Piske scores twice for
Cardinals in win over Pepin/Alma
MADISON, Wis. – He ends his career with over 5,000 yards rushing and 81 touchdowns. Oh, Andrew Piske also ends it as a state champion.
The senior running back led the Bangor High School football team to a 20-14 victory over Pepin/Alma in the WIAA Division 7 state championship at Camp Randall Stadium on Thursday.
Piske had 29 carries for 173 yards and a pair of touchdowns for Bangor, which lost to P/A last year in the state quarterfinals 42-13. P/A went on to the state championship last season, as well, losing 17-12 to Owen-Withee.
Like that game, P/A (13-1) was unable to complete a fourth-quarter comeback, but it was close. Caiden Haake scored a 1-yard touchdown with 2:40 remaining to pull P/A within 20-14, but Bangor never gave the ball back.
On the ensuing drive, P/A had all three timeouts and Bangor needed just one first down to run out the clock. Piske gained 5 and 4 yards on the first and second down. On third, P/A stopped him for no gain.
Instead of giving P/A the ball back, the Cardinals went for it on fourth down and Jack Reader got it. Bangor ran three more plays to run out the clock, claiming the school’s first football state title in its first trip to the championship, completing a 14-0 season.
To start the game, the Cardinals looked unstoppable, putting together impressive back-to-back touchdown drives on their first two possessions. The first drive went 82 yards on 10 plays, capped off by a Piske touchdown. The second, a 15-play, 77-yard, 6-minute, 22-second drive that ended when Kellen Kravik hit Sam Johnson on a 23-yard score – the Cardinals’ only pass of the game.
P/A, however, had an answer and it didn’t take long. On the next drive, Logan Carroll hit Caiden Haake on a 54-yard score with 5:47 left in the first half and the teams went into the locker room, Bangor up 14-7.
That’s where the score stayed until the fourth when Bangor put together another impressive drive, capped off by Piske’s 43rd touchdown of the season. The drive lasted 3:36 and went 68 yards on eight plays.
Piske ended his final season at Bangor with 2,466 yards.
The Cardinals outgained P/A on the ground 255-161. Trevor Heit led P/A with 73 yards on 23 carries, while Lance Johnson had 67 yards on 17 carries. Jack reader had 39 yards on 11 carries for Bangor.