Koshuta, Szews lead Jays in shutout football victory

The Three Lakes-Phelps varsity football team defeated Elcho-White Lake 21-0 last Friday in front of a large home field crowd celebrating not only the win, but the fact that it was Parents’ Day at Three Lakes Stadium. Fans and family were rewarded with a stellar performance by the Bluejays, led by quarterback Sam Koshuta and Sawyer Szews, who teamed up for two passing touchdowns and one rushing score.
The win broke a three-game skid and put the Bluejays in a tie for third-place at 1-1 in the Northeast Conference. It also sets up an important road matchup this Friday between the Jays and the conference-leading Wabeno-Laona Rebels. The team will then close out the regular season with home games against Florence and Wausaukee. For now, however, the Bluejays are once again enjoying the flavor of victory and will stick to a regular busy week of practice.
There was no question about the outcome last Friday as the Jays dominated their conference opponent on both sides of the ball, starting with Koshuta. He had his best game behind center, throwing for 233 yards and two touchdowns against no interceptions, while Szews lit up the scoreboard with two pass receptions as he powered through long runs after catches. He also scored a rushing touchdown to complement his overall performance of 250 total yards on offense.
Head coach Justin Szews liked what he saw from his freshman quarterback on Friday.
“Sam took a giant step forward this week in that on several big plays he made split second decisions under pressure that took advantage of the defensive scheme,” he said. “His confidence is growing week to week and will continue to grow as he grasps the offensive strategies of our opponents.”

As for Sawyer Szews, the head coach said he had big shoes to fill after playing with star performers in recent years.
“Sawyer had the opportunity over the past seasons to block for and play a supporting role for offensive weapons like Tyler Janikowski and Carter Flannery. Now this season he’s grown into the role of carrying and catching the football more, and it is really starting to come together for him.”
There were other outstanding performances by the Bluejays last week, such as the fine kicking of Zach Weavers, who made three extra-point kicks following the three touchdowns, and then averaged more than 40 yards each on five punts for a total of 205 yards. The team also recorded eight interceptions on defense, including three by Jack Westfall, two by Owen Liebscher and one each by Koshuta, Szews and Dane Felesena.
Szews led the team with six solo tackles, including a sack; followed by Westfall, Garrett Mandli, and Jack Bauknecht, who earned three solo tackles each. Koshuta, Liebscher, Weavers, Peter Kruckson, Logan Running, Carter Nelson, and Bentley Bills collectively added four solo tackles and 15 total tackles to the team stat sheet. Liebscher also caused a fumble, recovered a fumble and broke up two passes.
Coach Szews gave credit after the game to his assistant coaches for much of the team’s preparation, with specific acknowledgement to coach Rich Martin.
“Elcho-White Lake fought hard with some big kids up front, and I respected their effort in the game,” he said. “Our defense did a great job keeping them out of the end zone and won the turnover battle in a big way. Coach Martin really does a nice job preparing and working with our defensive backs through the sharing of his techniques and suggestions.”
The Bluejays will next play Wabeno-Laona this Friday, September 26, with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff, and coach Szews is looking forward to the challenge.
“The Rebels are undefeated and ranked eighth in the state, but there are significant differences in the strength of non-conference schedule between the two teams squaring off. We are the underdog, and we’ll see how our team responds to that.”