SPASH roughed up by Neenah in opening VFA loss
STEVENS POINT - Neenah wide receiver Rayce Prosser didn't care who was throwing him the football Friday night. Alec Elkin and Tommy Thomsen took turns lining up behind center.
Prosser, a 6-foot, 174-pound senior, didn't care if Stevens Point Area Senior High defensive backs were draped all over him. Or whether he found holes in the secondary.
He was pretty much a one-man wrecking crew.
Prosser shredded the SPASH secondary for 200 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and Neenah cruised to a 38-6 win over the Panthers at Community Stadium in Goerke Park.
He finished with nine receptions for 214 yards and three touchdowns. The matchup served as the Valley Football Association and season opener for both teams.
"I didn't think it was that good," said Prosser of his opening half production. "I'm just out there trying to get open, running my routes and the quarterbacks are throwing beautiful passes to me. A shout out to Tommy and Alec. They put me in spots to make plays and I just made plays."
Elkin did the most damage through the air. He completed nine of 15 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns.
The senior quarterback's last scoring strike went to Sam Dietrich from 38 yards out to cap the scoring.
Considering the Rockets had been blanked by SPASH in each of the last two seasons, the final score left them somewhat surprised.
"I did not expect the outcome of the game to turn out like this," Neenah coach Steve Jung said. "Our goal was to be competitive tonight, that's what we talked about. So this is not something we expected to happen. We're happy about it, but we need to stay focused."
Just the opposite was true for the Panthers, who were feeling pretty good about itself when Parker DeRoo jumped on a fumble by Carson Hughes in the end zone with four seconds left in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead.
However, the Panthers were unable to generate much of an attack with the ball in their possession. Neenah limited them to just 54 yards of total offense in the opening half, and 117 for the game.
The combination of a staunch Rockets defense, an inexperienced offensive line and several injuries to starters, including quarterback Brady Woyak and running back Colton Kizewski, added up to a nightmare opener.
"It's disappointing. It's tough. It was a royal tail kicking tonight in really every facet of the game," SPASH coach Pete McAdams said. "There is no doubt in my mind we'll get better. We have to grow from this."
The Panthers were unable to build upon their early lead.
Instead, the remainder of the first half belonged to Prosser and Neenah.
Elkin began a run of 28 unanswered points in the second quarter with a 1-yard run. The signal caller spent the rest of the half eyeing up Prosser and for good reason.
The next time Neenah had the ball Elkin hooked up with Prosser on a 21-yard scoring strike.
Thomsen took his turn on the next series with a 48-yard TD pass that saw Prosser break a couple tackles then outrace the SPASH secondary to the end zone.
Elkin returned for the final possession of the half and hit Prosser from four yards out to put the Rockets in command 28-6 at the break.
"I know our corners give me the best they got (in practice), so going against themI feel I can beat anybody," Prosser said. "You just have to go up and get (the ball)."
Neenah 0 28 3 7 - 38
SPASH 6 0 0 0 - 6
First Quarter
SPASH - Parker DeRoo fumble recovery in end zone (kick blocked), :04
Second Quarter
N - Alec Elkin 1 run (Chris Keider kick), 11:17
N - Rayce Prosser 21 pass from Elkin (Keider kick), 7:44
N - Prosser 48 pass from Tommy Thomsen (Keider kick), 4:12
N - Prosser 4 pass from Elkin (Keider kick), :21
Third Quarter
N - Keider 28 FG, 1:28
Fourth Quarter
N - Sam Dietrich 38 pass from Elkin (Keider kick), 8:12
Scott A. Williams can be reached at 715-345-2282, orby email at ssswilliam@stevenspoint.gannett.com. Find him on Twitter as @SPJScottWill
