Good news for Ships

Manitowoc Lincoln's football team will likely be at full strength for its Homecoming game on Saturday against Bay Port.

According to Ships' head coach John Dixon on Wednesday evening, both running back Shane Diederichs and starting linebacker Wyatt Hrudka have been cleared to play on Saturday after suffering leg injuries in last Friday's loss to Green Bay Notre Dame.

Diederichs was injured on the Ships' first play from scrimmage against the Tritons, but has practiced all week. Hrudka, one the anchors of Lincoln's defense, ran at practice on Wednesday.

-- Steve Clark

As a reporter, these are the kind of events that I get excited to cover. Not that I don't enjoy all the events that I go to, but Thursday's Manitowoc Lutheran at Mishicot volleyball match should be something special.

The Lancers and the Indians are two of the top teams in the Olympian Conference (along with Wrightstown) and a match like this will have a definite impact on the conference race. With Lutheran losing to Wrightstown on Tuesday -- how's that for a schedule at Wrightstown and at Mishicot in the same week -- it dropped the Lancers one game behind Mishicot and Wrightstown atop the conference standings. Another loss would be detrimental to Lutheran's hopes of winning a conference title. A win would send Mishicot into next Tuesday's match at Wrightstown still undefeated, and likely give the Indians a confidence boost.

I have seen the Lancers once this season and they looked very good in a win over a talented Reedsville squad and this will be the first I've seen of the Indians this season.

The teams basically mirror each other on paper. Both teams have a wealth of tall, athletic hitters and blockers (For Lutheran there is Katelyn Hauf, Kim Umnus, Sarah Moldenhauer, Kelly Hauf and Brianna Robley, while Mishicot features Danielle and Brittni Krause, Kayla Henning, Miranda Wiebensohn), talented setters (Keren Nass for the Lancers and Lauren Tellock for the Indians) and two of the top coaches in the OC (Lutheran's Dave Kirikowic and Mishicot's Terri Risch). Both teams have experience and tradition, and both teams -- although they obviously have respect for their opponent -- definitely want to beat the other.

It all adds up to what should be an exciting match. Can't wait to be there.

Pro athletes should be this humble

It's a strange dynamic in the sports world. Those who cover or follow sports often complain about all the self-promotion that some professional athletes reflect.
In high school sports, it's totally opposite. As a sports writer, I've come to realize that prep athletes are team-first individuals.
This realization was evident last week when I interviewed Valders' star running back Phil Binversie. It was like pulling teeth to get this guy to talk about himself. And while that's sometimes frustrating for a sports reporter trying to get great quotes, it shows that Binversie isn't any different than most high school athletes.
They're humble and will spend more time praising their teammates than pumping their own egos.
Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. That's one of the reason's I love covering prep sports. I have the chance to show readers the sports heros who often don't make Sportscenter.

More and more I am struck by the importance of the post-touchdown conversions, whether it be a PAT kick or a two-point conversion.

Three area football teams lost this week because an opponent did better on such plays than they did, and when teams lose close games, sometimes the effect can be felt the most when it comes playoff time.

Manitowoc Lutheran and Algoma each scored three touchdowns in their contest Friday, but Algoma converted a two-point conversion and two PAT kicks to win 22-18. Mishicot and Chilton also had three touchdowns apiece, but the Tigers' successful PAT kick and lucky tw0-point conversion -- Chilton's Zach Hintz recovered a fumble in the end zone on the conversion -- trumped the Indians' one PAT kick in a 21-19 win.

And for Two Rivers, they went 2-for-3 on the PAT kicks against Kiel on Friday night, but Kiel was a perfect 3-for-3 to win 21-20.

Earlier this year Valders also lost 14-13 to Shiocton when the Vikings were 1-of-2 on PAT kicks and Shiocton was 2-for-2.

Kicking PAT's is not an easy thing to do. It's hard enough to do when it's just a kicker and holder practicing, before throwing in the snap and the onrushing opponents. But the teams than can find a reliable kicker have the advantage when it comes down to close games.

Feeling blocked

Manitowoc Lincoln girls volleyball coach Mary Beth Dixon said after Thursday night's win over Sheboygan South that she would like to see her team improve its blocking. Of course, no coach is ever completely satisfied and Dixon wasn't being critical of her squad's blocking, she just wants the Ships to do it more and better.

I was pretty impressed with what I saw at the net from the Ships, both on Thursday and in last week's win over Green Bay Preble. Courtney Mrotek is proving to be a dominant player defensively at the net and emphatically thwarted a number of spikes by the Redwings.

But I've seen many volleyball teams with one dominant blocker and when that player rotates to the back row -- or subs out after playing the front row -- there is no one to put up much resistance. The thing that impressed me about the Ships is that no matter who was at the net, they were able to stuff South's spikes or at least get a hand on many of their attempts.

With Mrotek leading the way with seven blocks (she seemed to have at least double that), Stephanie Decker and Geena McLaughlin each added six, Alyssa Olson had a couple as did Hailey Virnoche. Pretty much whoever Dixon had playing in the front row seemed to have one or two.

And it's not like Lincoln is loaded with 6-foot-2, long-armed players. But all of the Ships jump well, can move smoothly at the net and seem to have a knack for it.

To me, stuffing an opponent's spike -- especially, if it's the other team's top hitter -- is much more of a momentum boost than ripping off a big kill and the Ships should be able to do plenty of that this season.

This weekend proved that three of the area football teams that lost in Week 1, lost to some pretty good teams and should be in playoff contention in their respective conferences.

Manitowoc Lincoln looked good in beating Pulaski. Foiling that fake punt in the first quarter really set the tone for the rest of the game.

Manitowoc Lutheran, after being shut out by Brillion in Week 1, came back with a determined offensive effort against Gibraltar.

And Roncalli, got an early lead against Algoma, overcame some adversity in the form of injuries and a Wolves' comeback, and were able to pull out the win. It was an impressive win for the Jets.

This week, the Olympian-Packerland Large Conference opens up league play with Valders and Mishicot both facing tough contests at home against Sturgeon Bay and at Chilton, respectively.

Vikings will play with chip on their shoulders

Friday night football is just about here and I'll get my first taste of local prep football at Valders on Friday night.
This will be an interesting year for the Vikings and I'll be monitoring them closely. Valders is joining the Olympian-Packerland Small Conference, which means higher travel costs and upgraded competition.
However, Valders should be able to whether the storm. The Vikings will play powerhouses like Wrightstown and Kewaunee, but the players seem up for the challenge.
Valders went to the playoffs again last year, but did lose some valuable seniors. But according to its leader, quarterback Bob Linzmeier, missing the playoffs is not an option.
When a young team is faced with a challenging road ahead of them, that's the type of leadership it needs.
Can the Vikings extend their playoff streak to nine-consecutive years?
Stay tuned.