It’s too bad the Bonduel and Kewaunee football teams don’t play each other more often.
Kewaunee handed the Bears a 14-7 loss during the regular season on its way to a Packerland Conference championship, but Bonduel returned the favor Oct. 31, as the Bears returned home with a 37-36 win in a WIAA Division 6 Level 2 playoff game on the Storm’s home field.
Meanwhile, Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas Academy rebounded from a close win over Athens in Level 2 of the 8-player playoffs with a convincing home win over previously undefeated Wabeno/Laona, while Lake Country Lutheran ended Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s season with a 35-14 win over the Chargers in another Division 5 playoff game in Hartland.
Bonduel 37, Kewaunee 36
Kewaunee scored the game’s first two touchdowns to take a 14-0 lead, but the Bears outscored the Storm 21-6 in the second quarter and led 21-20 at the break.
Brett Paulsen capped Kewaunee’s second drive of the game with a 4-yard quarterback keeper. A missed extra point left the game 6-0.
The Storm soon had the ball again after recovering a fumble, and Paulsen scored from a yard out and added a two-point conversion pass to Connor Kilgore.
A turnover led to Bonduel’s first score of the second quarter. After Paulsen intercepted Quinn Wesenberg’s pass that gave the Storm the ball at its own 13-yard line. Carter Moesch intercepted Paulsen’s pass on the first play of the drive and returned it 13 yards for a touchdown.
Kewaunee answered with Paulsen’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Kilgore, but a missed extra point gave the home team a 20-7 lead.
Gavin Hundt returned the kickoff 80 yards to cut the lead to 20-14, and Moesch gave the Bears their first lead with a 65-yard touchdown run with just over a minute remaining in the first half.
Bonduel had the ball again before halftime after Paulsen fumbled after being hit. However, a holding call on the Bears and a sack kept the score at 21-20 at halftime.
Bonduel opened the second half with a drive that took more than half of the third quarter but turned the ball over on downs inside the Kewaunee 30-yard line.
The Bears took a 27-20 lead on Jack Zernicke’s 1-yard run and Wesenberg made it a two-score game by scoring on a run after Bonduel lined up to kick an extra point.
Paulsen added another 1-yard scoring run and threw a two-point conversion pass to Waylon Delain to cut the lead to 29-28.
Kewaunee soon had the ball again with just over a minute to go in the game after a short Bonduel drive. Paulsen found Diesel Bosdeck for a 77-yard touchdown pass that gave the Storm a 26-29 lead, but the Bears weren’t finished.
A long kickoff return set the Bears up on Kewaunee’s side of the field and Moesch scored on an 8-yard run.
Instead of kicking an extra point that would have tied the game, coach James Westrich decided to try a two-point conversion and the decision paid off, as Moesch scored to score the game’s final two points with 29 seconds to go in the game.
Moesch finished with 178 rushing yards.
The Bears will now head to Edgar on Nov. 7 to face the top-seeded and two-time defending Division 7 state champion Wildcats.
Lena/STAA 38, Laona/Wabeno 14
A pair of undefeated teams met in Lena with a trip to the 8-player state semifinals on the line.
The Titans are headed back to the semifinals for the second year in a row after ending the Rebels’ season.
Lena/STAA opened the game with a pair of touchdowns. Jake Farley scored the Titans’ first touchdown with a 15-yard run and added a 27-yard catch from Colt Miller. Max and Sam Peterson added two-point conversion runs to help give the Titans a 16-0 lead.
The Rebels cut the lead in half in the third quarter on Walter Winkelman’s 12-yard run and Cooper Albrecht’s two-point conversion run.
Four minutes later, Max Peterson found himself in the end zone after a 70-yard run. After a successful two-point conversion, the Titans took a 24-8 lead into the fourth quarter.
Carson Joyce scored from a yard out on the Titans’ next drive, but the Rebels answered on their next drive with a 5-yard run from Albrecht to make it 30-14.
The Titans sealed the win with another score, as Max Peterson scored from a yard out, and Farley added a two-point conversion pass to PJ Finger.
Max Peterson finished with 179 of the Titans’ 297 rushing yards, while Farley added 77. Albrecht led the Rebels with 177 passing yards.
The top-seeded Titans will now face No. 2 McDonell Central Catholic at 7 p.m. Nov. 7 at Stiehm Stadium in Weston, near Wausau. The Macks advanced to the semifinals with a 66-30 win over top-seeded Flambeau.
A pair of No. 1 seeds will meet in the other semifinal, as Gilman will face Oakfield Nov. 7 in Waupaca.
Semifinal winners will play for a state championship at 1 p.m. Nov. 15 at South Wood County Stadium in Wisconsin Rapids.
Lake Country Lutheran 35, Wittenberg-Birnamwood 14
Top-seeded Lake Country Lutheran led 21-0 at halftime and held the fifth-seeded Chargers to a pair of touchdowns in the second half in a Division 5 Level 2 game in Hartland.
The Chargers finished with a 5-6 record.
Upcoming games
Nov. 7 (both games 7 p.m.): WIAA Level 3 Division 6 playoffs: No. 3 Bonduel at No. 1 Edgar. WIAA Level 4 8-player playoffs: No. 1 Lena/STAA vs. No. 2 McDonell Central Catholic at D.C. Everest High School, Weston.
