WIAA FOOTBALL SEMIFINALS
Games begin at 7 p.m.
Division 1
Muskego (12-0) vs. Marquette (12-0) at Arrowhead: No matter which teams wins, it will represent a break through. Muskego hasn’t been to the finals since losing the 1994 state championship game to Arrowhead and Marquette hasn’t been since Dick Basham retired after winning it all in 2009. Each team will present the other with a unique challenge. For Marquette, it will be dealing with the combination of speed and physical play that Muskego brings to the field. For Muskegoit will be slowing down an offense that can run and pass the ball as well as Marquette.
Division 2
Marshfield (12-0) vs. Homestead (12-0) at Menasha: Marshfield escaped a couple of tight jams the past two weeks, holding off a late charge from Menasha in the second round and coming back from a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Pulaski in the quarterfinals last week. Ryan Kruger is a player Homestead will have to worry about. The 6-foot, 205-pound senior has completed 58% of his passes for 1,666 yards and is the team’s No. 3 rusher with 453 yards and 4.5 yards per carry.
Waunakee (12-0) vs. Brookfield Central (12-0) at Oconomowoc: Last year you worried about Waunakee’s 1-2 punch of Javian Dayne and L.O. Johnson in the backfield. This year the Warriors’ big playmakers are senior Jarrett Wulf, a first-year starter at quarterback who has thrown for 2,311 yards and senior Sawyer Maly, who has caught 50 passes for an average of 23.4 yards per grab. Central counters with a defense that has forced seven turnovers in three playoff games and has eight sacks in the last two.
Division 3
New Berlin Eisenhower (12-0) vs. Catholic Memorial (11-1) at Kettle Moraine: Eisenhower, led by standout lineman Mark Shields, has posted one shutout in the playoffs and is allowing just 147 yards and four points per contest. Memorial, meanwhile, shut down a 2,000-yard rusher in East Troy’s Jake Dessart and is coming off a shutout of Mount Horeb in the quarterfinals. Led by junior linebacker Ben Kreul, the team’s leading tackler, Memorial is allowing seven points and 219 yards per game.
Division 4
Lakeside Lutheran (11-1) vs. Racine St. Catherine’s (12-0) at Waukesha North: Slowing down Lutheran means stopping the run. The team averages 295 rushing yards per game and runs it about three times as often as it passes. Stopping the run, however, is right up St. Catherine’s alley. In two meetings with Martin Luther standout Darios Crawley-Reid, the Angels held the 2,000-yard rusher to 101 yards in 28 carries, an average 3.6 yards per carry, in those contests.
Division 5
Lake Country Lutheran (12-0) vs. Fond du Lac Springs (12-0) at West Bend East: A winner of three of the last four Division 6 state titles, Springs moved up to Division 5 this year. The Ledgers have won 26 straight games. Lake Country Lutheran is playing for its second straight state final berth. Who’s hot for the Lightning? There are a lot of options, but senior Dane Vance is averaging 218 yards rushing and 10.9 yards per carry in the playoffs.
Division 6
Lancaster (9-3) vs. Racine Lutheran (10-2) at Elkhorn: This is game will be determined by each team’s ability to stop the run. Lutheran junior Tyler Tenner is averaging 211.7 yards per game in the playoffs. Lancaster splits the load between three backs: junior Corey Hahn (196 for 1,269 yards), sophomore Hayden Knapp (153 for 922) and junior Dawson Bowen (120 for 822).