APPLETON — On a beautiful Thursday night at Paul Engen Field, Appleton North opened up FVA conference play hosting Fond du Lac.
The Cardinals would take six minutes off the clock on their first possession which ended in a Rhett Hlavacka touchdown reception, but the always stout Lightning defense shut them out the rest of the way as Appleton North would go on to win 21-7.
"It meant everything to our team, man. Fond du Lac's a tough team. They started off rough, but took on some good teams. We had a great week at practice and this just really helped bring us all together," said senior safety Daniel Garrigan.
Lightning senior running back Bobby Salm had one rushing touchdown. Quarterback Charlie Olsen had one passing and one rushing TD, with one interception.
Garrigan came up huge for Appleton North. In the second half the Cardinals were around the red zone down 14-7, and he intercepted a pass and took it deep into Fond du Lac territory. He ended the game with two interceptions.
"He just wants it so bad," said Lightning head coach Rob Salm. He's a hard worker in practice. You knew it was going to happen. I'm really happy for him because the kids that work the hardest, you want them to have success and that was huge for us tonight."
Appleton North (2-1,1-0) takes on Oshkosh West (1-2, 0-1) in Oshkosh on Friday, Sept. 13.
Fond du Lac (0-3, 0-1) hosts Kimberly (2-0,1-0).
