The first day of WIAA State Football Championships are in the books.  Four new champions were crowned with three more games set for Friday.

Division 7  Black Hawk 22, Edgar 15
Division 6  Iola-Scandinavia 43, Racine Lutheran 14
Division 5  St. Mary Springs 20, Stratford 17
Division 4  Racine St. Catherine’s 8, St. Croix Central 7

Franklin jumped out to a 14-0 lead, only to see Kimberly dominate the second half to pull out a come-from-behind 2914 win in the WIAA Division 1 Championship game at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.

Kimberly (14-0) extended its nation best winning streak which now stands at 56 games.  They also captured their fourth straight state title, the first in Division 2 and the last three at Division 1.

The Papermakers out-gained Franklin 257 to 97 in the second half.  Senior running back DJ Stewart fumbled in the first half but rebounded in the second to score a pair of touchdowns to finish off the comeback win.

Kimberly came from 21-points down in last years state title game to knock off Arrowhead.  They also earned a comeback win over Fond du Lac in this years state quarterfinals.

Division 2

Brookfield East held off Monona Grove 42-36 to win the Division 2 championship. [Read more…]

Day 1 Finals

D-7  Edgar 36, Shullsburg 6
D-6  Regis 27, Darlington 14
D-5  Amherst 38, Cedar Grove-Belgium 35
D-4  St. Croix Central 49, River Valley 28

Day 2 Matchups

D-3  Notre Dame vs. Catholic Memorial  –  10 am
D-2  Brookfield East vs. Monona Grove  –  1 pm
D-1   Kimberly vs. Franklin  –  4 pm

Arrowhead blew a 21-point second half lead and Kimberly pulled out a 49-42 victory in the WIAA Division 1 State Championship game at Camp Randall Stadium.

The Papermakers extended their winning streak to 42-straight games and won their third straight championship.

Senior Blair Mulholland set Division 1 records for carries (46) and yards (341), scored from 1 yard out with 11 seconds left to complete the fourth quarter comeback.  And it happened with the snow falling at Camp Randall.

Arrowhead (12-2) reached the championship game for the fourth straight year.  Senior quarterback Johnny Duranso set a record with 275 passing yards and tied the record with three touchdown passes.  He completed 11 of 16 and accounted for five total touchdowns.

Other results

D-2  Homestead 28, Waukesha West 12
D-3  Green Bay Notre Dame 19, Catholic Memorial 17

Matt Winters rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns to lead Homestead to a 28-12 win over Waukesha West in the WIAA Division 2 State Championship game.

Homestead (12-2) finished with a 201-99 advantage on the ground to capture its fifth state championship overall and second in the last four years.

The Highlanders turned three Waukesha West turnovers into 21 points early and they were too much to overcome for the Wolverines.

Catholic Memorial jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but four turnovers proved costly as the Green Bay Notre Dame Tritons pulled out a 19-17 win to capture the WIAA Division 3 State Football Championship at Camp Randall Stadium.

With the Crusaders up 17-13 in the fourth quarter, senior quarterback Alex Bray was picked off in the end zone, one of his three fourth quarter interceptions.

The Tritons drove the ball 80-yards on just three plays as senior quarterback Robert Petitjean found Jonathan Santaga with a 32-yard touchdown pass with just over three minutes to play to give the Tritons the lead.

Petitjean completed 10 of 19 for 197 yards and two touchdowns for the Tritons (12-2).  Junior Liam Gerl rushed for 57 yards on 23 carries after starter Nate Ihlenfeldt left the game in the second quarter with an injury.

The Crusaders (11-3) out-gained Notre Dame 418 to 272 but couldn’t overcome the costly turnovers.

The WIAA State football championships resume with three more games on tap today (Friday) at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.  Following is the Thursday scoreboard and Friday schedule.

D-4 Championship:  Osceola 28, Lodi 0
D-5 Championship:  Amherst 42, Spencer-Marshfield Columbus 0
D-6 Championship:  Fond du Lac Springs 39, Darlington 20
D-7 Championship:  Bangor 20, Pepin-Alma 14

Friday Schedule

D-3 Championship:  Notre Dame (11-2) vs. Catholic Memorial (11-2)  10 a.m.
D-2 Championship:  Homestead (11-2) vs. Waukesha West (11-2)  1 p.m.
D-1 Championship:  Kimberly (13-0) vs. Arrowhead (12-1)  4 p.m.

Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs (12-2) captured its second straight WIAA Division 6 State Football Championship, knocking off Darlington 39-30 on Thursday at Camp Randall Stadium.

Clay Schueffner and Fintan Floyd combined for 417 yards rushing and five touchdowns to lead the Ledgers, who captured their sixth overall state football title.

Darlington (13-1) running back Hunter Johnson returned a kickoff 86-yards for a touchdown which broke the Division 6 record for longest kickoff return.  Johnson had 20 carries for 119 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.

2013 Football Championships

Thursday & Friday, Nov. 21-22 Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wis.

Division 7:  Glenwood City (12-1) vs. Black Hawk (13-0) – 10 a.m.

Division 6:  Shiocton (13-0) vs. Darlington (12-1) – 1 p.m.

Division 5:  Stanley-Boyd (13-0) vs. Lancaster (13-0) – 4 p.m.

Division 4:  Winneconne (8-5) vs. Platteville (9-4) – 7 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 22

Division 3:  Greendale (13-0) vs. Monona Grove (13-0) – 10 a.m.

Division 2:  Oshkosh North (13-0) vs. Kimberly (13-0) – 1 p.m.

Division 1:  Arrowhead (12-1) vs. Franklin (12-1) – 4 p.m.