‘Cats keep their hopes alive

By Casey Krautkramer

Edgar’s defense stifled Oshkosh Lourdes’ high-powered offense in Friday’s 296 WIAA Division 7 home Level 3 playoff win.

Wildcats senior football captain Fletcher Weiland enjoyed Friday’s experience of accepting the WIAA Division 7 sectional championship plaque with fellow senior captains Ty Schnelle and Leyton Schuett, who is filling in for injured senior captain Jase Apfelbeck, along with junior captain Tucker Streit.

Weiland, who is a starting defensive tackle, said Edgar’s football team isn’t content on simply winning the sectional championship because the Wildcats are still yearning to capture back-to-back WIAA Division 7 state championship trophies this season.

“It’s the gold standard in Edgar,” he said.

No. 1 playoff seed Edgar, 11-1, now plays against No. 2 seed Boyceville, 11-1, at 7 p.m. this Friday, Nov. 15, in a WIAA Division 7 Level 4 playoff game at Dorais Field in Chippewa Falls. Boyceville avenged its regular-season loss to Dunn-St. Croix Conference foe Spring Valley, 19-18, with a 21-6 win in the Level 3 playoffs.

Last season, No. 3 playoff seed Edgar traveled to No. 1 seed Boyceville and beat the Bulldogs, 52-26, behind Karter Butt’s school record-breaking night. Karter Butt graduated high school last spring but his brother, junior Maverick Butt, is one of Edgar’s top running backs this season.

Edgar senior Leyton Schuett is only 20 yards shy of tying the school record of 1,158 career receiving yards held by Tim Knoeck in 1984. Schuett needs two more receiving touchdowns to tie the school record of 21 also held by Knoeck. Schuett is currently tied with Noah Werner with the most career receptions, 60, in school history.

“It would mean a lot for me to break school career receiving records knowing all the great Edgar players that were here before me,” Schuett said.

Edgar varsity head football coach Jerry Sinz will win his 100th career playoff game if the Wildcats defeat the Bulldogs in this Friday’s Level 4 playoff contest. Edgar football would then make its state record 15th appearance in a state championship game. The winner between Edgar and Boyceville will play in the WIAA Division 7 state championship at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21, at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison against the winner between No. 1 playoff seed Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic, 10-2, or No. 3 seed Potosi/ Cassville, 12-0, in Friday’s Level 4 playoff game at Madison Memorial.

On Friday, Edgar’s football team wasn’t fooled by Oshkosh Lourdes Academy’s onside kick to begin the Level 3 playoff game. The Wildcats recovered the onside kick at midfield to give them great starting field position. Maverick Butt had a long first-down run. Tucker Streit executed a perfect quarterback keeper up the middle for a 16-yard touchdown run. Streit then threw the football to junior Gavin Mauer, who was wide open, for the successful two-point conversion to give the Wildcats a quick 8-0 lead.

Edgar’s defense came up huge several times during the game. A great example is when Edgar blitzed Lourdes senior dualthreat quarterback Wade Lindahl on fourth down and five at the Wildcats’ 11-yard line with just over two minutes left in the first quarter. Lindahl’s athleticism allowed him to avoid the sack but Edgar’s pressure forced him to hurry up and throw an incomplete pass in the end zone.

Another great example of Edgar’s opportunistic defense occurred when senior Austin Schreiber recovered a Lourdes fumbled punt on the Knights 35-yard line with 37 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Wildcats later capitalized on the Knights turnover when Streit threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to his first See SURVIVING TO ADVANCE/ page 20

HUGE STIFF ARM - Edgar senior running back Will Hackel utilizes the stiff arm against Oshkosh Lourdes junior Ryder Mullen (6) to help him gain more yards during the Wildcats 29-6 home WIAA Division 7 Level 3 playoff win against the Knights.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER Surviving to advance

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cousin, Maverick Butt, who was wide open. German foreign exchange student Jarvis Kofent kicked the successful extra point to give the Wildcats a 15-0 lead with nine minutes, 18 seconds left in the second quarter.

Lourdes eventually scored when Lindahl threw a bullet pass between defenders to senior Braden Studinski on a slant pattern over the middle in the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown on fourth down with only 38 seconds left before halftime. Junior Ryder Mullen kicked the successful extra point. Edgar led Lourdes, 15-6, at the break.

Edgar’s defense shut out Lourdes during the entire second half. Coach Sinz spoke about what adjustments his team made at halftime.

“We mainly wanted to keep Lindahl in the pocket if we could in the second half,” Sinz said. “In the first half we were letting him get into space where he could run and he has a very good arm on the run. When we kept him in the pocket more, then our defensive pressure started getting to him. We were sending five guys at the quarterback because it was hard to get pressure on him with just four guys.”

Meanwhile, Edgar’s offense scored seven points in each of the third and fourth quarters. Maverick Butt ran for a 40-yard touchdown in the third quarter and Kofent kicked the successful extra point to give the Wildcats a 22-6 lead. Gavin Mauer ran for a 40-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and Kofent kicked the successful extra point to give Edgar a 29-6 advantage. Maverick Butt led Edgar’s rushing attack against Lourdes with 13 carries for 108 yards and a touchdown.

Schnelle, who plays inside linebacker, led Edgar’s defense with 17 tackles against Lourdes. Wildcats senior defensive tackle Corey Koeppl added 11 tackles and he led the team with two sacks. Schreiber had 11 tackles and a sack along with his fumble recovery. Junior Lucas Stahnke tallied six tackles and 1-1/2 sacks.

Edgar’s players sang happy birthday to injured senior Jase Apfelbeck in the postgame huddle. Apfelbeck and the team’s other injured senior, Brock Mauer, joined their teammates in photos with the sectional championship plaque.

SECTIONAL CHAMPIONS - Edgar varsity football players celebrate their 29-6 WIAA Division 7 sectional championship win against Oshkosh Lourdes Academy on Friday at home.The Wildcats are hoping to win back-to-back Division 7 state championships this season but first they need to beat Boyceville this Friday, Nov. 15, in Chippewa Falls to advance into the state title game on Nov. 21 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.

STAFF PHOTOS/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER

ELUSIVE RUNNER - Wildcats junior Maverick Butt is great at shaking off tacklers, as he did in this play, during the team’s 29-6 Level 3 home win against Oshkosh Lourdes Academy on Friday.

TOUCHDOWN CELEBRATION - Edgar football players run over to congratulate junior quarterback Tucker Streit on his 16-yard touchdown run in the first quarter during Friday’s 29-6 home playoff victory against Oshkosh Lourdes Academy.