By Mike Drooger –

When Kirk Gibson of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit a pinch-hit, walk-off homer in the 1988 World Series, radio announcer Jack Buck stated his legendary line: “I can’t believe what I just saw.” Every Dutchmen player, coach, and fan at the football game vs. Mountain Lake Area on September 16 could have uttered Buck’s line.

In a hard-fought and even harder-hitting contest, the Dutchmen took a lead of 14-12 with 1:05 left in the game. The ensuing kickoff was booted low as per Coach Andrew Fleischman’s instructions. When the ball got to the up men situated just in front of the return men, it took a peculiar hop over the up men right to the player Fleischman didn’t want to have the ball—Evan Karschnick. Thirteen seconds later, Karschnick was in the end zone with 52 seconds left in the game. No one from Edgerton could believe what he or she had just seen.

The Wolves had pooch-kicked every prior kickoff, so Edgerton put its “hands” players near the ball. But this time MLA booted the ball deep, which pinned EHS at the 17. Needing to go 83 yards with less than fifty seconds remaining, the Dutchmen had no quit in them. But there just wasn’t enough time left, and Edgerton had to swallow a devastating 18-14 loss in front of a very vocal crowd on a beautiful evening in Edgerton.

The entire game was a defensive struggle, which made each mistake more glaring. The Dutchmen lost a fumble in the first half. Later, with the ball seven yards from the end zone, the snap from center was low and the Wolverines took over. Another turnover by EHS at the 38 led to the only score of the first half. A 36-yard pass put the ball at the two. Three players later MLA scored with 11.5 seconds on the clock before halftime.

Edgerton turned the tables on MLA in the second half when Michael Gunnink pounced on a Wolverine fumble at the 42. Chase Bootsma ran for five yards before Gunnink added a yard. The tackle on Gunnink was flagged for helmet-to-helmet contact giving the Dutchmen an additional 15 yards and putting the ball at the 22. The drive eventually stalled and the Wolves took over at the 15. Later, on fourth and one, MLA suffered an errant snap from center, and the Dutchmen took over at the 21. Bootsma quickly put the ball at the 11. Quarterback Blake Schultz added a three-yard run. On fourth and goal from the nine, Schultz found Bootsma in the back of the end zone for six. Carter Amundson bulled his way into the end zone for the two-point conversion and Edgerton enjoyed an 8-6 lead. 

MLA scored a TD thanks to a nifty diving catch in the end zone at the 9:58 mark of the final quarter. The Dutchmen again stopped the PAT setting up a score of 12-8 in MLA’s favor.