinschmidt, the Everest punter, then attempted to run for the first down and was thrown for a loss back at the 15. The Warriors then pushed the lead to 24-13 with 5:44 left on Miles Waldvogel's 3rd rushing touchdown of the night, this time from one yard out. Waldvogel finished with 118 yards on 21 carries while Andrew Bangtson led Everest with 106 yards on 15 carries. Riley hit on 8 of 14 passes for 80 yards for the Warriors while Evergreen Ty Rohde was 10 of 23 for 103 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions.

The West defense put the finishing touch on the win with their third interception of the night, this time by Taeden Moua. The win lifts Wausau West to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the WVC while Everest falls to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the league. The Evergreens will travel to undefeated Marshfield next Friday night while the Warriors return to Thom Field to host Wisconsin Rapids. The West-Rapids game will again air live on Wausau Area Sports YouTube channel next Friday night starting with the pregame show at 6:40 pm with the opening kickoff at 7 pm.