MADISON, Wis. — Kimberly could always count on Blake Barry. And because they did so once again Friday, the Papermakers added to their count of WIAA state championships.
Barry ran for 185 yards on 33 carries and scored 4 touchdowns, including the game winner with 26 seconds to play, as the Papermakers outlasted Mukwonago 34-30 in a stellar WIAA Division 1 state championship game at Camp Randall Stadium."
With the win, Kimberly collected its eighth state title to tie Stratford for second-most in state history. Only Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs, with nine, has more.
“He’s unbelievable,” said Kimberly coach Chad Michalkiewicz said of Barry. “He’s steady. He’s the same guy all day, every day. He shows up, does the work in the weight room. We tell him all the time, even if you get a 1-yard carry you’re wearing the defense down. Like nobody wants to tackle Blake Barry.
“He’s one of those backs, kind of indicative of Wisconsin football, too. You just keep grounding and pounding and the dam’s going to break. He’s going to get his yards and it’s just awesome to see him take over a state championship game.”
Mukwonago suffered a major injury on the third play of the game when Wynn Stang, one of the premier backs in the state who ran for over 2,700 yards this season, broke his collarbone when he was tackled for a 5-yard loss.
But the Indians showed they had the will, and the skill, to nearly pull out the win anyway.
“With Wynn going out in the first series, the kids tried to rally around him and we battled all night,” said Mukwonago coach Michael Gnewuch. “We just ran out of time.”
Mukwonago held a 30-27 lead when Kimberly took over on its own 40 with 4:22 on the clock.
Barry started with a 14-yard run, quarterback Seth Miron added a 15-yard scramble and Barry took a handoff and swept right into the end zone the final five yards for the decisive touchdown and cap the 9-play drive.
“It feels great to be able to party in the end zone, as Michalkiewicz would say,” said Barry.
Barry said the mood in the huddle on the final drive was business as usual.
“For us, it’s just taking it as a normal drive,” he said. “Don’t think about anything more than it actually is. We don’t want to come in and thinking if we don’t score the game’s lost. I think just keeping a level head helped us there.”
Barry also credited several Kimberly football alumni, who put together a video that was shown to the team before they left for Madison on Friday.
“We had a nine-minute video from a bunch of alumni, telling us that we got this,” Barry said. “And to not make it any bigger than it is. Guys that went to play big-time Division 1 football telling us that they’re watching and they’re rooting for us. It means a lot, and I think it really helped us out tonight.”
Division 2
Kettle Moraine 27, West De Pere 10
Coach Matt McDonnell had a hard time describing what it meant to the Kettle Moraine community to see its team win its first WIAA state championship since 1988.
And for good reason.
“It’s weird to think about because 1988 was the year before I was born,” McDonnell said. “So I haven’t been alive since the last time KM won state. So to kind of cement this team, this community and myself in the record books is really cool.”
Momentum swung for good in the Lasers’ favor midway through the second quarter.
Trailing 14-10, the Phantoms were driving and had a first-and-14 at the Kettle Moraine 42. Quarterback Duke Shovald found Andrew Kroll over the middle for 10 yards. But as Kroll tried to pick up more yards, the Lasers’ Parker Kalis punched the ball loose and teammate Jonathan Ksobiech recovered on his own 32.
On the next play, Dylan Portz took the handoff, went right and raced up the sideline for a 68-yard touchdown and a 21-10 lead. It was Portz’s only carry of the night.
“He had his one opportunity and made the best out of that,” tight end Nolan Schopp said of Portz. “Couldn’t have had that without the o-line. They did an amazing job, especially (6-2, 250-pound Sam) Coufal, that big man running down field making a block for him.”
From there the Lasers relied on a defense that was able to hold West De Pere to a season-low in points.
“They’re phenomenal,” McConnell said of his defense. “They prepare really well, watch a ton of film and soak in every ounce of information that we give them. Then Friday nights they just lock in and turn it loose and play really fast and physical. They’re just not scared of anybody.”
A key to their success was limiting the Phantoms’ Najeh Mitchell, who was rushing for an average of 129 yards a game on the season, to just 63.
“Defense, we knew we were going to hold them,” said Schopp, who also plays linebacker. “That’s where we’ve been stellar all year. Our guys are just absolute animals up there. They’ve just been destroying everybody.”
Schopp noted he would never forget the reaction from the Lasers’ fans once the game was over.
“It’s an indescribable feeling,” he said. “Just leaving the game and seeing the community support us, to see how together we were. It meant the world to all of us.”
Division 1
Monroe 35, West Salem 14
As the clock wound down, Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski turned to the gentleman next to him, arms wide open.
“’Come here, old man,’” he said as he embraced his father, Jerome, a Wisconsin Football Coaches Association hall of famer who never got to experience the thrill of a state championship.
“He’s never been in this, and I know he has to be so proud and so happy,” Toby Golembiewski said. “That’s something to remember forever, and I hope I made him proud.”
All of Monroe was proud Friday as the Cheesemakers once again laid claim to a WIAA state title, their first since 1994 and sixth overall.
It also was the final hurdle for this team that fell to eventual state champion Pewaukee in last year’s semifinals.
“You know, we weren’t ready,” Golembiewski said. “That game got too big for us in the end and we weren’t ready.”
That was not the case Friday.
The Cheesemakers (14-0) are the epitome of three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football. Running the ball is always priority No. 1. And it carried them to a state championship.
“We try not to hurt ourselves,” Golembiewski said. “We put the ball on the deck, that’s about the worst that can happen to us. We run a system. We try to do things that aren’t dangerous, that are solid and we try to prepare to be the best we can on those (offensive and defensive) lines. We just basically try to stay no-nonsense and try not to hurt ourselves. Don’t beat yourself.”
On Friday, Monroe rolled up 341 yards rushing and threw it just three times.
The Cheesemakers took advantage of one of four first-half West Salem turnovers to go up 7-0. Then they used their only completion of the day – a 42-yarder from George Brukwicki to Charlie Wiegel – to set up their second TD for a 14-0 lead.
From there the ground game – led by Tucker Markham’s 170 yards and four TDs and Alex Hernandez’s 122 yards – enabled them to main control of the game.
West Salem was limited to 64 yards rushing and 190 overall.
“It feels so good,” said Markham. “Twenty-six years since we’ve been here. I mean, it feels so good. The guys have worked so hard.”
It was also a day where Monroe was at its best when it mattered most.
“It feels great that we executed every part of our game plan,” Markham said. “We worked all summer, all last year, worked together, put in the time, put in the effort and to execute like we did today it feels great. We got the job done and did it right.”
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