The list of unbeaten teams is starting to shrink across Wisconsin, but Appleton North is still perfect at 4-0, thanks especially to the ground game being led by 5-foot-10, 193-pound senior Steve Lichtfuss, who recently had a career-high 314 yards.
"Steve has great vision," coach Rob Salm said. "He sees the hole very well. He's extremely powerful. When he gets into contact, he can break one or two tackles for sure. When he gets into the open field, he's tough to catch. He has that breakaway speed to pile on the yards."
Lichtfuss rushed for more than 2,000 yards last season.
"He's not really new to the scene," Salm said. "I think he's better (than last year). He's got more speed and has put on 15 pounds of muscle. We've played three of the tougher teams in the conference. He's done this against very high-quality opponents."
The opponents are paying plenty of attention to Lichtfuss and friends.
"We're seeing lot of eight- or nine-man fronts trying to stop Steve," Salm said. "We do a lot of play-action to keep people honest. There's time you look at stuff because they've got so many guys there. As soon as there's a seam, if you commit that many guys and when you break someone through that group, it's pretty much off to the races.
"He's a warrior. I wouldn't bet against him in a fight. He definitely wants to play college ball. He's a very good baseball player as well, first-team all-conference. He'd like to play one of those two sports, maybe both if he could."
A load of standouts
Lake Country Lutheran in Hartland, Wis., has been showcasing several standout players in its 4-0 start, including quarterback Jared Wartinbee, who earlier this month had a career-best 371 yards passing and six touchdowns.
"It's been our ability to attack teams with the pass and the run. That's the key to our success," coach Greg Brazgel said. "Our offensive line is averaging 265 pounds. Our quarterback, Jared, has low D-I talent and high D-II talent and we're at a Division VII level. Our running back put up 1,400 yards last year as a junior. He's returned. He's pretty dominant. We have six almost-identical receivers. I could take one out and put one in and I'd be looking at almost the same kid. We're pretty versatile when it comes to offense."
Last season, the 6-3, 200-pound Wartinbee, who has 4.6-second speed in the 40-yard dash, broke his collar bone during Week 3 but is back to 100 percent.
"Sometimes, at a small school, it's one receiver and one quarterback," Brazgel said. "He has the ability to throw to over four receivers on four different plays. He has done a great job of reading the defense and determining presnap who's going to be open. Like I said, the receivers are running crisp routes. He threw a pass 67 yards in the air. He has a big-time arm. Our ability to run has opened the passing game."
The school isn't drawing too much publicity because of its size. Wil Goodman, a 6-3, 265-pound two-way lineman who is a fourth-year starter, is getting looks from Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) schools, Brazgel noted. Meanwhile, Aaron Wegner has emerged as a big-time running back after gaining 1,400 yards as a junior. He's averaging 150 yards a game so far this season.
"At any point if the defense, for example, wants to drop back and shut down the pass, he has the ability to rush for 200 yards behind our line, which makes us two-dimensional," Brazgel said.
Standouts in Week 4 in Wisconsin
• Eric Lucht of Wrightstown, who had 335 rushing yards and five touchdowns in his team's 60-30 victory over Southern Door.
• Andrew Gray of Temper, who rushed for 305 yards and three touchdowns in his team's 41-27 triumph over Muskego.
• Trevor Kinnett of Edgerton had a 9-yard interception touchdown return in a 28-14 win over Beloit.
• Mike Madosh of Menominee Indian, who had a 98-yard touchdown catch in 13-7 win over Three Lakes.
• Daniel Ricci of Brookfield Academy, who was 17-of-27 in passing for 98 yards and four touchdowns in his team's 42-6 blasting of Beaver Dam Wayland Academy.
• Mike Miller of Racine St. Catherine, who rushed for 262 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries in his team's 21-12 win over Shoreland Lutheran.
