NEW GLARUS — Junior Will Pinnow is no stranger to the big moments. In New Glarus’ Week 2 win over Highway 69 rival Belleville, Pinnow caught the winning touchdown pass. This week in the Knights’ 21-14 victory over Platteville on Oct. 4, he hauled in the game-sealing interception in his own end zone.
“Amazing. Words can’t even describe it,” Pinnow said of the play. “I don’t often play defense, but it was an amazing opportunity to seal the win for my guys.”
At the time, Platteville (3-4, 3-2 SWC) was knocking on the door to tie the game at 21. The Hillmen, who had previously tied the score at 14 in the fourth quarter, faced a fourth-and-7 at the NG 8-yard line with 23 seconds left on the clock. Platteville quarterback TJ Pink lofted a pass intended for Myron Reuter, but Pinnow came up with it instead for a touchback. New Glarus then kneeled out the remaining time.
“They took two good shots, but they took shots at our good receiver,” New Glarus head coach DJ Schuett said. “It’s nice to have guys out there that can knock it down and make that play.”
The game was action-packed from the start, as the first three possessions resulted in picks.
New Glarus faked the punt and threw an interception into the hands of Dylan Wiegel. With a short field, Platteville quickly approached the Knights’ end zone. On third-and-2, Charlie Sarbacker came off the edge and got to Pink, resulting in a weak pass to linebacker Ashlin Mihlbauer. New Glarus had hardly crossed into enemy territory when Matt Roth threw another interception — this time to Evan Johnson.
But the Knights received the ball back five plays later on turnover on downs. Facing third-and-1, Roth kept the ball and the pile pushed him past the first-down marker. Charlie Sarbacker carried the ball another seven yards, putting the Knights at the Hillmen 34-yard line. Milo Johnson took it the rest of the way, his path cleared by leading blocker Luke Burton. Kamm Nehmer, in for Mihlbauer who got hurt on the interception, made the extra point to put New Glarus up 7-0 with three minutes left in the first quarter.
Keeping Platteville on its toes, Nehmer recovered his own onside kick. Even though the Knights didn’t score on the drive, Schuett knew the strategy made a statement.
“We knew they (Platteville) were a good football club, and we knew our backs were against the wall for playoffs,” Schuett said of his team, who entered the game one win away from the bubble. “As a staff, we decided that we were going to throw caution to the wind. We were going to try and get momentum.”
But momentum shifted to Platteville’s side as Roth fumbled the ball on his own 16-yard line. It took the Hillmen just five plays to score, tying the game at 7-7.
Two possessions later — one for NG and one for Platteville — the Knights began their drive pinned on the 9-yard line. Roth connected with Milo Johnson for a 32-yard gain, putting the Knights near midfield. Down the stretch, back-to-back first-down catches by Andrew Sarbacker and Pinnow set New Glarus up just outside the red zone. Roth capped the scoring drive with a touchdown pass to Andrew Sarbacker to regain the lead, 14-7, headed into the locker room.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but New Glarus suffered a big blow. With two minutes left in the frame, Andrew Sarbacker returned a Hillmen punt. To create a hole, Grady Johnson lowered his shoulder and cleared Logan Day out of the way. The hit left Day on the ground seeking medical attention, and Grady Johnson was ejected from the game for targeting.
“I don’t disagree with the penalty. I thought he was low enough. It was an aggressive hit. But targeting, I think of the upper-body or head,” Schuett said. “I can’t fault Grady; he’s trying to make a play. It’s just a player making a play.”
Day returned to the game in the beginning of the fourth quarter.
With the game nearing its close, Platteville methodically worked down the field. A 24-yard run from Tyler Sasse was the spark the Hillmen needed, putting them just outside the red zone. Two carries from Sasse later, Platteville faced first-and-goal. The Knight defense held the Hillmen off for three plays with tackles from Braden Rear, Aidan Leppien and Charlie Sarbacker, but Pink connected with Seth Wilson from 6 yards out to tie the game at 14.
The score gave New Glarus just 4:27 to respond, but Roth was confident in the offense’s ability to respond.
Beginning at their own 33-yard line, the Knights used a mix of the run and pass game to move swiftly down the field. Milo Johnson’s 23-yard run was the highlight of the drive, which ended in a touchdown pass to Andrew Sarbacker.
“Game-winning drives, we are 2-for-2 now,” Roth said. “Against Belleville we had like a minute and a half, and we scored there. Four minutes, we knew we had plenty of time.”
The defense was then tasked with stopping the Hillmen.
Day returned the kickoff to Platteville’s 40-yard line. Pink then targeted Reuter multiple times, but the big blow was a horse collar call on New Glarus that put the Hillmen at the NG 11-yard line. Sticking with what got them there, Pink attempted passes to Reuter in the corner of the end zone before getting picked off by Pinnow.
With the victory New Glarus improves to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the SWC — firmly a bubble team. They need to beat either Prairie du Chien (5-0) or River Valley (2-3) to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
