Football: Week 5 recaps see DCE, Marathon impressive in wins while West, East fall in 1st place showdowns and Mosinee, Newman lose.

On a rainy Friday night, the results were as dreary for four of the six Wausau area high school football games in week 5 of the season. Wausau West, Wausau East, Newman Catholic and Mosinee came up short but the results were brighter in impressive wins for D.C. Everest and Marathon.

SPASH 49 Wausau West 7: Things started poorly for the Warriors and never got much better in their first loss of the season. West started with a pair of 3 and outs offensively with SPASH scoring touchdowns in their first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. The Warriors had a chance to get back into it late in the 2nd quarter when Aiden Thao intercepted a Trent Breitbach pass deep in West territory when it appeared SPASH was heading toward a third TD. West drove deep into SPASH territory but were stopped on downs. The Panthers put the game away with two touchdowns in the final minute of the half and a score on the first drive of the 2nd half made it 35-0. West would get a Jackson Riley to Miles Waldvogel TD connection in the 3rd quarter for their only score. Breitbach threw for 176 yards and ran for 80 with five combined touchdowns in helping SPASH move into first place in the WVC at 2-0 and 4-1 overall. West falls for the first time this season and is 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the league. West returns to action on Friday vs. Marshfield at Thom Field. 6:35 pm airtime and 7 pm kickoff on Wausau Area Sports.

D.C. Everest 71 Eau Claire North 7: The Evergreens move to 2-1 in the conference and 3-2 overall after winning their second straight game. Everest scored at least two touchdowns in every quarter and led 22-7 after one, 36-7 at half, and 57-7 after 3. DCE was stellar on the ground with 320 yards on 33 carries for 9.7 yards per attempt. Tristan Gast led a balanced run attack with 119 yards on just 9 carries and 2 TD's. Andrew Bangtson added 88 yards on 8 attempts with a score. Everest also forced five turnovers with three fumble recoveries and two interceptions. Michael Schepp had 11 tackles on defense. Everest steps out of conference for a trip to 4-1 Hudson next week.

Medford 46 Wausau East 8: Medford continues to dominate at the top of the GNC. The Raiders have outscored opponents 144-28 in starting the league season 3-0. Medford started fast with a 63 yard TD run by Carson Ingersoll on their first offensive play from scrimmage. East would respond quickly with a 53 yard scoring drive in just two plays that culminated with a 51 yard bomb from Camdyn Rye to Henry Maahs to tie the game at 8. However, it was all Medford after that. Ingersoll would finish a 14 play, 80 yard drive with a 10 yard TD run to give the Raiders the lead from good on the next series. It was 24-8 Medford with just over 4 1/2 minutes left in the 2nd quarter when Ingersoll intercepted a pass and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown to make it 32-8. Medford would add another score before the half to make it 38-8 at the half. Ingersoll would finish with 14 carries for 133 yards and 2 TD as Medford improved to 3-2 overall and 3-0 in the GNC. Rye would hit on 8 of 19 passes for 117 yards, 1 TD and 1 interception for East. Maahs had two catches for 57 yards and a score with Aiden Kilde catching two passes for 41 yards and had 11 tackles on defense. East is now 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the GNC. The Lumberjacks will travel to Mosinee on Friday.

Merrill 13 Mosinee 0: Merrill would score all of the point in the 2nd quarter to earn the win. Mosinee would rue missing scoring opportunities in the first half when they drove deep into Merrill territory in both the first and second quarters but came away with no points. In the 3rd quarter, QB Cole Rudie would put Merrill ahead 6-0 on a 14 yard scoring run. The Bluejays would get some insurance in the 4th quarter on a 21 yard TD run by Kalin Jahnke to finish off the 13-0 win. Rudie would throw for 92 yards and run for 80 more while Jahnke finished with 64 yards rushing. Merrill is now 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the GNC while Mosinee falls to 1-4 and 1-2.

Marathon 35 Colby 0: Marathon bounced back from their first loss of the season last week vs. Amherst with a dominating performance on both sides of the ball vs. Colby. QB Brayson Schneider averaged 12.4 yards per attempt in hitting 9 of 15 passes for 186 yards and 3 touchdowns. WR Garrett Bracewell continued to put up the big numbers this season with 6 more catches for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sophomore Koltyn Stevens continued his outstanding season on defense with 12 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery. Marathon is now 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the CWC heading into a trip to Weyauwega-Fremont on Friday.

Alma Center Lincoln 28 Newman Catholic 6: Alma Center Lincoln returned to the field for the first time since the tragic death of QB Adam Massman in week 1 of the season. The Cardinals were hurt by a questionable holding call that wiped away a 67 yard touchdown run by Michael Fox on the second play of scrimmage that would have given Newman their first lead of the season. Fox finished 9 of 23 passing for 174 yards and a 34 yard scoring pass to Jude Zielinski. Zielinski had 3 catches for 52 yards and the TD. ACL QB Sean Stetzer had a big night with 18 rushes for 184 yards and 3 TD as the Hornets move to 2-0 in games played this season. Newman will travel to Cornell on Friday in a game that will be broadcast on Wausau Area Sports.