KIMBERLY — In a back-and-forth game, the Kimberly Papermakers pulled away in the second half for a 38-20 win over the Kaukauna Ghosts.
Kimberly, Neenah and Kaukauna are now tied at 5-1 in the Fox Valley Association standings with one week to go before the playoffs begin.
Kaukauna is at Appleton East while Kimberly hosts Appleton North. Neenah hosts Hortonville.
Kaukauna took the opening kick and quickly drove into Kimberly territory.
On a third and 7, Bron Schaefer escaped a Kimberly blitz and connected with Kavanaugh Weyenberg for 47-yard touchdown pass. A missed PAT put the Ghosts up 6-0.
After a 3-and-out for the Papermakers, the Ghosts moved downfield again, sparked by a long pass to Brock Verboncouer and capped off with a Schaefer pass to a wide-open Parker Schuh for a 20-yard touchdown.
The PAT put the Ghosts up 13-0.
Kimberly came to life on their next possession, putting together a scoring drive that ended in a 2-yard touchdown run by Kegan Pleau. The PAT closed the gap with Kaukauna to 13-7.
After a Kaukauna punt, Kimberly went on another drive that ended when quarterback Braedon Ellefson scampered for a 15-yard touchdown run to gave the Papermakers their first lead of the game at 14-13.
Kaukauna’s next possession ended with an interception, giving Kimberly the ball on their own 22.
On the next play, Pleau unleashed a 65-yard run to the Kaukauna 13, but the Ghosts forced a field goal and Kimberly went into the half up 17-13.
To begin the second half, Kaukauna’s Coach Matt Binsfeld called a short kick to surprise Kimberly.
Kaukauna recovered, leading to an Aiden Reardon 23-yard touchdown run and a Linkoln Xiong PAT to put the Ghosts back up 20-17.
After trading 3-and-outs, a 57-yard Ellefson to Aaron Cullen TD pass for the Papermakers put Kimberly back on top at 24-20 to end quarter 3.
On the opening drive of the fourth, an Ellefson to Carter Howard TD pass put Kimberly up 31-20.
After Kaukauna turned the ball over on downs late in the game, the Papermakers iced it with a 1-yard Brady Bell touchdown run to push the score 38-20.
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