Two area football teams picked up road wins over higher seeds in the first round of the WIAA state football playoffs.
Pulaski handed Milton a 23-20 loss Oct. 24 in a Division 2 matchup in Milton, while Wittenberg-Birnamwood headed to Brookfield and returned home with a 42-12 Division 5 win over Brookfield Academy.
Meanwhile, Lena/STAA kept its undefeated season intact with a 14-6 win over Athens in a Level 2 8-player game. The season ended for Oconto Falls and Marion/Tigerton with home losses of 27-12 to Wrightstown and 50-16 to Sevastopol, respectively.
Pulaski 23, Milton 20
The fifth-seeded Red Raiders overcame a 20-14 deficit behind 202 rushing yards from Bohdan Schmidt to get a win over the No. 4 Red Hawks.
Schmidt opened the scoring for Pulaski with a 47-yard pass to Gavin Sikorski in the first quarter, but the Red Hawks answered later in the quarter with quarterback keepers of 31 and 11 yards from Jake Cummins.
Both teams found the end zone once in the second quarter. Schmidt scored on a 38-yard run, and Cummins’ 1-yard run gave the home team a 20-14 halftime lead.
Neither team scored in the third quarter; then Schmidt gave Pulaski its first lead with a 2-yard rush in the fourth quarter. The Red Raiders capped the scoring with a safety.
Milton’s Lucas Weinert had given the Red Hawks a 23-14 lead midway through the third quarter with a 37-yard field goal, but a penalty on Pulaski on the play resulted in an automatic first down. Two plays later, Keaton Dauk intercepted a Cummins pass, and the Red Raiders responded with a 12-play, 76-yard scoring drive that ended with Schmidt’s second rushing touchdown. Schmidt picked up 61 of his team’s yards on the drive on 11 of his 33 carries in the game.
The safety gave Pulaski a three-point lead and, after recovering an onside kick, Schmidt converted a pair of first downs to help Pulaski run out the clock.
The Red Raiders will now face top-seeded and undefeated West De Pere on Oct. 31 in De Pere. The Phantoms beat Pulaski 52-9 in a Fox River Classic Conference-North game earlier in the season.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 42, Brookfield Academy 12
The fifth-seeded Chargers scored two touchdowns in each of the first three quarters and had a 42-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter of a win over the fourth-seeded Blue Nights.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood will also be on the road for the second round of the playoffs, as the Chargers will head to Hartland on Oct. 31 to face top-seeded Lake Country Lutheran.
Lena/STAA 14, Athens 6
Max Peterson rushed for both of the Titans’ touchdowns as Lena/STAA improved to 10-0 on the season.
Peterson also had 139 of Lena/STAA’s 205 rushing yards against the Bluejays.
The teams headed into the second quarter tied at 0-0. Peterson’s first touchdown and two-point conversion gave the Titans an 8-6 halftime lead.
His second score turned out to be the only points scored in the second half.
Lena/STAA will now host second-seeded Wabeno/Laona on Oct. 31 in a Level 3 matchup.
Wrightstown 27, Oconto Falls 12
Sixth-seeded Wrightstown eliminated third-seeded Oconto Falls on the Panthers’ home field.
Oconto Falls brought a seven-game winning streak into the game, but the Tigers held the Panthers to their fewest points scored this season.
Nathaniel White’s touchdown pass to JJ Pytleski in the second quarter gave Oconto Falls a 12-7 lead, but Wrightstown outscored the Panthers 20-0 the rest of the way.
The Panthers finished the season with an 8-2 record and a Northwoods Conference championship.
Sevastopol 50, Marion/Tigerton 16
Marion/Tigerton’s most successful season in program history came to a crashing halt with a loss to the Pioneers in an 8-player Level 2 game in Marion.
Sam Anheuser’s rushing touchdown in the first quarter gave the Thundercatz an 8-6 lead, but the Pioneers held them to one score the rest of the game.
Marion/Tigerton trailed 28-8 at halftime. The Thundercatz cut into the lead with Braylon Mielke’s touchdown run in the third quarter, but the Pioneers added to their lead with a pair of scores.
Marion/Tigerton finished the season with an 8-2 record.
Thursday, Oct. 23
Shawano 39, Wautoma 12
The Hawks topped the Hornets 39-12 in a nonconference game at Wautoma. Shawano ended the season at 2-8 overall.
Upcoming games
Oct. 31 (all games 7 p.m.): WIAA Level 2 playoffs: Division 2: No. 5 Pulaski at No. 1 West De Pere; Division 5: No. 5 Wittenberg-Birnamwood at No. 1 Lake Country Lutheran; Division 6: No. 3 Bonduel at No. 2 Kewaunee. WIAA 8-player Level 3 playoffs: No. 2 Wabeno/Laona at No. 1 Lena/STAA.
