Highlander football is headed to state

Gaby Geiger, Sports Team Editor|November 14, 2015

The boys football team celebrated the victory that took them to the semifinal game against Chippewa Falls, in which they won 27-23, allowing them to advance onto state.

The boys football team is heading to Camp Randall after a 27-23 victory over the Chippewa Falls Cardinals on Friday, Nov. 13 at UW-Stevens Point, which will go down as one of the most exciting games of the year.

The Highlanders played without four year-varsity veteran Jack Popp, who was out due to an injury to his left elbow, so Noah Check, senior, took his place on the defensive side.

The team came back to win after trailing by large deficits twice throughout the game, led by having the offense score when it needed to and by having the defense come up with big stops throughout the whole game.

Chippewa Falls came out strong, scoring twice and putting 13 points on the board to Homestead’s 0. The first score came off of a 1-yard touchdown run, and the other score came from a 7-yard touchdown run, which was followed by a missed 2-point conversion.

The Highlanders then got in on the action and drove the field. The offense was then faced with a fourth and seven situation and decided to go for it. Eric Zoeller, junior quarterback, scrambled and found Matt Winters, senior running back, on the sidelines. Winters then took the ball in for a 17-yard touchdown reception to put the score at 13-7.

It was then the defense’s turn to come up with a stop, and they did just that, forcing the Cardinals to punt. On the second play of the drive, Winters took the ball 60 yards to put the ball at the Cardinal’s 15. This set up his second touchdown of the night, this one coming from a run play.

“

The offensive line created great openings throughout the whole game, and on that 60-yard run, I saw the hole they made and I went for it. I could not be more proud of the way the team played tonight

— Matt Winters

The score was 14-13, with Homestead in the lead, going into halftime after the Cardinals offense was not able to get down the field before time ran out.

“The locker room was calm and intellectual at half time, just like it is every week. We made a few adjustments and highlighted what we wanted to get into on offense for the 2nd half just like we always do,” Offensive Coordinator Mr. Zortman said.

Homestead was back to receive the kick to start the next half, but they were not able to continue the momentum they had going in the last minutes of the first half. After a quick three-and-out and a short punt, the Cardinals got the ball on Homestead’s 38. The defense was able to prevent a touchdown from being scored, forcing Chippewa Falls to go for the field goal, which they made.

The Highlander offense was not able to make any plays on the next drive and was forced to punt again, which resulted in the Cardinals taking over on Homestead’s 15 due to a fumbled snap on the punt. The Cardinals took advantage of the short field and added another seven points to their side of the scoreboard, making the score 23-14 with three minutes and 27 seconds left in the third quarter.

Homestead then started their second comeback of the night. The end of the third came during Homestead’s next drive, in which the offense was able to make converts for crucial first downs, which ultimately led to Zoeller’s 8-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak right up the middle, putting the score at 23-21 early in the fourth.

The next drive brought even more excitement to the Highlander sideline and crowd when Sean Driscoll, senior, came up with a huge interception for the defense. The offense took over on their own 31.

After a big 1-yard conversion on fourth down for Winters, the team later faced another fourth down situation, but this one resulted in a 2-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Woldt, senior. The Highlanders now took the lead 27-23, but the excitement was not over yet.

The Cardinals’ next drive ended short after a fumble back in their territory, allowing the Highlanders to take over on the 30; however, Winters got the ball punched out of his arms a couple of plays later, resulting in the Cardinals taking over on their 4.

The defense was now in charge of the Highlanders’ destiny with two minutes and eight seconds left in the game. After a couple of penalties on Homestead’s defense, the Cardinals were on their 46 facing a fourth and five, and the defense came up with the biggest stop of the year.

With the Cardinals having no time outs left and with one minute and ten seconds left in the game, Homestead’s offense was able to line up in victory formation and take the knee to end the game with a score of 27-23.

The team was led in yards by Winters, who had 169 total yards on the game, and Zoeller and Patrick Minkin, senior, both added on another 49 yards each to the total yards on offense. Homestead’s defense was able to hold the Cardinal offense to 225 yards.

Popp is expected to play next Friday when the Highlanders take on Waukesha West at Camp Randall for the Division II state title. “I’ll be back,” Popp said.

“I’m excited to play at Camp Randall for the first time in my life. I watched the game in the stands during my freshman year and wished that I would be on the field, and now I get the chance,” Josh Mueller, senior, said. “I’m proud of the team because when we were down, we didn’t hang our heads and give up, we kept fighting to win the game.”