Tri-County Area prep football teams get ready for familiar playoff foes

Nathan Kurtz was insistent.

"Make sure you mention their names, all of them". he said.

Quinn Kinderman, Lincoln Burr, Peyton Seidling, Trevor Whittlinger, Brennan Steinke.

These were the fall Creek High School Football team linemen linemen who protected Kurtz and fellow quarterback Josh Wright in their game vs. Mondovi last week Friday, Oct. 18. They were the ones who helped the Crickets rush for nearly 200 yards against the Buffaloes and, those who played on defense, held Mondovi to just 137 yards in the opposite direction on the ground.

They were all a part of the Crickets' 21-18 upset win over the No. 8 ranked Buffaloes, a win that put them in the playoffs once again after a year's absence and their 24th playoff appearance in school history.

Linemen often don't get the recognition they deserve Kurtz wanted to make sure they received their proper accolades, especially seniors like Kinneman and Seidling playing their final time at Schultz Field as did Kurtz (and Gus Pranckus, and Caleb Steinke and Parker Nelson). To leave with a win that put them in the Field rather than backing in by some numerical formula or not making it at all was the best part. It's also special for Kurtz having missed half the season due to an injury.

"It's amazing," Kurtz said. "I'm so happy we could do this and to get a win over a team like Mondovi is going to be huge for the program in the future."

That future will include Wright and he and Kurtz combined to go 6-for-11 passing for 119 yards. It was Wright's 29-yard TD pass to Braylen Prorok that combined with Ethan Westrate's two-point conversion run gave FC a lead they didn't relinquish after falling behind 6-0 in the first quarter.

"It works for us to play two quarterbacks," FC head coach Marcus Wahleithner said. "You have Nate's experience and leadership plus the fact we've given snaps to Josh, who is a sophomore, and increased experience has been very helpful. It gives us a lot of flexibility on offense."

But it was on the ground where the Crickets were most effective. Kurtz put FC in front 14-6 in the third quarter on a one-yard quarterback sneak. It was Westrate, who finished with 131 yards rushing on 15 carries, who put FC up by two scores after he blasted his way right through the middle of the Buffalo defense for a 39-yard TD run.

"We've worked so hard as a team, getting up a 6:30 a.m. for morning practices and work hard at cleaning up mistakes and getting better to where we could win the big game we needed to get into the playoffs. It feels awesome!" Westrate said.

FC's defense held the line with the linemen preventing big-play runs by the Buffs and defensive back Koen Tumm having two key pass break-ups. By the time Mondovi scored again as freshman quarterback Bode Falkner, who was 11-of-16 for 174 yards, tossed a 35-yard TD pass to Beau Spindler, there was just 0.6 seconds remaining.

FC back Cullen Kramer rushed for 63 yards on 17 carries and Prorok, Tumm and Ayden Lapp all caught two passes each for 55, 42 and 22 yards respectively. Pranckus had a team-best 18 total tackles from his linebacker spot while Ben Pilgrim had 12, Burr had 12 and Bryson Elkins 11.

The Crickets' WIAA Level 1 playoff foe in Division 6 is a familiar one, No. 1 seed and No. 1 ranked, unbeaten Eau Claire Regis this Friday, Oct. 25 at Carson Park in Eau Claire. No. 8 seed FC lost to the Ramblers this season 26-0 but the re-match could be interesting if Fall Creek, playing their best right now on a three-game winning streak, avoids the mistakes it made to negate the good things they did in the game plus let Regis quarterback Owen Weisenberger and back Everett Tait have big games against them like they did in their last meeting.

"I knew we had the talent and ability to be a playoff team and the kids knew it too," Wahleithner said. "We just had to figure things out. We had to figure out the right way to play and not make the mistakes that have hurt us, especially in close ballgames like this one tonight. They've worked so hard to improve and I can't be more proud of them for what they've accomplished. And know what, when you're playing well and you've got confidence and momentum, who knows what can happen? Hopefully we can keep this going."

Speaking of familiar foes, Eleva-Strum will get one too in their Level 1, Division 7 playoff bracket. Unfortunately it's not the one they're looking forward to playing as they will have a repeat match-up with Dairyland Conference, No. 3 seed and No. 8 ranked Alma/Pepin, who are coming off a 54-14 beatdown of Cardinals at Central last week Friday, Oct. 18.

E-S only trailed by two scores, 30-14, at halftime after quarterback Brennan Hanner threw a 63-yard TD pass to Bo Windjue. Yet in the third quarter the Eagles outscored E-S 24-0 on Justin Bergmann's fifth touchdown of the ballgame from three yards out, a 39-yard TD run by Owen Post and a 23-yard scoring pass from quarterback Trent Krzoska to Clayton Kegel. Bergmann had all three two-point conversion runs in the quarter and finished with 171 yards rushing on 24 carries. A/P finished with 357 yards rushing.

E-S finished with 171 yards rushing and 84 passing but with only two passes completed. Brock Stendahl rushed for 75 yards on 14 carries, Luis Kinser had 20 yards on five carries, Hanner rushed for 39 yards on 11 carries and Ty Fjelstad had 39 yards on eight carries. Windjue led the team in tackles with nine while Kinser had eight and Landen Nordeen had seven.

The Cardinals, the No. 6 seed will have to figure out a way to break an three-game losing streak and figure out how to stop Bergmann to have any chance of advancing this Friday in Alma at 7 p.m.

One more additional team made the playoffs from the Dairyland Conference even at 4-5 overall and 3-4 in the league and that was Whitehall after a 53-6 win last Friday at Augusta. Cayden Johnson led the Norse with 175 yards rushing on just five carries, scoring three times on long runs from scrimmage. He also returned a punt 71 yards for a score. Teammate Bo Killian rushed for 134 yards on 12 carries and had a TD as well.

Augusta senior Noah Schroeder finished his high school playing days at Centennial Field as the Beavers' leading rusher at 109 yards on 31 carries and he scored his team's only TD of the ballgame. Teammate Beau Harmer rushed for 64 on 15 carries as AHS had 200 yards rushing, one of their better efforts of the season despite the final score. Schroeder also led the team in total tackles with seven while Harmer had five.

WIAA Football Division 6 playoff bracket - https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Results/Football/2024/d6bracket.pdf...|

WIAA Football Division 7 playoff bracket: https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Results/Football/2024/d7bracket.pdf...