Eagles defense shuts down Antigo in 14-8 win

The Northland Pines varsity football team opened the new season with a win, a 14-8 road victory over the Antigo Red Robins last Friday. The defense allowed a first-quarter score but pitched a shutout after that until the Eagles took a safety to end the game.

“We did very well for our first game on both offense and defense,” stated Head Coach Justin Nimsgern. “With playing our first game, we missed a lot of opportunities that we need to sharpen up going into next week.”
Antigo got the ball first and took little time to find pay dirt, taking a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. Not long after that, Northland Pines running back Conrad Droby used his vision to weave around the Antigo defense and down the sideline for a long score. An extra point by senior Tyler Vojta put the Eagles ahead by one, 7-6.
The Eagles threatened again later in the second quarter and put the ball on the goal line. Senior quarterback Will Dickman went under center and ran a QB draw behind his offensive line and plunged into the end zone.

That made it 14-6 by the halftime break. The Eagles’ defense continued to impress in the second half, allowing no points until the safety at the end of the game. Coach Nimsgern said he saw some standout plays by both Droby and Tucker Brock at running back and then the whole starting linebacker core of Brock, Ethan Wirth and Bodie Bakken.

Northland Pines will take the momentum of the first-week road win into this week, where the Eagles will have their home opener against Ashland this Friday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m. Ashland comes into the contest 0-1 after a 20-7 loss to Rhinelander in week one.