Stratford football captures the Division 6 state title
Squad beats Mondovi 32-14 to earn school’s eighth football state championship
Stratford had great football teams in back-to-back seasons, 2018 and 2019, under the tutelage of head coach Jason Tubbs. Both of these squads came close to winning WIAA Division 5 state championships but they couldn’t quite get the job done.
That makes this year’s Stratford football team winning the WIAA Division 6 state championship, 32-14, against Mondovi on Thursday even more special for coach Tubbs and his current players. Senior captain John Seitz III and junior Koehler Kilty both felt this year’s state title victory was “redemption” for the 2018 and 2019 seasons finishing as state runners-up.
Koehler Kilty’s older brother, Easton Kilty, played on Stratford’s 2018 and 2019 teams and John Seitz III’s older brother, Zack Seitz, was on the 2019 squad. Easton Kilty is currently a starting offensive lineman for Division 1 FCS North Dakota and Zack Seitz plays offensive line for Division 2 Bemidji State in Minnesota.
“It’s a little bit of redemption after they came here two years in a row, and for our team to be back here and actually get the gold ball and bring it home is unbelievable and awesome,” said Koehler Kilty, who led Stratford with in rushing with 35 carries for 192 yards and three touchdowns against Mondovi. He concludes this season with 1,877 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Seitz III is the leader of Stratford’s dominating defense which held Mondovi’s best offensive players to minimal rushing yards in the Division 6 state championship. Senior running back Dawson Rud ran for nearly 2,000 yards this season and senior quarterback Jarod Falkner had over 1,000 yards. The Tigers held Rud to only 32 yards rushing and Falkner to only 30 yards rushing and one touchdown. Seitz III credits his defensive coordinator, Marshall Lehman, for teaching a great defensive philosophy.
“Coach (Marshall) Lehman drew this from the ground up and it’s just amazing,” he said. “Stats don’t lie. We hold our teams to a bare minimum yardage so I think it really speaks volume of our players because we all have one job to do, so because of our coach’s game plan and how we execute it, we just have amazing defenses.”
Seitz III joyfully ran into coach Tubbs’ arms on the field and gave him a huge hug after Stratford won the state championship on Thursday afternoon at Camp Randall Stadium on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Coach Tubbs kept pointing his finger in the air to signify Stratford is No. 1 in Division 6 this season. His son, Jack Tubbs, is a sophomore football player on the varsity squad this year.
“It is a surreal moment but with these guys it’s even more special,” coach Tubbs said. “This is just an incredible group of guys who decided they wanted to work hard and they had a goal, and to finish it down here and win the game is just super special for a head coach.”
Coach Tubbs said this year’s Division 6 state championship doesn’t take anything away from how good the 2018 and 2019 squads were that came up just short of winning Division 5 state titles.
“They were two great teams that we had down here but these guys this season had a never quit attitude and we knew that when we went into Division 6 that we had a shot at winning a state championship,” he said.
Mondovi won the coin toss on Thursday and deferred to Stratford so the Buffaloes could start the second half with the football. Stratford junior Gavin Leonhardt returned Mondovi’s opening kickoff 25 yards to Stratford’s 25-yard line. The Tigers ran the football six consecutive times, including five of them by Koehler Kilty, before attempting their first pass of the game.
Stratford senior Braeden Schueller completed an eight-yard pass to senior Ashton Wrensch for a first down to Mondovi’s 34-yard line. Schueller then ran for four yards before completing a seven-yard pass to Wrench to the Buffaloes’ 23-yard line. Schueller concluded Stratford’s first offensive drive with a perfect play-action fake to Koehler Kilty and then throwing a 23-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Leonhardt in the right corner of the end zone. Tigers senior Evan Danielson missed the extra point kick. Stratford’s game-opening offensive drive spanned 10 plays for 60 yards and five minutes, 55 seconds off the clock. Stratford held onto its 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Mondovi got careless with the football to begin the second quarter. The Buffaloes had a good offensive drive going until John Seitz III forced Dawson Rud to fumble the football, which was recovered by Tigers senior Jackson Ormond at Stratford’s 47-yard line.
On Stratford’s offensive possession, Schueller threw an interception to Mondovi junior Jake Linse at midfield. Wrensch forced Linse to fumble the football after his interception and it was recovered by Stratford senior Izaiah Hadlock.
Stratford again went to work running the football on offense. Koehler Kilty had six of the team’s seven rushing attempts. Senior Connor Weigel had a 10-yard run on the team’s second play in its seven-play, 50-yard drive spanning three minutes, 45 seconds. Koehler Kilty finished the drive with a three-yard touchdown plunge. Danielson made the extra point to give the Tigers a 13-0 advantage against the Buffaloes.
Mondovi finally got on the scoreboard just before halftime on Falkner’s one-yard touchdown. Senior Cody Wagner kicked the extra point to trim Stratford’s lead to 13-7 at the break. Statistics show both squads played an even first half but the Tigers recovered a pair of crucial Buffalo fumbles. Stratford didn’t have any fumbles.
The Buflaloes started the second half with a nine-play, 66-yard scoring drive to take a 14-13 lead. Falkner completed a 36-yard touchdown to senior Cade Fremstad and Wagner made the extra point. It was all Stratford, however, the remainder of the second half. Stratford responded right away to Mondovi’s score with a touchdown drive of its own to regain the lead. Koehler Kilty ran the football five straight times before Schueller completed a 23-yard pass to Gavin Leonhardt to Mondovi’s seven-yard line. Koehler Kilty then ran the football for five yards before scoring a two-yard rushing touchdown on the next play. Schueller’s two-point conversion run failed. The Tigers still held a 19-14 advantage against the Buffaloes at the end of the third quarter.
Stratford sealed its state championship victory with 13 points in the fourth quarter while not letting Mondovi score any points.
Koehler Kilty ran the football six consecutive times between the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter. His strong running set up Schueller’s play-action fake handoff to him for an 11-yard touchdown completion to Gavin Leonhardt in the same right corner of the end zone where he caught his first touchdown of the game. Danielson’s extra point failed but the Tigers still had a more comfortable 25-14 lead against the Buffaloes.
Schueller threw another interception to Linse with six minutes, 57 seconds left in the game but the Buffaloes gave the football right back to the Tigers. Wrensch intercepted Falkner’s pass and he returned the football 30 yards to Mondovi’s 37-yard line.
Stratford’s offense sealed the state title win with a seven-play, 37-yard drive spanning four minutes, 28 seconds on the clock. Koehler Kility ran the ball in six of Stratford’s seven rushing plays during the scoring drive. He broke loose up the middle for a 17yard gain. He could’ve easily scored a touchdown but he slid down at the one-yard line to take valuable time off the clock for Mondovi. Koehler Kilty was stopped by Mondovi for no gain on the next play but he plunged into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown run on the following play. Freshman Mason Miller kicked a successful extra point to give the Tigers a 32-14 advantage against the Buffaloes. Junior Matt Folz snapped the football and Jackson Ormond held the ball for Miller’s kick.
Stratford scored 14 points off two Mondovi turnovers in the state finale. The Tigers had double the amount of first downs, 16 to 8, compared to the Buffaloes. Stratford accumulated 211 rushing yards on 41 attempts com-pared to Mondovi with 83 rushing yards on 30 attempts. The Buffaloes tallied more passing yards, 144 to 78, compared to the Tigers. Mondovi lost a pair of fumbles in the second quarter, while Stratford didn’t have any fumbles in the game. The Tigers only committed one penalty for five yards and the Buffaloes only had two penalties for 25 yards.
Schueller completed six of 11 pass attempts with a pair of touchdowns to Gavin Leonhardt and a pair of interceptions to Mondovi’s Linse. He finished the state finale with 78 passing yards. Schueller concluded this season with 1,728 yards passing and 23 touchdowns. He also ran for 364 yards and seven touchdowns this season.
Gavin Leonhardt finished the state championship with three of five catches for 57 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He concludes this season with 420 receiving yards and six touchdowns in only six games. He was just as excited as his teammates were on Thursday after the state championship victory.
“It’s amazing and hopefully we can get back here again next year to take another gold ball home,” Gavin Leonhardt said.
Stratford finishes the 2022 season with a record of 11-2-1 and as WIAA Division 6 state champions. Mondovi concludes this season with a 12-2 record and state runners-up trophy.
RUNNING HARD IN THE SNOW- Tigers junior Koehler Kilty rushes for the first of his three touchdowns on Thursday afternoon against Mondovi in the WIAA Division 6 state championip. His first rushing touchdown came in the second quarter to give the Tigers a 13-0 lead against the Buffaloes, after senior Evan Danielson’s made extra point.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
WE ARE THE STATE CHAMPIONS!-Stratford senior football players stand on top of the team bench late Thursday afternoon at Camp Randall Stadium on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to get their home fans excited about the squad’s WIAA Division 6 state championship win against Mondovi. Tiger players pictured, from left to right, are: Ryan Becker, Connor Weigel, Jackson Ormond, John Seitz III and Izaiah Hadlock.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
MONDOVI GAVE STRATFORD A SCARE IN THE THIRD QUARTER BUT THEN IT WAS ALL TIGERS- These four Stratford High School seniors weren’t worried about their beloved Stratford football team losing to Mondovi in Thursday’s WIAA Division 6 state championship at Camp Randall Stadium on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Students pictured, from left to right, are Lauren Kraus, Mercedes Kramer, Sophia Meyer and Tessa Berg.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
THIS SEASON’S RESOUNDING THEME-Stratford High School seniors Ava Weix, left, and Ella Heidmann hold up a “Let’s Go Road Warriors” sign in the bleachers during Thursday afternoon’s Tigers WIAA Division 6 state championship victory against Mondovi. Stratford’s football team was literally on the road this entire season. The Tigers played their home games in Marshfield to give the newly-planted grass football field at Tigers Stadium time to grow so it can be ready for next football season.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
