Fall Creek, Eleva-Strum play in WIAA Level 2 playoffs contests
What both the Fall Creek and Eleva-Strum prep football teams have in common is not just that they both won their WIAA Level 1 Football Playoff games last week, but that their wins were a long time coming.
Eleva-Strum won its first playoff game in eight years and for Fall Creek it was the first time since 2013 they were playoff winners. E-S won at Blair-Taylor 34-12 and Fall Creek shutout Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 40-0.
Both teams hope to keep the winning going into Level 2 and both face daunting challenges to do so.
As No. 5 seeds, they get to take on two undefeated No. 1s this week, No. 2 ranked Eau Claire Regis at Carson Park in EC for Fall Creek in Division 6 and No. 7 ranked Oshkosh Lourdes at UW-Oshkosh's Titan Stadium for Eleva- Strum in Division 7. Kick-off for both games is at 7 p.m.
Trailways Conference winner Oshkosh Lourdes is led in both passing and rushing by junior quarterback Brady Bauer. He's thrown for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns on 91-for-130 yards passing and has rushed for 859 yards on 103 carries and 18 touchdowns. His top receiver is junior Lucas Neuens, 43 catches for 645 yards and nine TDs. Their top tackler is junior Max Behnke, 75 tackles, 10 for loss with two sacks and a fumble recovery. The Knights have won their last three contests via shutout.
This is the first meeting on the gridiron between E-S and Lourdes. For Fall Creek, Regis is a more-than-familiar foe as a fellow Cloverbelt Conference members. The Ramblers topped FC this season at Fall Creek by a 37-22 score. Last year, the Crickets nearly pulled off the upset as a No. 8 seed against then No.1 Regis in Level 1, losing after missing a field goal in the closing seconds.
Fall Creek has to presume Regis will not be surprised by FC's play and will be more-than- ready for this Halloween ballgame. So all things being equal, FC's chances rest upon their defense stopping Regis from running the ball led by Brody Tarbox, the senior running back who had a big game on the ground against the Crickets in their last encounter not let quarterback junior Joey Brahmer and senior wide receiver Austin Rideout hook up for big plays like they did during their regular season contest as well. Forcing turnovers and turning them into points which the Crickets didn't do too well against Regis this fall, will be critical for Fall Creek to have a chance for the win.
Both FC and E-S are also similar in that they have the means to play solid, ball control offense to control the game and gave themselves the best chances at winning. For E-S this means quarterback Reede Brown and backs Luis Kinser, Elliot Walsh and Brock Stendahl along with receiver Bo Windjue and for Fall Creek its running back Cullen Kramer, quarterback Bryson Elkins, wide outs Koen Tumm and Braylen Prorok along with their experienced linemen up front.
