Fond du Lac high school football earns first win of the season on homecoming night

FOND DU LAC - The Fond du Lac Cardinals high school football team are winners for the first time this season with a 12-7 victory over Appleton East on homecoming night. Their record now stands at 1-5 (1-3 Fox Valley Association) with three weeks to play.

Fondy coach Sam Plucker admitted it wasn't the prettiest game, but a win is a win, and you take what you can get, especially in the FVA.

"(It feels) Like a massive weight off our backs," Plucker said. "I think you forget how to win, to be fully honest with you. Those situations come and you don't quite know what to do, or how to execute, and I think our guys did a really good job. The defense, especially, just kept fighting and they were put in a lot of bad spots."

The Cardinals looked great to start out the night, full of energy and confidence, scoring on their first possession with a 7-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Deandre Williamson Jr. to junior receiver "Pocket" Zavion Davis.

Fondy missed the ensuing extra point, but the Cardinals defense held East scoreless until the fourth quarter, when after a 3-yard touchdown run from junior running back Mason Henschel made it 12-0 Fondy, Patriots junior quarterback Alex Thompson finally got East on the board with a 4-yard bootleg run that had the Cardinals completely fooled.

Nobody has ever said you have to be perfect in order to win. Just focus on the next opportunity to make a play.

A four-and-out with under two minutes to go and a lengthy punt return gave East some life, but the Fondy defense redeemed itself when a miscue on a screen pass gave the alert Cardinals a chance to pounce on the loose ball. From the pile came out sophomore linebacker Guardian Harris, who scooped up the fumble, which allowed the Cardinals to set up in victory formation on offense to close out the game and send the home crowd happy.

"The defensive backfield did a really good job staying sound, coming downhill," Plucker said. "Obviously, Rhett and Guardian did a good job, as well, and Ty Pate is another guy inside, but I thought everyone did a pretty good job doing their role. Sam Amadon played really well, as well, at inside linebacker."

Penalties and dysfunction were still issues of concern, particularly in Week 6, but at the end of the night the scoreboard read in favor of Fondy, and the Cardinals will use whatever momentum they have to build upon towards closing out the season strong with playoff hopes not completely out of the question.

"They know they can do it," Plucker said. "They're capable of winning a football game and now we've got to play an away game at Hortonville, a very tough opponent, and we've got to find a way to get another win."

Harris said this win will help boost Fondy's confidence in themselves heading into Week 7.

"You love to get the win," Harris said. "We're onto the next week; we've still got to keep that confidence that we've got. We know we can win games now. We know we can compete with good teams, and we've just got to get ready for the next week."

To contact Lance LeQue, email him at LLeQue@gannett.com , or follow him on Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter, @LanceLeQue .

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This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Fond du Lac high school football earns first win of the season on homecoming night