Division 4
St. Croix Central 49, River Valley 28
This game was dominated by the St. Croix rush attack, which helped propel them to an easy win and Division 4 state title. St. Croix jumped ahead to a 21-point lead at the half, thanks to a rushing touchdown from Cole Refsnider and two scores from Ryan Larson.
River Valley would score their first points when Elijah Alt would find Derek Wedige for a 22-yard strike, but St. Croix would have an answer for every score.
Larson would finish the night with 157 yards on 41 attempts and 3 touchdowns. Refsnider completed his night averaging over 10 yards a carry, totaling 153 yards. He would have 2 touchdowns of his own.
The yardage total finished pretty even, with St. Croix outgaining River Valley 372-352 yards of total offense, despite not having one yard through the air. Collin Nelson was 0-for-1 passing the ball, but didn’t need his arm with the power run game. River Valley was held to 71 yards rushing, but managed 281 passing yards from Elijah Alt, who also had 3 touchdowns.
Division 5
Amherst 38, Cedar Grove-Belgium 35
In a thrilling shootout, it was the Falcons who outlasted Rockets for their consecutive state championship.
The game came down to the wire, as it went back and forth throughout all four quarters. The teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter to make things even keeled after one, but it was a pair of touchdowns for Amherst in the second quarter to give them the 28-14 lead at halftime.
Cedar-Grove Belgium would make the necessary adjustments for the third quarter, as they would go on to score 21 unanswered points. Quarterback Josh Weiss would hit Matt Dirske and Jason Von Heimburg for scores to knot things up heading into the fourth. From there, it was another score to Von Heimburg for his second.
Amherst would not go away quietly. With 5:12 left to play, Brandon Piotrowski called his own number for a 2-yard touchdown to tie the game. With just 9 seconds remaining, it was Carter Zblewski who converted a 26-yard field to give the Falcons the win.
Amherst hung on to win despite Josh Weiss’ record setting performance. He set all-division state finals records with 36 completions, 51 attempts, 383 yards, and five touchdowns.
For the Falcons, Brandon Piotrowski completed 10-of-15 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown. The team also ran for 198 yards. Chandler Been had 67 yards and 2 touchdowns and Devin Ostrowski carried the ball 14 times for 71 yards and a touchdown.
Division 6
Regis 27, Darlington 14
A 20-0 halftime lead for Regis would provide the team with all of the scoring they would need. The Ramblers scored on their first four possessions of the afternoon, while limiting Darlington to just 59 first half yards.
Darlington wouldn’t find the endzone untile midway through the fourth quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by Hunter Johnson. With the game already in hand, Darlington would tack on another score, this time a 36-yard strike from Jared Meister to Ryan Glendenning.
Regis was led by Noel Ortiz’s 132 rushing yards on 24 carries. The Ramblers combined for 226 yards on the ground. Quarterback Paul Petit completed 60 percent of his passes for 154 yards. He had one touchdown and two interceptions. This is Regis’ second WIAA state title and Darlington becomes the first team to finish state runner-up in four consecutive seasons.
Division 7
Edgar 36, Shullsburg 6
It didn’t take long for Edgar to put points on the board. Less than two minutes in, Alec Hafferman punched in a 1-yard score to give the Wildcats the early lead. Just seconds later, Karson Butt intercepted Noah Wand and took it the distance to give Edgar the 15-0 lead in the first with 8:49 left in the first quarter.
Hafferman would get another score on a 2-yard run to expand their lead to 22. Shullsburg would find their only points in the game late in the first, when Noah Wand hit Hunter Matya for a 9-yard touchdown to cut into the lead.
However, it would be all Edgar from then out. Hafferman would score his second on the morning, and Tyler Matysik would plunge in from a yard out just before halftime to give the Wildcats the 36-6 lead, which held the rest of the way.
Edgar outgained Shullsburg 318-226. They were led by Hafferman’s 136 yards and 3 touchdowns.
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