Arrowhead scores pivotal victory
Arrowhead survived. Now, its playoff hopes advance.
The Warhawks nearly saw a 17-0 lead eventually become a loss against winless rival Oconomowoc after the Raccoons scored 28 unanswered points, but the Warhawks rallied.
Trailing, 28-17, after Brady Wraalstad’s 94-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Burch early in the fourth quarter, Arrowhead tied the game at 28 on a touchdown reception by Robbie Symdon, a two-point conversion and a field goal by Seth Fohey.
That set up Josh Nielsen’s 24-yard touchdown run in the final minute to give Arrowhead the 35-28 win.
The Warhawks have won three in a row after an 0-3 start and are 3-2 in Classic 8 Conference play. It was heavily in question just a couple of weeks ago, but it looks like Arrowhead may not miss the playoffs for the first time since 1995 after all.
St. Francis rallies
A battle of undefeated teams in the Midwest Classic lived up to expectations and had drama at the end to boot.
St. Francis came back from a 27-7 deficit against Living Word Lutheran, scoring 22 unanswered points for a 2927 win that allowed the Mariners to improve to 6-0.
The Wolverines jumped out to their 20-point lead despite tallying fewer than 60 yards of offense in the first half. After that, Ismael Bastardo, who finished with 178 rushing yards, scored two touchdowns as the Mariners claimed a lead with 4:06 left in the third quarter.
Bastardo’s biggest play of the night, however, came on defense with no time left. As LWL’s JJ Wingo raced away from the Mariners defense on a screen pass from his team’s 23-yard line, it appeared that the Timberwolves might win. Instead, Bastardo chased him down and made a diving tackle to end the game.
Grafton on the brink of playoffs
2018 has been good to Grafton.
The Black Hawks exploded for nine touchdowns en route to a 63-7 win over Cedarburg, improving to 4-2 in North Shore Conference play.
One more conference win would secure Grafton’s first playoff appearance since 1997, before any of its current players were born.
Joey Giorgi ran for 224 yards and four touchdowns, and Zach Weir threw for three touchdowns and Brady Ward one.
Angels stay perfect
Da’Shaun Brown returned after sitting out the first half to spark Racine St. Catherine’s in a 40-28 win over Racine Lutheran on Thursday that moved the Angels to 6-0.
Brown, who did not play last week against Dominican, threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more as he accounted for more than 200 total yards in the second half. The teams combined for eight touchdowns in the second half after being tied at halftime, 7-7.
The Angels and Martin Luther are still on course for an Oct. 5 battle of undefeated teams. Martin Luther running back Darios Crawley-Reid had 202 rushing yards and four touchdowns in Week 6 to extend his state-best totals in both categories.
Hamilton runs past Falls
There was another pivotal Greater Metro Conference game this week besides the blockbuster Brookfield Central vs. Marquette matchup.
Sussex Hamilton’s defense came to play and its offense, while turnoverprone at times, did more than enough in a 24-0 win over Menomonee Falls on Thursday night.
The win was the Chargers' third in conference play, and they improved to 3-3 overall with games left against Wauwatosa East (0-6), Brookfield Central (5-1) and Germantown (3-3).
Falls, meanwhile, dropped to 3-3 both overall and in conference play, as well as 0-3 while standout running back Julius Davis recovers from an injury. Falls also still has Wauwatosa East and Brookfield Central on its schedule, as well as a non-conference crossover against Kettle Moraine (2-4).