KIMBERLY, Wis. — A game’s biggest moment rarely happens with six minutes left in the first quarter.

But the overflow crowd at Papermaker Stadium collectively held its breath when Fond du Lac faced a fourth-and-goal from the Kimberly 4-yard line midway through the first quarter in a WIAA Division 1, Level 1 playoff football game Friday night.

When the two teams met just over a month ago, the Cardinals were successful in four fourth-down attempts in handing Kimberly its only loss of the season. Be it that Fond du Lac was already 1-for-1 on the fourth down on this drive, this was looking like a movie the Kimberly faithful had seen before.

This time, though, the Papermakers’ defense did its best brick wall imitation and a fourth-down pass into the end zone went begging.

“It’s better than scoring touchdowns, man,” Kimberly fullback Isaac Dechant said of the defensive stand.

Kimberly then marched 96 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead, and rolled past the Cardinals 41-14. Kimberly (9-1) will travel to Neenah (9-1) in a Level 2 game on Friday.

“For us to punch it in early and then get that big stop, and then drive down and score was just a huge part of the game.”“When you look back to the first time we played them, we had troubles in the red zone and we couldn’t get red zone stops,” said Kimberly coach Chad Michalkiewicz. “For us to punch it in early and then get that big stop, and then drive down and score was just a huge part of the game.”

Indeed, you could almost see the energy exit the Cardinals’ sideline.

A three-and-out followed Kimberly’s second touchdown. And following a punt, Dechant slipped unnoticed out of the backfield after a ball fake to running back Blake Barry.

Quarterback Seth Miron hit Dechant with a perfect pass and he rambled 64 yards for a 21-0 Kimberly cushion, with 8:13 left in the second quarter.

“We sold it, we sold the run play perfectly,’’ said Dechant, who had two TDs on the night to double his season output. “Great ball fake, got the safety to jump and I just ultimately went right through the gap and it was all green grass.”

A Kimberly ground game that had been bottled up it its previous meeting with the Cardinals was back running on all cylinders.

Barry, Kimberly’s leading rusher, was held to 45 yards on 13 attempts in the teams’ last meeting. Friday he went for 135 yards on 20 carries and three scores.

“Getting Blake Barry going; if you can get that type of run game going, that’s what it takes to go deep in the playoffs,” said Michalkiewicz.

Asked what it felt like to have the night he did after the last game with Fond du Lac, a wide smile crossed Barry’s face.

“It felt really good,” he said. “Last game, the trenches were having a tough time. But tonight the offensive line played really good and made my job really easy.”

“We had an edge on our shoulder and were ready to get after them today,” he added.

And that was exactly the message Michalkiewicz had for his team following the game. For Neenah’s lone loss, this season came at the hands of Kimberly.

“We need no further example than what we did tonight to stay hungry and stay prepared for Neenah,” Michalkiewicz said.

He said he hoped easily clearing this first-round hurdle would put his team in a great frame of mind.

“We believe we have one of the best teams in the state,” he said. “We still have to get better every day and show up and execute on Friday night. But this is a big confidence boost.”

And there is one more thing now working in favor of the seven-time state champions.

“Knock on wood,” said Michalkiewicz, “we’re the healthiest we’ve been right now.”

Story idea? You can reach Mike Woods at 920-246-6321 or at: michael.t.woods1@charter.com

Fond du Lac        0              6              0              8–14
Kimberly              7              21           14           0–42

Scoring plays

K – Blake Barry, 35-yard run (Hunter Berry kick)
K – Dechant, 4-yard pass from Seth Miron (Berry kick)
K – Dechant, 64-yard pass from Miron (Berry kick)
K – Barry, 20-yard run (Berry kick)
F – Stephen Schreiter, 1-yard run (pass failed)
K – Barry, 1-yard run (Berry kick)
K – Gavin Tyson, 6-yard run (Berry kick)
F – Ethan Wagner-Lane, 6-yard pass from Schreiter (Tyler Brandner run)