MG Answers the Challenge, Scores Final 35 in 56–21 Win Over Sun Prairie East

mgfootball

Sep 27

6 min read

Updated: Sep 27

35 unanswered points.

Nine possessions. Eight touchdowns.

For five weeks, Monona Grove had spent most of its time comfortably playing from ahead. Sun Prairie East changed that Friday night.

There was plenty of history behind this one, especially for senior captain Deangelo “D-Lo” Clay. Friday marked Clay's fourth varsity season facing Sun Prairie East. His first two ended in losses to the Cardinals, including a playoff loss as a freshman and a 34–31 defeat as a sophomore. Last season, Clay and the Silver Eagles finally broke through with a 21–16 win.

Friday gave him a chance to even that four-year run at two wins and two losses. It wouldn't come without a challenge.

The Cardinals erased an early 14-point MG lead and tied the game 21–21 midway through the second quarter. For the first time this season, the Silver Eagles had to answer a sustained push from an opponent.

MG scored the final 35 points, pulling away for a 56–21 victory and improving to 6–0 overall and 4–0 in the Badger Large. The Silver Eagles finished with 540 yards of offense — 344 rushing on 36 carries (9.6 per attempt) and 196 through the air.

MG Starts Fast

Sun Prairie East showed MG something different right away. Sophomore Carter Kavanaugh made his first start at quarterback, Easton McNary made his first start at running back, and senior quarterback Braylon Peterson shifted primarily into the backfield as a running back.

MG struck first.

On the opening possession, 6'3", 205-pound junior quarterback Jaxon Zukowski found 6'5", 220-pound junior tight end Nic Busalacchi for a 34-yard touchdown on third down.

The next score started with the junior QB making something happen on 3rd-and-9. He rolled right, reversed direction and scrambled 21 yards for the first down.

On the next snap, 5'11", 245-pound D-Lo Clay powered through multiple East defenders for a 32-yard touchdown.

Two plays. Fifty-three yards. MG led 14–0.

Clay finished the night with 11 tackles, five solo stops and a tackle for loss in addition to the 32-yard touchdown.

East Pushes Back

One of the questions coming into Friday was how MG would handle Peterson and East's two-quarterback system. The Cardinals changed the equation by putting Kavanaugh behind center and using Peterson extensively as a runner. For a stretch, it worked.

Peterson scored with 19 seconds left in the first quarter to cut MG's lead to 14–7. Zukowski answered with a 1-yard touchdown early in the second, restoring the two-score advantage at 21–7.

Then things changed quickly.

East established its inside running game before hitting a 60-yard touchdown pass. Thirteen seconds later, MG fumbled at its own 48. The Cardinals suddenly had momentum and a short field.

5'8", 190-pound senior middle linebacker Dom Melone helped force East into 3rd-and-15, but East answered with a receiver screen that broke for a touchdown.

With 6:32 remaining in the half, it was 21–21.

The tie didn't last long.

Zukowski fired a 32-yard strike to Busalacchi, then used his legs to pick up another big first down before finishing the drive himself from a yard out.

28–21 MG.

Then the defense responded.

Sun Prairie East returned the kickoff near midfield, but MG didn't let the field position turn into points. Safeties Aiden Dennis and Landry Ganshert stepped up to stop Peterson on hard runs between the tackles, and Melone blew up a play for a loss to put the Cardinals behind the chains. East couldn't convert the long third down and punted it back.

That left MG 1:51 before halftime, starting at its own 17.

The Silver Eagles needed only four plays. Carson Schoenherr ran for five yards, then a downfield passing shot found Diego Adame for 43 yards.

Two plays later, Zukowski escaped the pocket and burst through the gaps in the SP East defense created by excellent downfield blocking by Senior Wide Receiver Henry Parrott for a 34-yard touchdown run.

83 yards. Four plays. Just 48 seconds.

MG went to halftime ahead 35–21.

Zukowski and Busalacchi Keep Creating Problems

Zukowski finished 8 of 9 for 196 yards and two touchdowns, then added 115 rushing yards and three scores on 11 carries.

311 total yards. Five touchdowns.

Beyond the scoring numbers, his ability to extend plays with his legs repeatedly kept possessions alive and created opportunities when East initially had the play covered.

Busalacchi was the other constant.

The junior tight end consistently gave MG an option downfield and over the middle. His 34-yard touchdown opened the scoring, and his 32-yard reception helped MG immediately regain control after East tied the game. He added another catch over the middle on MG's opening possession of the second half and later collected his second touchdown reception.

Busalacchi finished with six catches for 111 yards and two scores, while also adding four tackles, two solo, on defense.

Schoenherr Helps Put It Away

MG came out of halftime leading by 14 and began leaning harder on 6'2", 200-pound junior running back Carson Schoenherr.

On MG's first drive of the third quarter, Zukowski attacked the edge with his legs and then connected with Busalacchi over the middle. Schoenherr finished the possession by powering up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown.

42–21.

Later in the third quarter, special teams created another opportunity. 6'0", 165-pound junior Alonzo Garcia got to the East punter and made the tackle on fourth down, handing MG the ball at the Cardinal 25.

Garcia also finished with three tackles, two solo, and a tackle for loss on defense.

Schoenherr immediately ripped off another 15 yards. Zukowski then worked to his right and found Busalacchi for a 10-yard touchdown pass.

49–21.

Schoenherr took care of the final scoring drive. He opened the fourth quarter with another chunk run, followed it with another burst to the 3, then finished the drive himself.

His 3-yard touchdown with 11:00 remaining made it 56–21 and started the running clock.

Schoenherr finished with 165 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, averaging 9.2 yards per attempt.

The touchdown also completed a remarkably efficient night for the starting offense: nine possessions, eight touchdowns.

For the first time all season, MG's starters had been needed into the fourth quarter.

They lasted exactly one minute.

Once the lead reached 35, the running clock began and the reserves took the field for the remainder of the game.

Through six games and 24 possible quarters of football, MG's starters have played just 15 quarters and one minute — roughly 63% of the available game time.

There was another encouraging moment late in the third quarter. 6'0", 190-pound senior Makai “Kai” Fowler, who had missed the first five games with a lower-leg injury, returned to the field with a nine-yard speed-burst carry, his first of the season.

The Defense Finds Its Answer

East's 21 first-half points presented MG with problems it hadn't faced much this season. The Cardinals hit a 60-yard touchdown pass, turned a third-and-long receiver screen into another score and created a more physical inside rushing threat by moving Peterson into the backfield.

MG shut the Cardinals out after halftime, and Melone was at the center of it.

He finished with a team-high 14 tackles, including nine solo stops and a tackle for loss. When East faced 3rd-and-12 in the third quarter and went back to the same receiver screen that had produced its tying touchdown, Melone recognized it immediately and made the tackle.

East punted.

5'11", 160-pound junior Landry Ganshert made two tackles early in East's first third-quarter possession, then came up on 3rd-and-1 and stuffed the runner short of the sticks. East eventually converted fourth-and-inches on a Peterson quarterback sneak, but the yards were becoming harder to find.

Ganshert finished with 12 tackles, seven solo.

6'1", 175-pound junior safety Aiden Dennis had his most productive game of the season, finishing with 10 tackles.

5'10", 165-pound junior linebacker Cole Kessenich added eight tackles.

After allowing three touchdowns during East's first-half push, MG shut out the Cardinals for the final 30-plus minutes.

From 55–0 to 56–21

The history gives Friday's result some perspective.

Sun Prairie East introduced itself to MG with a 55–0 victory in 2022.

The Cardinals won twice in 2023, 57–34 and 43–12, with the second victory eliminating MG from the playoffs.

Then the gap closed.

34–31 East in 2024.

Last season, MG finally broke through, 21–16.

Friday was the next chapter:

Monona Grove 56, Sun Prairie East 21.

No player connects that recent history quite like D-Lo Clay.

As a freshman, he recorded six tackles and two TFL against East in the playoff loss. As a sophomore, he made 11 tackles and a TFL in the 34–31 defeat. As a junior, he added five tackles and forced a fumble as MG finally beat the Cardinals 21–16.

Now, as a senior, Clay added 11 tackles, five solo, a TFL and a 32-yard touchdown in the 56–21 win.

Across those four games, his documented matchup totals are 33 tackles, four TFL, one forced fumble and one rushing touchdown — with MG going 2–2 against the Cardinals.

Clay's four-year arc was one part of a night in which MG faced something it hadn't seen much through the first five weeks.

East turned a 21–7 deficit into a 21–21 game.

From there, MG scored five consecutive touchdowns and didn't allow another point.