Wisconsin High School Football Field Halved After 27 Sectional Finals
Fifteen upsets and multiple one-point margins defined Friday's Level 3 WIAA playoffs, leaving one game for Saturday.
By Charles Reed ·
Twenty-seven of twenty-eight Division 1 through 7 sectional championships concluded Friday night, cutting the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association football field in half. The winners advance to Level 4 state semifinals next week, with a berth in the state championship games at Camp Randall Stadium at stake. Only the Division 4 title between No. 2 West Salem and No. 1 Racine St. Catherine's remains, scheduled for Saturday.
Defensive struggles and tight margins characterized several high-seeded matchups. No. 1 Bay Port required overtime to defeat No. 2 Waunakee, 28-21, after the Pirates had beaten No. 4 Neenah, 49-7, in the previous round. In Division 1, No. 2 Racine Case stopped No. 1 Muskego in a 6-3 defensive contest. Case had previously outscored its first two opponents 112-0, including a 49-0 win over No. 3 Kenosha Indian Trail.
Lower-seeded teams extended their postseason runs with decisive victories. No. 7 Brookfield Central fell to No. 1 New Richmond, 21-20, ending a run that included a 42-41 upset of No. 2 Beaver Dam in Level 1. No. 5 Catholic Memorial continued its surge through Division 3 by beating No. 2 Whitefish Bay, 40-15. The Crusaders, seeded fifth, previously defeated No. 4 Greendale and top-seeded No. 1 New Berlin West.
Scoring varied widely across the divisions. In Division 7, No. 2 Iowa-Grant shut out No. 1 Ithaca/Weston, 50-0, to secure its semifinal spot. Conversely, No. 3 Hilbert upset No. 1 Coleman, 25-22, in the closest game of the night. No. 2 River Ridge also defeated top-seeded No. 1 Cochrane-Fountain City, 25-21, after both teams played for low-scoring victories in prior rounds.
Dominant defenses featured in several other sectional finals. No. 1 Pewaukee shut out No. 3 New Berlin Eisenhower, 35-0, in Division 3. The Pirates have allowed only 20 points across their first three playoff games. In Division 4, No. 1 Freedom defeated No. 2 Northwestern, 42-6, extending a postseason that included a 42-0 shutout of No. 4 Lakeside Lutheran in Level 2.
The remaining Division 5 and 6 games produced mixed results for top seeds. No. 1 Darlington defeated No. 2 Durand-Arkansaw, 47-28, while No. 1 Amherst beat No. 2 Grantsburg, 41-19. In Division 6, No. 2 Lomira upset No. 1 Edgar, 16-12, and No. 2 Kenosha St. Joseph defeated No. 1 Manitowoc Lutheran, 27-14. No. 1 Mondovi advanced with a 27-12 win over No. 3 Regis.
The 27 teams winning Friday's games join the eventual Division 4 champion for the Level 4 round. The state semifinals will determine the final matchups for the WIAA championships at Camp Randall Stadium.
