WIAA state football: Mistake-prone Edgar foiled in bid for eighth state title

MADISON – Will Raatz dropped to a knee and hung his head. Ethan Heil took his green helmet off and slammed it on the turf of Camp Randall Stadium.

Ty Guden and Karson Butt shared a hug near the Edgar sideline before the medal and trophy presentation.

Tears streamed down the eye black on the cheeks of Brock Handrick. This was not how the season was supposed to end.

Edgar was denied an eighth state championship by a physically dominant Black Hawk group that manhandled the Wildcats in a 22-15 victory in the Division 7 state championship game on Thursday.

The Wildcats concluded the season at 13-1 and failed in their bid for a second state championship in three seasons.

“Today was tough,” a somber Butt said. “You can’t take this back. I’m wishing I could go back in time. As a senior and this being my last game on a football field, I’m just happy I got to play it here.

“We should have done better, We did some uncharacteristic things like turning the ball over. We haven’t done that all season.”

The Wildcats coaching staff came dressed in white collared shirts and bright gold ties.

The second trip to the state championship game in three years was treated like a business trip. Unfortunately, the Wildcats were unable to seal the deal.

All season, the Wildcats prided themselves on a physical, dominating defense. But it was Black Hawk that was able to control the line of scrimmage all game. As a result, Edgar will be bringing home a silver trophy instead of gold.

A number of the Edgar players contributed to the 2016 state championship team. The outcome was much different this time around.

“I’m pretty sure the guys are sad today,” venerable Edgar coach Jerry Sinz said. “Some of these guys played very well down here two years ago. I don’t know if they felt too much pressure. I have no idea (what happened today). I know we didn’t play our best game.”

An 18-play, 63-yard drive that chewed up a whopping 9 minutes, 54 seconds off the clock on the Warriors' second possession of the second half summed up the problems Edgar encountered all day.

Kyle Lovelace capped the drive with a 1-yard scoring run to give the Warriors their first lead. They owned the ball for nearly 35 minutes.

“Give Black Hawk credit. They played well. They did what they had to do to win the game,” Sinz said. “We thought they were a very physical team. They just want to go toe-to-toe and pound on you."

Black Hawk’s defense would make the lead stand up.

DIVISION 4 REVIEW: Racine St. Catherine's 8, St. Croix Central 7

DIVISION 5: Fond du Lac Springs 20, Stratford 17

DIVISION 6: Iola-Scandinavia 43, Racine Lutheran 14

LIVE BLOG: Follow the WIAA state championships

The Wildcats took a 15-14 lead into the break. Butt scored from 4 yards out on their first possession of the game. The next time they had the ball, Butt hooked up with Handrick on a 4-yard touchdown pass.

On its first possession of the second half, Edgar had a chance to extend its halftime lead. Drew Guden was open near the goal line on a post pattern but the pass was underthrown for an incompletion.

The Wildcats never threatened to score again. They ran just 12 plays the entire second half. They were limited to 164 yards of total offense, just 29 in the second half.

Throw in three turnovers and seven penalties and it just wasn’t the Wildcats' day.

The blank stares of disbelief on the faces of the Edgar football players when the final seconds ticked off the clock told the story.

“We had a good year. We had some good, hard-working guys,” Sinz said. “It’s hard to score when you don’t have the ball.”

Edgar  15  0  0  0 - 15

Black Hawk  8  6  8  0 - 22

First Quarter

BH - Mitchell Quinn 44 run (Quinn run), 10:17

E - Karson Butt 4 run (Simon Brehm paass from Butt), 9:13

E - Brock Handrick 4 pass from Butt (Austin Miller kick),3:35

Second Quarter

BH - Colby Argall 1 run (run failed), 7:46

Third Quarter

BH - Kyle Lovelace 1 run (Brandon Schiferl pass from Argall), :12

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Edgar - Kyle Brewster 3-33, Mason Stout 3-30. Black Hawk - Colby Argall 34-109, Kyle Lovelace 15-75.

Passing: Edgar - Karson Butt 6-9-0-68. Black Hawk - Kyle Lovelace 4-6-2-29.

Receiving: Edgar - Drew Guden 2-55. Black Hawk - Rece Shelton 2-13.

Records: Edgar 13-1; Black Hawk 13-0.