MADISON, Wis. — An attitude adjustment 365 days in the making can do wonders for a high school football team.
Just ask Columbus.
“I felt like we were almost scared last year,” said junior running back Colton Brunell, whose Cardinals were ousted by Catholic Memorial in the state semifinals in 2021.
This year, not so much.
The Cardinals overcame their fears and Ma Nature to take a 23-21 victory over three-time defending champion Catholic Memorial in the WIAA Division 4 championship game Thursday at the snow globe better known as Camp Randall Stadium.
“This year,” said Brunell, “we just wanted revenge.”
You could call it, Revenge of the Birds.
The victory gave the Cardinals (14-0) their first state title since 1996, which also happened to be the last time they made it to the state title game.
“The city of Columbus, it’s been on their mind for a long time,” said Cardinals coach Andrew Selgrad. “And I cannot tell you, or express, how excited
Columbus has been. We’ve had so much support. We had a huge sendoff (Thursday). People were lining the streets all the way out to (Hwy.) 151. So this is a huge moment not just for our football team but the community.”
It was a moment that was well-earned.
An 8-yard TD run by Brunell capped a seven-play, 65-yard drive to open the second half and gave Columbus a 20-14 lead.
Later in the quarter, Columbus faced a fouth-and-1 at the Crusaders’ 49 but Brunell was stopped short. The very next play, Catholic Memorial quarterback Isaiah Nathaniel threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Bennett McCormick and he Crusaders were out front 21-20.
In the fourth quarter, Columbus took over at its own 21 after stopping the Crusaders on fourth down. They went 65 yards on 11 plays and then it was up to kicker Corbin Hynes who had a 31-field goal attempt in swirling winds, snow and freezing temperatures.
Also on his mind was an extra point that was blocked earlier in the game.
“I asked him, ‘Hey, can you make this?’” Selgrad said of his conversation with Hynes. “And he said, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’
“‘Go do it then, period,’” Selgrad said he told him.
And Hynes did, putting the ball through the goal posts.
“He did his job and executed like he’s been doing all season,” Selgrad said. “I’m so proud of the way he responded, and the whole team.”
The Crusaders had one final chance but a fourth-down pass from their own 33 was off the mark.
“I can’t even put into words how incredible this feeling is,” said Brunell, who finished with 186 yarsds rushing and two TDs. “It’s been a dream. And it just came true.”
Division 5
La Crosse Aquinas 22, Mayville 14
Aquinas quarterback Jackson Flottmeyer had a question for the media on Thursday night.
“Wasn’t that a great game of football?” he asked.
As a matter of fact, it was.
“That was Ali-Frazier II,” said Aquinas coach Tom Lee. “Those were two championship teams going at it. And we were able to outlast them once again.”
Surviving a wild final four minutes, the Blugolds held off Mayville for the second straight year to win their second straight WIAA state title.
Aquinas looked to be driving in for the go-ahead score with just over 4 minutes left to play. But Calvin Hargrove had the ball knocked out of his hands inches before the goal line and a mad scramble ensued in the end zone. Brett Ziolkowski appeared to recover it in the back of the end zone for Aquinas.
But after initially signaling a touchdown, officials overturned the call after a replay review determined Ziolkowski was partially out-of-bounds when he recovered the ball.
The touchback gave the ball to Mayville, but on its third play Kole Keppel punched the ball out from Cardinals’ running back Damien Hauglie and Aquinas’ Henry Suttie recovered.
Then on first-and-10 from the Mayville 27, Flottmeyer shoveled the ball to Collin Conzemius, who weaved his way for through the Mayville defense for the touchdown. Hargorve ran in the 2-point conversion for a 22-14 lead with 1:59 to play.
“We were tough, mentally tough,” said Lee. “No bad body language when we got that touchback. Came out, figured out a way to make a play then punched it in.”
On the first play after the score, Flottmeyer intercepted an Adison Mittelstadt pass to seal the win for Aquinas (13-1), a school that just seven years ago was winless and looking to form a co-op team with another school just to keep the program afloat.
“Football is romantic,” said Flottmeyer, who finished 7-of-11 for 137 yards and two touchdown passes. “The way we play this game, it’s hard. People might think it’s easy but we worked our tails off for this, man. It’s really special.”
Blake Schraufnagel finished with 132 yards on 32 attempts and a TD for Mayville (13-1), which held a time of possession advantage of more than 10 minutes but had two 14-play drives stopped on failed fourth-down attempts.
Division 6
Stratford 32, Mondovi 14
The team that never played at home this season will be bringing the gold championship trophy home for good.
Stratford, because its home field was under renovation this fall, played 14 straight road games this season. And the final one resulted in the school’s eighth championship, the second-most in state history behind only Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs’ nine.
“Best feeling in the world to finish it,” said Stratford coach Jason Tubbs. “These guys embraced it and said, ‘We can do it anywhere. It doesn’t matter.
Let’s just play.’”
The play that will be talked about the most was the epitome of fortuitous bounces.
Holding a 6-0 lead and facing second-and-16 from its own 41, Stratford quarterback Braden Schueller’s pass intended for Gavin Leonhardt was broken up by Dawson Rud. But as the players and ball fell to the ground, the ball ricocheted off of Leonhardt’s foot, bounded up in the air and was intercepted by Mondovi’s Jake Linse.
Linse returned it 15 yards to midfield before he was hit by Startford’s Ashton Wrensch and fumbled. The Tigers’ Izaiah Hadlock dove on the ball just before it went out of bounds and Stratford – after a lengthy booth review -- retained possession.
Seven plays later, Koehler Kilty went up the middle for 3 yards and a 13-0 lead.
“I was mad we didn’t run the ball,” Tubbs said. “Give those guys credit, they made a play. Our guys made a play right back and went down and scored.
That’s just the way our season has been.”
Kilty led the Tigers offensively with 192 yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns.
This was Stratford’s first state title since 2008. The Tigers (11-2-1) had reached the finals twice since then but lost each time.
“From our childhood we really dreamed of this moment,” said senior linebacker John Seitz. “I didn’t know if it was going to be true but we really fought. Fought, fought fought and we won. So this is 100% worth it. We deserve every single penny of it.”
Cade Fredmstad had four catches for 110 yards and a TD to lead Mondovi (12-2).
Division 7
Eau Claire Regis 41, Shiocton 7
After Eau Claire Regis was ousted from the WIAA Division 7 playoffs last season, coach Bryant Brenner had a message for running back Zander Rocknow.
“On our bus ride home last year from our loss in Level 4, coach said, ‘Zan, make this the last game we ever lose together,’” Rocknow said. “And I said,
‘OK.’ So we did.”
Indeed they did. Regis capped off a 14-0 season Friday by dominating Shiocton 41-7 in the Division 7 state championship, marking the 13th straight game the Ramblers won by at least 23 points.
Rocknow, a 6-2, 235-pound senior, finished with a Division 7 championship game-record 251 yards on just 16 carries (15.7 average per carry) and scored three touchdowns.
The biggest carry was on the first play of the game. Operating out of the wing-T, Rocknow took the handoff, headed left, found a hole and went 65 yards into the end zone with the game just 12 seconds old.
“A veteran coach told me a while ago that when you’re playing down here, if you can get a big play early it really helps,” said Brenner. “So we talked to our kids a little bit about that. If we could come out and make a big play early in the game that could really give us some momentum.”
That it did, as the Ramblers raced to a 28-0 halftime lead and cruised home from there.
“We were just trying to start the game out strong,” Rocknow said of his TD. “Started with a bang.
“It felt amazing. I just opened my eyes and said, ‘It’s go time.’”
Regis finished with 467 total yards to 227 for Shiocton.
Cade Stingle led the Chiefs (11-3) with 55 yards and a touchdown.
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