West De Pere defense holds off Kaukauna in playoff thriller; Bay Port, Notre Dame also move to semifinals

KAUKAUNA - Maybe it’s recency bias or maybe it’s the fact that he’s seen a lot of West De Pere in the last three seasons, but Kaukauna football coach Matt Binsfeld made a bold prediction Friday night.

“They’re an excellent team. I’ll put a little pressure on them and say I think they win it all after this,” Binsfeld said after the Phantoms held off the Ghosts 20-14 in a WIAA Division 2 state quarterfinal game at Bank of Kaukauna Stadium.

The victory improves West De Pere to 11-1 overall and advances it to a semifinal against Rice Lake. It was the sixth meeting between the Phantoms and the Ghosts in the last three seasons.

West De Pere’s victory wasn’t secure until the final play of the game, when senior defensive back Bryce Borowicz broke up a pass in the end zone intended for Kaukauna standout receiver Parker Schuh.

“We finally got through Kaukauna. Now it’s 3-3. We’re tied with them,” West De Pere coach Chris Greisen said. “We’re just happy to be able to get a win out of this. What a tremendous game, especially at the end. Our defense pulled it out, so I’m really proud of them.”

The Phantoms went ahead 17-14 on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Greisen to Judeah Kniskern with 8:04 remaining in the third quarter, then pushed their lead to 20-14 with a 42-yard field goal by Brandon Schaefer with 7:40 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Kaukauna began the ensuing drive at the 20-yard line and marched downfield, eating up the clock with its powerful run game. Ghosts quarterback Bron Schaefer converted two fourth-down runs on the drive, including a fourth-and-1 with 21 seconds remaining.

After back-to-back false start penalties pushed Kaukauna back to the 16, Schaefer threw two incompletions to set up third-and-goal with 2 seconds on the clock.

After taking the shotgun snap, the left-handed Schaefer rolled to his left, then fired a pass toward Schuh near the front pylon in the end zone. At the last second, Borowicz stepped in front of Schuh and was able to break up the pass and set off a wild celebration on the field.

“I saw grit. We talked about it, our four pillars — grind, responsibility, intensity and trust,” Coach Greisen said. “I’ll tell you what, I don’t care how we win, whether it’s Patrick throwing eight touchdowns or our defense stopping them at the end of the game. This is awesome for our team and I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”

Brock Story gave West De Pere a 7-0 lead with a 20-yard touchdown reception from Greisen on West De Pere’s first possession of the game.

Kaukauna responded with two touchdown runs by Aiden Reardon — a 6-yard run and a 2-yard run — to lead 14-7 after the first quarter, but the Phantoms didn't allow another point.

“Holding Kaukauna to zero points in the second half, I mean that’s huge,” Coach Greisen said. “So hat’s off to coach (Kegan) Wirtz and our defensive staff and our kids.”

Bay Port knocks out defending champion Marquette

Bay Port beat Milwaukee Marquette in a D1 quarterfinal, knocking out the defending state champion and avenging a 42-15 loss in the playoffs last season.

The Pirates flipped the script this year, jumping out to a 14-0 lead early and never trailing.

Junior running back Brady Moon had one of the best games of his career, rushing 32 times for 206 yards and three touchdowns for a Bay Port team that rushed for 243 yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry.

Moon put the Pirates up 7-0 on a 37-yard run in the first quarter before junior quarterback Matt Stevens extended the lead on a 1-yard score in the second quarter.

The only issue Bay Port had in a first half it dominated in time of possession was leaky special teams.

Marquette cut the lead to 14-7 on a 90-yard kickoff return from standout running back Tommy Novotny, who appeared to be limping from an injury for much of the game.

Bay Port immediately responded with a 1-yard TD run from Stevens with 6 minutes, 6 seconds left in the first half — the drive included a beautiful 37-yard catch from Sawyer Torp on a third-and-8 — but Marquette used a 37-yard punt return later in the quarter to set up a 30-yard TD pass from Mason Steinhoff to Jack Dorley to make it 21-14 at halftime.

But Bay Port reclaimed a 14-point lead on a 4-yard run from Moon in the third quarter that helped send his team to a semifinal.

The Pirates held an explosive Marquette offense to 153 total yards of offense. Novotny had 53 yards on only nine carries after entering the game with 1,317 yards and 24 TDs.

Bay Port, a No. 2 seed, will play No. 7 seed D.C. Everest in a semifinal after Everest upset No. 1 Waunakee 31-21.

Green Bay Notre Dame dominates top-seeded Grafton

Green Bay Notre Dame (12-0) is one win away from the D3 title game after a commanding 28-6 win at No. 1 seed Grafton.

The No. 2 seed Tritons will play No. 3 La Crosse Logan in a semifinal.

Senior running back Christian Collins had three TD runs and also had a 23-yard touchdown pass to star tight end James Flanigan out of the Wildcat formation.

“All the credit goes to the linemen,” Collins said. “I can’t do what I do without them. They’re dogs up front. They make the holes and I just gotta execute from there.”

Collins' masterful performance in the backfield brought his rushing touchdown total to 32 this season. It was also his first passing touchdown of the season.

“I saw those linebackers coming up and I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be wide open,’” Collins said. “I was smiling before I even said, ‘Hut!’”

The Tritons completely shut down one of the state’s best offenses. The Black Hawks came into Friday’s showdown averaging 38.2 points per contest and outside of two first-quarter field goals, quarterback Brady Hilgart, bruising back Tommy Lutz and the high-powered offense was stuck in neutral most of the night.

“I think a lot of what we saw on film is that they do a lot of the same things we do,” Notre Dame coach Michael Rader said. “They have a really good running back. They got a good offensive line. They do a lot of good stuff. We really focused on playing against ourselves to a point because we have a really good running back in Christian and he can do a really good job of demonstrating what they can do as well.”

Wrightstown advances to semifinal

In Division 5, Trevor Vande Hey had a pair of touchdown passes and the Wrightstown defense had a pair of interceptions to propel the Tigers to the state semifinals with a 21-20 win over Kiel.

Wrightstown (11-1) will play Northwestern (10-2) in a semifinal.

Vande Hey had a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jaeden Kittoe and a 42-yard strike to Daniel Buntin. Vande Hey also had 87 yards rushing on nine attempts.

Buntin had a 1-yard touchdown run and an interception off Kiel quarterback Cade Voelker.

Kiel trailed 21-14 near the end of the fourth quarter, but Bryce Gullixon scored on a 1-yard plunge but failed to convert on the 2-point conversion run, coming up just short. 

The Tigers then ran out the clock, converting on a pair of first downs to cap the game.

Bonduel edges Coleman

In D6, Ryan Westrich’s 1-yard touchdown run and a 2-point conversion pass from Cade Johnson to Carter Moesch in the second quarter was the decisive score in Bonduel’s 15-13 win over Coleman.

Bonduel (11-1), which finished with 212 yards of offense, advances to the state semifinals where it will play Grantsburg, a 31-8 winner over Eau Claire Regis.

Coleman, which finished its season with an 11-1 record, had 183 yards of offense.

Scott Venci of the Green Bay Press-Gazette and Michael Whitlow of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed.