This story is sponsored by Victory Apparel
By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
STRATFORD – The Stratford Tigers woke up Friday morning tied with Wittenburg-Birnamwood and Weyauwega-Fremont for first place in the Central Wisconsin Conference Large Division, all undefeated at 4-0.
When they wake up on Saturday, the Tigers will be in first all alone after downing the Wittenberg-Birnamwood 34 -21 on Friday night at Tiger stadium.
Perennial powerhouse Amherst helped the Tigers out by pounding Weyauwega-Fremont 57-36 on Friday.
The Tigers will travel to Weyauwega-Fremont next Friday to see if they can extend their lead, while the Chargers will be at home against Shiocton.
It didn’t seem that the visitors would be much of a problem for the Tigers as they ran out to a two-score lead.
All-conference tailback Koehler Kilty pounded it in from the 2 with about three minutes left in the first quarter. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior doubled that up with a 7-yard blast to make it 12-0.
The Chargers weren’t undefeated for nothing and they showed it.
Taking the ball from their own 19 with 2:06 left in the first half, the Chargers drove down the field with the big play a 42-yard pitch and catch from quarterback Nathan Waupekeway to Casey Kielman, to get to the Tigers’ 18.
Five plays later Waupekeway dropped back to pass, finding no one, as the clock ran out and squeaking in from the six for a TD as the time expired in the half cutting the lead to 12-7.
That momentum seemingly carried over to the third quarter as the Chargers took the ball at their own 21. The biggest play came on third-and-13 from their own 43 when Waupekeway hit Kielman with a 43-yarder. A few plays later, Waupekeway hit Keegan Benbow with a 14-yard scoring strike to take the lead at 13-12. The drive covered 79 yards in 10 plays.
“Give them credit,” said Stratford coach Jason Tubbs, “they took the lead and shocked us a little bit with two big, long pass plays but that’s their offense. Gladly we got better position on those late and were able to knock some of those down.”
Seemingly undaunted, the Tigers started a drive of their own starting at their own 22 and churned out a 12- play drive. The key play, a 26-yard bolt off left tackle by Kilty set up Stratford in the red zone. Kilty lugged it in from the 8 two plays later to regain the lead.
Kilty scored again to open the fourth as he busted off left tackle for 44 yards and a score.
Stratford defensive back Jack Tubbs nabbed a Waupekeway pass out of the air to gain more momentum, but two plays later the Tigers coughed it up on a fumble.
The big-armed senior Waupekeway found Owen Dickman just two plays later to cut the lead to one score with 6:32 left in the gamed.
“We made enough plays to beat them,” continued Tubbs, “but they have a lot of great playmakers. We were up to the challenge because we have guys that are trying to become playmakers themselves. We know what we have in Gavin (Leonhardt) and Koehler (Kilty), but to see an O-line play their tails off. We’re just really proud of them. My kid (quarterback Jack Tubbs) knew when to get rid of it, made plays with his legs and had an interception on defense, so we did have others step up.”
A short kickoff gave the Tigers decent field position at their own 41 and Kilty ripped off a run for 18 before the Chargers dug in forcing a third-and-13 at their own 42.
Somehow, Gavin Leonhardt got away and Tubbs hit him with a 42-yard TD to end the scoring.
The Chargers ran seven more plays before giving it back to the Stratford to end the game.
Tigers 34, Chargers 21
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 0 7 6 8 – 21
Stratford 6 6 8 14 – 34
First Quarter
S – Koehler Kilty 2 run (kick failed), 3:07.
Second Quarter
S – Kilty 7 run (pass failed), 10:56.
WB – Nathan Waupekeway 6 run (Waupekeway kick), 0:00.
Third Quarter
WB – Keegan Benbo 14 pass from Waupekeway (run failed), 8:39.
S – Kilty 8 run (Kilty run), 2:40.
Fourth Quarter
S – Kilty 44 run (Kilty run), 10:23.
WB – Owen Dickman 28 pass from Waupekeway (Jett Rogowski pass from Waupekeway), 6:32.
S – Gavin Leonhardt 42pPass from Jack Tubbs (run failed), 3:28.
Team Statistics
First downs: WB 10; S 14.
Rushing (att.-yards): WB 31-81; S 41-251.
Passing (att.-comp-yards-int): WB 11-20-177-1; S 4-8-115-0.
Total yards: WB 258; S 366.
Fumbles (total-lost): WB 0-0; S 1-1.
Penalties: WB 4-25; S 1-10.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: WB, Braeden Groshek 7-35, Waupekeway 14-26, Bryson Schmid 5-18. S, Kilty 23-145, Tubbs 12-60, Leonhardt 5-42.
Passing: WB, Waupekeway 11-20-177-1. S, Tubbs 4-8-115-0.
Receiving: WB, Casey Kielman 5-107, Rogowski 3-21, Dickman 1-28, Benbo 1-14, Marshall Fraaza 1-7. S, Leonhardt 2-103, Cole Tichy 1-26, Payton Glenn 1-12.
Records: Wittenberg-Birnamwood 6-1, 4-1 CWC Large; Stratford 6-1, 5-0 CWC Large.