Scott Keyes
Sports Scene
Pewamo-Westphalia not only made it to the school’s first-ever state football final, but it also nearly pulled off an undefeated season to boot.
Unfortunately, they went up against a gritty Nouvel Catholic Central team that was on a mission this season, behind Bennett Lewis, who rushed for 200 yards all in the first half, Pewamo-Westphalia lost the state title game 56-26.
The Pirates’ courageous journey to the state final was one of sadness. Hours after their district championship over Saranac, P-W players were informed that senior Brendon Nurenberg was involved in a terrible car accident. Days later he would pass away.
Prior to the regional game against Watervliet, Nurenberg was honored by the senior class, the community, and the football team with a moment of silence in his memory.
Needless to say, the Pirates came into the state final with heavy hearts.
“Our guys rallied around that for Brendon,” Pewamo coach Brad Weber said.
“He was just a fun guy, the guys loved being around him,” Weber said. “For the most part, they knew he would have fun, so they did, too.”
Nurenberg was a relative of some of the football team members, and he played on the baseball team, where he was a teammate of quarterback Justin Thelen.
“I can’t say enough about the support these last couple of weeks since the accident,” said Thelen. “And we felt the only way to do our part was by making it this far. Honestly, I have no regrets about how hard we fought today. This whole season has been awesome.”
Despite giving up 56 points in the first half of the game, Pewamo-Westphalia never gave up.
Thelen threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns. Those came in the second quarter — a 56-yarder to Josh Nurenberg and a 48-yarder to Lane Simon.
“A lot of pride in that program,” said Nouvel coach Mike Boyd. “They came back, we ended up having to put our first team defense back into the game, and they still scored against us.
“If not for a couple of turnovers, it could have been a much closer game.”
Weber felt that Jeremy Miller, his offensive line coach, provided the best wisdom for the situation.
“He said, ‘We’re going to see what you guys are made of,’” Weber said. “Bad things happen, you get punched in the stomach sometimes. How do you respond? Are you made of mush or are you made of steel on the inside?”