Playoff spots, conference titles on the line as season winds down

Several area high school football teams have clinched or are in the process of clinching a playoff spot for the season. Also, many are in the running for a conference title.

Stratford 34, Wittenberg-Birnamwood 21

In what may go down as the CWC-Large conference title game, the Chargers fell from the unbeaten ranks and fell to fellow unbeaten Stratford on Friday. Led by Koehler Kitty and his 148 yards on the ground, the Tigers managed to withstand a strong showing from Nathan Waupekenay, who threw for 177 yards and a pair of scores. Kitty stole the show early on as he rushed for a pair of first quarter touchdowns to put Stratford in front 12-0.

Although held in check on the ground for the first time this season, Waupekenay managed to rush one in from six yards out to pull the Chargers to within 12-7 at the half. He would then hook up with Keegan Bambo from 14 yards out early in the second half as Wittenberg took their first and only lead of the game 13-12. From there, it was all Stratford, in particular Kitty who added two more scores to push the Tigers lead out to 28-13 before the Tigers closed things out 34-21.

Pulaski 49, Sheboygan North 26

Although the team is still under .500 on the season, the Red Raiders are one win away from clinching a postseason berth following a win over the Raiders of Sheboygan. Led by their 337 yards on the ground, including 151 from Logan Schultz, the Red Raiders offense got rolling early and often and dropped 35 points in the first half to set the tone.

Schultz also played a role in the passing game, completing all three passes he attempted for 17 yards with a pair of scores. It was the ground attack that set the tone in this one as Spencer Hakes, Schultz and Trevor Schuessler all had rushing TDs in the first quarter to help open a 21-6 lead. After Sheboygan North pulled within 21-14 following a Don Hamilton 34-yard TD run, Schultz hooked up with Ethan Schmidt for the first of two TD passes with Hakes adding his second score of the game to open up a 35-14 lead at the break.

Another TD run from Schuessler got the scoring started in the second half as the Red Raiders made quick work of Sheboygan North. With two winnable games remaining on the schedule, the Red Raiders should be playoff football again in 2023.

Bonduel 14, Mishicot 0

Bonduel now finds themselves just one win away from punching their ticket to the postseason as they picked up a hard-fought 14-0 shutout against Mishicot to move to 3-2 in conference play. Considering the start to the season for the Bears, should they make the postseason they will be a battle tested group and will be a team that no one wants to see in Level 1.

Oconto Falls 78, Clintonville 42

One of the most, if not the most exciting game of the weekend, came in Oconto Falls where the Panthers continue to lead the Northwoods Conference. Already with a playoff berth for the third consecutive season, the Panthers now have their sights on a bigger goal as they are trying to win their first conference title in more than 30 years. Anytime you rush for nearly 600 yards as a team you have a great shot, but this was about Alex Haines and the game he had.

Haines has been the catalyst for the Panthers offense all season, but not even he saw what was coming in this one as he finished with a career high 429 yards rushing and six scores while carrying the ball 27 times. That comes out to more than 15 yards per carry as the Truckers had no answers for him.

He wasn’t the only one who had a great game as Wyatt Laughrin added 79 yards and two scores as the running game was an issue for Clintonville all night.

Kade Rosenow continued to show why he is one of the better QBs in the state, tossing for 432 yards and four scores with Sam Wegener coming down with 306 of those yards on 14 receptions.

Wausaukee 50, Gillett 48

Another exciting game came in the 8-player side of things where Wausaukee edged out Gillett 50-48 in Peninsula Conference action. Jesse DeBauch continued to make plays in both the run and in the passing game as he was a part of five TDs in the loss.

Suring 40, Sevastopol 28

The Eagles picked up their first win of the season by taking down the Pioneers 40-28. Seth Scrivens (127) and Trent Thomson (115) combined to rush for more than 200 yards on the ground while also picking up a pair of TDs for Suring. Mikey Pecanas also did his job in the passing game completing 5-of-6 passes for 85 yards and a pair of scores.

After an exciting first quarter that saw both sides score a pair of TDs, it was the Eagles that took over in the second, picking up two additional TDs to put the game away. Jake Cornell used an 81-yard TD run to put Suring on top for good while Pecanas found Trent Van Den Elzen for 53 yards as Suring opened up a 32-14 lead at the half and never looked back.

Newman Catholic 51, Marion/Tigerton 6

In a matchup that pegged Marion/Tigerton against one of the premiere teams in 8-player football, it was Newman Catholic taking care of business as they won going away 51-6. Newman Catholic did a phenomenal job of keeping Braxton Genskow off balance as they made life miserable for the QB.

Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas 38, Gibraltar 18

The beat goes on for Lena as they have run their winning streak to six games to start the season with another easy win. Ironically, this game was much closer than many expected it to be early on as Lena held a 22-12 lead after one quarter of play. Calvin Peters set the tone with a pair of 50-plus yard TD runs with Ty Shallow also getting in on the action and using a 36 yard TD run to keep Lena in front.

Gibraltar continued to give Lena all they could handle and more as the Braden Sitte TD reception in the second made things 22-18, which was the score going into the break. After that, it was all Lena as they not only pitched a shutout in the second half, but used a pair of TD runs from Shallow and Logan Graef to bust the game wide open as their undefeated start to the season continued.

Lena rushed for 423 yards in the victory as all three of their backs topped the century mark in the victory. Given that both teams entered this game at 5-0, you could make a case that this was the conference title game as Lena is now in the driver seat the final two weeks.