Wildcats Football Season Comes to a Close

Having secured a tie for the Midwest Classic Conference North title, the football team entered the first round of the WIAA Division 4 state tournament playoffs Saturday. The Wildcats lost the playoff game to Valders High School 28-19 at Brown Deer High School.

Statistically the game was nearly even. Valders had 290 rushing yards and 59 passing yards for a total of 349 yards gained. The Wildcats had 84 yards on the ground and 244 through the air for a total of 328 yards gained. The Vikings just made their yards count for more touchdowns and points on the scoreboard.

After USM's opening drive ended with a punt, Valders ran the ball seven of eight times on an 89-yard drive that concluded with a five-yard touchdown run by Kyle Brown. Nathaniel Lehman kicked the extra point and Valders led 7-0 with 7:53 left in the first quarter.

Following the kickoff, The Wildcats commenced a 12-play drive that included a 15-yard pass from quarterback Tommy Pennington to Toran Marks, a 17-yard run by Marks, a 10-yard run by Kenny Servis and a 6-yard touchdown run by Marks at 4:37. The extra attempt was no good and the Wildcats had cut Valders lead to one.

The Vikings made their lead larger on the very next series of plays. After a 38-yard run by Stetson McCulley, Valders quarterback Dayton Goehring completed two short passes that put the Vikings on the USM 26-yard line. Goehring then ran the ball to USM's 4-yard line and Brown finished the drive by running the ball over the USM goal line. Lehman's extra point gave the Vikings a 14-6 lead at 2:41 of the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, USM's defense forced Valders to punt. The Wildcats got the ball on their own 28-yard line. Pennington threw a 65-yard bomb to Lane Stanford that put the ball on the Valders' 7-yard line. After being sacked on the next play, Pennington kept his composure and fired a 19-yard scoring strike to Duke Butler. Pennington's successful extra point kick tightened the scoring margin to one once again.

The teams exchanged punts on the next two series. McCulley returned USM's punt to the Wildcats' 24-yard line. After four rushing plays, including a 7-yard touchdown run by Brandon Ertl and then another point after kick by Lehman, Valders had a 21-13 lead with just 59 seconds left in the half.

The Wildcats scored the only points in the third quarter. USM kept the game close with a 6-yard touchdown run by Pennington with 7:20 left. The 2-point conversion failed and the score was 21-19 in Valders' favor.

Both defenses held their opponents early in the fourth quarter. After a short USM punt, Valders gained control of the ball on the Wildcats' 25-yard line. Five short runs by Brown and Ertl put the Vikings on the USM 10-yard line. From there, Ertl ran it over for the score. Lehman's fourth extra point made it 28-19 with 1:50 left and an interception on the Wildcats' first play after the kick off sealed the victory for the Vikings.

In the game Ertl ran for 151 yards; Brown gained 61 yards; Goehring gained 39 yards; and McCulley gained 38. Goehring threw five of 16 passes for 59 yards. 

Pennington completed 17 of 37 for 244 yards. Butler made eight catches for 110 yards; Stanford caught six for 101 yards; Marks caught two for 30 yards and Austin Heun caught one for six yards. Marks was the Wildcats' leading rusher with 32 yards. Servis gained 19 yards; Pennington gained 18 yards and Djdade Denson gained 16 yards for USM.

Valders heads further into the playoffs with a 7-3 record. The Vikings face Kewaunee at Valders on Saturday in a WIAA Level 2 contest. The loss ended USM's season. The Wildcats finished with a 5-5 record.