Quarterback Niko Koshak and wide receiver Austin Selvick of the New Berlin Eisenhower football team put up some pretty startling numbers last week in the Lions' 48-7 romp over New Berlin West.
Koshak completed 11 of 13 passes for 319 yards, breaking the school single-game record for yards passing of 297 set by Joe Behrendt, who went 16-for-28 on Oct. 28, 1995.
Selvick caught eight of those tosses for 212 yards, shattering the school single-game receiving mark of 161 yards set by Ryan Schweiger that same night.
The two also hooked up for four touchdowns.
Now, those would be outstanding numbers for a game, but Koshak and Selvick both reached them in just the first half before sitting out the second half of the lopsided contest.
Those numbers are startling in themselves, but especially so in the light of the fact that Eisenhower has been primarily a running team over the years.
What in the name of Don Coryell was going on?
Well, it was actually all part of the Lions' game plan, which was cleverly built upon their own reputation. "They (the Vikings) wanted to stop the run," Koshak said, "and we wanted to see if we could pass on them."
Also, coach Jeff Setz, much like Miami Dolphins legend Don Shula, adjusted his philosophy to fit his talent. Shula won two Super Bowls with the pounding running style of Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick, but when Dan Marino, Mark Duper and Mark Clayton came along, Shula did an about-face, switching to a wide-open passing game, and went to another Super Bowl.
Similarly, Setz realized he had to utilize the special talent of Selvick. "We felt that we had some pretty good weapons," he said. "We've got some pretty good DB's (defensive backs) on our own team, and they have a hard time stopping Selvick in practice. We saw how good Selvick can really be, and Niko sure put the ball up there nicely and allowed him to make those catches out in space."
Throw in the explosive Ian McKechnie (a catch-and-run for 80 yards against West and several long kick returns this season), and it's easy to see why Eisenhower has outscored its four opponents in the first half by a combined 130-60.
Certainly nothing 'grind-it-out' about those numbers. Woodland opponents may have a hard time grounding the Lions this season.
