Three of Wisconsin's best high school football players showed why their college careers could be promising by virtue of game-breaking plays that stood out at last weekend's Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) all-star games.
The small division All-Star classic at Oshkosh featured three dramatic plays from high school standouts who are on their way to the college ranks.
The South's Ben Hertrampf of Fennimore ran for a 36-yard touchdown on a draw play with 22 seconds to play to give the South a 14-7 win over the North at J.J. Keller Field.
“I ran up the middle and saw nothing but daylight,” Hertrampf said. “The linemen gave me a huge hole. Maybe the defense thought we were going to pass outside because we had passed all game.”
In the third quarter, North quarterback Jared Abbrederis of Wautoma bootlegged left, found an opening and maneuvered his way for a 61-yard touchdown run to tie the game, 7-7.
The South's Burlington Catholic Central's Reese Hartlage accounted for the other South points with a 77-yard touchdown pass to St. Thomas Moore's Aaron Loferski with 7 minutes 20 seconds left in the second quarter.
Hertrampf was just trying to get enough yardage to set up his team for a game-winning field goal. Prior to his run, the South had a minus two yards rushing for the entire day.
The Fennimore standout will be playing college football as a running back for the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse.
“I've got pretty good vision and quick feet. I make pretty good cuts,” he said. “I'm not overly fast. I hit the hole hard.”
Hartlage quarterbacked Catholic Central to a state championship last fall.
On his touchdown pass, “we were trying to see what their defense was doing on third down,” Hartlage said. “On first down, they were in press coverage, but we had a quick receiver out there and just told him to run and go. I just threw it up there.”
He had an 80-yard touchdown pass in the playoffs. Hartlage is playing college basketball in Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa.
Abbrederis led all rushers with 96 yards on 13 carries and completed 2-of-5 passes for nine yards with one interception. No other North player ran for more than 28 yards.
“I saw there was an opening and my coach said that if it was there to take it,” Abbrederis said of his scoring run. “I took off and they made great blocks. I was able to make two or four guys miss. When I passed the last guy I turned on the jets. I had a lot of those kind of plays during the season. I'd bootleg on the pass and if was open, I'd go. If I was covered, I'd throw it to a wide receiver.”
Abbrederis will run track at the University of Wisconsin and plans on walking on for the football program.
“We're in the process of talking about my status there,” he said. “It's a great school and I'll get a great education. I just need to work hard and hope to be successful there in academics and athletics.”
The two scoring plays accounted for 113 of 206 yards of total offense for the South.
Hertrampf's score gave the South its first and only rushing first down.
The South's defense held the North to 191 yards and forced three turnovers.
“It was nice being around such a great group of guys and coaches,” Abbrederis said. “It was like we were playing with each other for the past five years. It was a lot of fun.”
“Our defense collectively played a great game,” Haynes said. “To give up only that much yardage to the North is outstanding, with only one big play. Offensively, it was really tough, You're two-platooning. Most of the kids only get in on 15 plays. The quality of play was tremendous.”
Large division all-stars
Darius Feaster of Homestead stole the show in the All-Star Classic large-school game. With time running out, Feaster returned an interception 55 yards for a game-clinching touchdown in the South's 24-16 win over the North.
The South had a 10-0 halftime lead, then made it 17-0 on its first possession of the third quarter when Racine Horlick quarterback Steve Morris had a 46-yard TD pass to Racine Park receiver Chris Hicks.
But the North, coached by Mauston's Mike Taake, came back.
River Falls' Levi Johnson caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Oshkosh North's Nathan Wara and Ashwaubenon's Mitch Klapper returned an interception 35 yards making it 17-14 with 7:45 remaining. The North also got a safety with 1:15 to play.
Arrowhead's Jeff Budzien made a 28-yard field goal in the first half.
Feaster had two interceptions for the South defense. Nick Hill of Milwaukee Washington recovered two fumbles, and Waunakee's Chris Severson blocked a field goal attempt by Lakeland's Brandon Kennedy and had two quarterback sacks.
