Vikings force four-way tie in Woodland Conference
WAUWATOSA – The late Paul Reubens, “Pee Wee Herman,” used to have a segment about a secret word of the day on the “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” show, and for Wisconsin Lutheran head football coach Joel Radue on Friday night, that word was consistency.
Nobody screamed for joy after Radue preached on the want to stay consistent, but the Vikings pulled off a surprising 35-14 victory over Woodland Conference leader Greendale for their third straight victory. Suddenly there’s a four-way tie atop the standings with three weeks left in the regular season and the Vikings are on level terms with the Panthers, Greenfield and defending champion Grafton at 3-1.
“Our consistency and our effort that we put in,” Radue said after the win on what he liked most about his team’s fourth win of the campaign. “I liked the work that we put in. Everything about this week could’ve been hard and it wasn’t. The kids really bought into what we wanted them to do and the results speak for themselves.”
The Vikings came out of the gate strong, taking a 14-0 lead nine seconds into the second quarter on the back of two touchdown passes by Henry Szymanski. The first was to a wide-open William Lee down the seam on their opening drive on the night, and then a 23-yard bubble screen to Connor Raabe on fourthand-7.
“Our (offensive line) played great tonight,” Radue said with thorough emphasis. “They dominated up front. We had plenty of time to throw the ball whenever we wanted to, plus most of our running stuff worked. Henry was on target with everything tonight. It was huge for us.”
Greendale got a much-needed answer with a touchdown-defensive stop-touchdown sequence to tie the game at 14-14 with 3:02 left in the second quarter. Noah Koss capped the Panthers’ first scoring drive with a touchdown run from a couple yards out. A defensive stop later, Gabe Torres leaked down the middle of the field for 90 yards on a skinny post from Landon Lopez to tie the game.
The turning point came following the tying score. The Panthers tried to catch the Vikings with a surprise onside kick that just slid out of bounds around midfield. Three plays later after a sack, the Panthers were called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with about 45 seconds left in the half, keeping the drive alive for the Vikings. Szymanski found a wide-open Trey Raabe for six to take a 20-14 lead into the break.
“Their resiliency is so strong,” Radue said on the first of two onside kick tries. “They didn’t panic. They did what they were supposed to do in that situation. With that back-and-forth going like that, it actually worked out better for us with field position.”
Greendale appeared to snatch momentum back with another surprise onside kick, this one successful. Junior defensive lineman Marquell Bovia Jr. shut down any hopes of a momentum swing for the Panthers with a sack on fourth-and-7 around midfield, leading to a Josiah Rice touchdown and a two-pointer from Caleb Wilson to put the Vikings up two scores once more with 6:04 left in the third quarter.
The Wisco defense smothered Greendale down the stretch and actually outscored the Greendale offense in the second half when Anthony Brown returned a fluttering Lopez pass for a score with 3:19 to play.
“Our pressure up front was huge,” Radue said on the second-half shutout of a balanced Panthers offensive attack. “Guys were relentless up front. They fought, and fought, and fought, and eventually, I think we just completely worn them out.”
Wisconsin Lutheran is replicating some of its 2022 success
Last season, Wisconsin Lutheran started the season 0-3 before reeling off seven straight victories to finish second in the Woodland Conference at 6-1 and qualify for the Division 3 playoffs before being eliminated by Grafton in the opening round.
This season, the Vikings dropped two of the first three games and now sit at 4-2 with a shot at a share or an outright conference title with some assistance in the final three weeks. They’ll be favored the next two weeks against Shorewood/Messmer and Cudahy before the finale against South Milwaukee. It’s a bit of deja vu for the Vikings with the program trending in the right direction at the right time of the season.
During Friday’s homecoming festivities, Wisconsin Lutheran honored the 1998 team on the 25th anniversary of its private schools state title. Radue was asked what will be the focus for the Vikings using this midseason momentum to make another run, and you can probably guess which word he used.
“Consistency,” Radue said. “We need to continue to be physical like we were tonight. We need to pay attention to the details and peak at the right time. We want to be playing our best football at the end of the season. As long as we continue to take care of the football on offense and stay as physical on defense as we were tonight, we’ve got a chance to be pretty good.”
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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Week 6 of high school football in the Milwaukee area provided some narrow wins, top-10 battles and plenty more games with massive playoff and conference race ramifications.
Here are three takeaways from Thursday and Friday nights.
14 area teams secure playoff bids
With four conference wins being the threshold to secure WIAA playoff qualification, Week 4 of the conference slate meant an opportunity for several teams to punch their ticket to the postseason. Through Friday's games, 14 area teams are playoff eligible with 4-0 records in their respective conferences: Badger, Catholic Memorial, Franklin, Homestead, Kenosha St. Joseph, Kettle Moraine, Lake Country Lutheran, Milwaukee King, Muskego, Port Washington, Racine Lutheran, Racine St. Catherine's, Sussex Hamilton and Westosha Central. Among that group is defending WIAA Division 2 state champion Kettle Moraine, making its seventh straight playoff appearance to set a program record. Catholic Memorial, the runnerup last year in Division 4, is also back in the postseason after a 35-7 win over New Berlin West on Friday. After sneaking into the postseason last year with a 4-3 conference record, Lake Country Lutheran joined Metro Classic rival Racine St. Catherine's in getting to four conference wins.
Parkland race tightens entering final three weeks
The Parkland is led by Catholic Memorial at 4-0, but the conference race behind the Crusaders is just heating up.
Wauwatosa West picked up a crucial win over Pewaukee in the final minutes Friday, as a two-point conversion pass by senior quarterback Ben Kortbein to senior receiver Alex Meyer gave the Trojans the eventual 15-14 win. Tosa
West had pulled to within 14-13 a play earlier on a nifty gadget play that resulted in a passing touchdown from senior tight end Tristan Smith to Kortbein. The win moved Tosa West to 3-1 in the Parkland, putting the Trojans in a tie for second with New Berlin West and a win away from playoff qualification. Pewaukee fell to 2-2 and is tied for fourth with New Berlin Eisenhower, which held on for a 16-14 victory over Wauwatosa East. There will be plenty of interesting games to follow in the Parkland over the coming weeks as that race narrows, starting with next Friday's New Berlin West visit to Pewaukee.
Unstoppable force, immovable object vie in Greater Metro
One of the more intriguing litmus tests going into the week appeared to be between two programs playing superb football of late, led by two units in particular that would square off Friday. Few had come close to slowing down a Sussex Hamilton offense averaging 51 points per game entering a matchup with Marquette. Meanwhile the Hilltoppers had pitched four straight shutouts while outscoring opponents 158-0. With the first playoff qualification in the Greater Metro on the line Friday, Sussex Hamilton routed Marquette 50-21. It was another superb game for the Chargers' senior quarterback, Tyler Hatcher, who threw for 370 yards and four touchdowns while running for 60 yards and three scores. Senior receiver Nick Kihn led Chargers pass catchers in receptions with seven for 191 yards and a touchdown, while fellow senior Andrew Eichmann hauled in three touchdown receptions totaling 64 yards. Marquette pulled as close a 16-14 early in the second quarter before Sussex Hamilton scored 34 unanswered points by the end of the third. The win kept Sussex Hamilton undefeated at 6-0 overall, while Marquette fell to 4-2.
Zac Bellman