This story is sponsored by: The University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
SPENCER – The Spencer/Columbus Catholic football team has never made it this far in the WIAA playoffs. Neither has Shoreland Lutheran.
Next week, one of those two teams will be playing for its first state championship after they meet up Friday night in a WIAA Division 5 Level 4 state semifinal at Ingalls Field in Ripon.
The game begins at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on WOSQ-FM 92.3 and wdlbwosq.com.
Spencer/Columbus has never made it this far in the postseason in its 14 years of the co-op program, while Shoreland Lutheran’s three playoff wins are its first since winning a Level 1 game in 2005. Prior to the start of the co-op, Spencer advanced to the state finals just once in school history, losing to Osseo-Fairchild in the Division 5 title game in 1982.
The Rockets (12-0) are in the semifinals after beating Stratford 30-15 last Friday at home. S/C led 8-0 at halftime before pulling away with three touchdowns in the third quarter.
Shoreland Lutheran (10-2) placed third in the Metro Classic Conference standings this season, losing to conference champion Burlington Catholic Central 49-30 and second-place Kenosha St. Joseph 28-22, Since that loss on Oct. 2, the Pacers have won five in a row, including a 35-21 victory over Marshall last week in a Level 3 playoff.
“The focus has been great,” Spencer/Columbus coach Jason Gorst said. “I have not noticed any difference in the way guys are preparing for our next opponent. We have really taken a week-by-week approach this season so this is the first time that we can actually say it is a team goal to get to Madison.”
The Pacers have a diversified offense, with quarterback Nik Lange throwing for 1,331 yards and 22 touchdowns, with just five interceptions. Keenan Robinson leads the running game with 1,031 yards and 11 touchdowns. Receiver Trey Johnson has 42 catches for 660 yards and 12 touchdowns, including eight for 124 yards and a pair of scores against Marshall.
“Any teams that makes it to Level 4 is very deserving to be there,” Gorst said. “They are good team and we are excited to play them. They have a good mix of run and pass on offense and some good linebackers that make plays on defense. At the end of the day, it will come down to how well we execute, block, and tackle.”
The Rockets should be well prepared after having to grind it out for much of their game against Stratford.
Spencer/Columbus drove 69 yards on 13 plays for a touchdown on its first possession – a 10-yard touchdown run by Hunter Hildebrandt.
The Rockets went 81 yards in nine plays on the first time they had the ball in the second half. Noah Zastrow’s 39-yard run, the longest offensive play of the game for S/C, helped set up a Hunter Luepke 2-yard touchdown, that made it 16-0.
“Our guys knew to expect a very good and well-prepared Stratford defense,” Gorst said. “We knew we would have to grind out some drives and not rely on big plays as they are a very sound tackling team. We hurt ourselves in the first half with turnovers. We knew we had to stay focused in the second half and limit mistakes to pull off double-digit play drives.”