Lomira football upsets No. 3-ranked St. Mary's Springs on homecoming night; remains unbeaten in Flyway

LOMIRA - In the Flyway jungle, the mighty jungle, the Lions probably won't be sleeping too much tonight.

With a 21-7 upset victory on homecoming night over No. 3 (D5) St. Mary's Springs (6-1, 4-1), Lomira (6-1, 5-0) is now in full control of their own destiny with two games left in the regular season and a conference championship nearly within grasp.

"We just have a team, right now, that has a firm understanding of their identity and who we are, and just a lot of kids that believe in their ability; and they're confident right now," said Lions coach Bryan Gregory. "I think we've made a lot of believers tonight with the people here and the rest of the area."

The bread and butter that's powered Lomira on their unbeaten run through the conference, thus far, has been a versatile rushing attack from a myriad of players that Gregory has been able to plug into the offense, at will, led by a core group of seniors in the backfield that includes Taylor Schaumberg, Jackson Goebel, and Jack Luedtke, as well as four-fifths of the offensive line, and a two-way stud in Sam Schraufnagel.

This week, the Lions combined for 41 carries and a mere 204 rushing yards - well short of their average of 327 yards per game this season, which goes to credit the Ledgers' defense. It was once again Schaumberg that was designated as the workhorse with 27 attempts for 140 yards and two of Lomira's three touchdowns while Goebel added nine touches for 42 yards and a score, himself.

"Taylor and Jack (Luedtke) ran hard; they found their opportunities," Gregory said. "Jackson Goebel, I can't say enough good things about him and what he's done for this program, being our leader and our field general out there. He made good decisions, good reads. Our offensive line - Josh Polster, Dalton Zingsheim, Blake Renderman, Nate Steinman, and Cade Todl - they were dogs up front and they dominated their job out there. Receivers were blocking, our defense played tough, Sam Schraufnagel is a difference maker on both sides of the ball; we've just got a great group of kids. I couldn't be happier to be their coach, and I love this group."

For years, St. Mary's Springs has been the cream of the crop when it comes to football in the Flyway, with a giant target always painted on the Ledgers' back from the time training camp opens up in August. It's a motivation factor for every conference opponent; they each give Springs their very best shot, week-in and week-out, but oftentimes the result falls short. Usually, well short, at that.

Just not this time.

"This is the game we circled on the calendar before the start of the year," Goebel said. "We knew it was our homecoming and our senior night, and we couldn't have come out and executed at any higher level. We played an amazing game, and I think the scoreboard showed that. We just had to keep our mental space right."

As for his opinion on teammate, and fellow senior, Taylor Schaumberg:

"Best back in the conference," Goebel said. "He's amazing. He's one of the best leaders on our team, he runs the ball hard, and he makes amazing cuts. We wouldn't be here without him."

Schaumberg humbly admitted he owes everything to his coaching staff and the fans who came out to support him and the rest of the team, who have collectively become firm believers in achieving whatever goals they put their minds to.

"I think, first of all, coming into this week the coaches came up with a great gameplan; and I think the difference, this year, was everyone on the team believes that we can win," Schaumberg said.

"You could see with our performance, tonight, that everyone had that aggressive determination that we could do whatever we wanted to. It's always a team victory, but today, the trench battle was outstanding, offensively and defensively. The offensive line was able to control their lanes, and I was able to run behind Sam Schraufnagel a few times. He created a lot of stuff, so it was fun to be able to run behind that. I knew that (after the second touchdown run) it was a lead that made it definitely hard to come back from, but we've got a lot of respect for Springs; they're a great team that came out to play tonight. I thought of everyone that came out to support us, which made the difference. That fueled our entire team, and I just want to thank them."

This will undoubtedly be one of those wins cherished by the Lions and their fans for years to come, but the time for celebrating is brief as there are still much larger stakes to be won.

"I think we're going to enjoy this one for the night and then we're going to move on, the next morning, to get back to it," Gregory said. "I know we've got a big week coming up against Campbellsport - they're always a tough, physical team and they're well-coached. We've got to come out, axe week rivalry here, and get back to it because we know the job's not done yet."

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: Lomira football upsets No. 3-ranked St. Mary's Springs on homecoming night; remains unbeaten in Flyway