Owen-Withee football coach Terry Laube is undefeated in state championship games. His Owen-Withee Blackhawks have three state titles to their names, two in Division 6 and one in Division 7.

In their third season since moving to 8-player football, the Blackhawks have been a force. They were eliminated one game from the title match last year. This year, they punched their ticket to the state championship game with a 23-21 win over Highland in a game played at Stanley-Boyd Friday night.

The state championship game is slated for 1 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 16 at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School.

Owen-Withee has been ranked in the wisssport.net coaches’ poll as the top 8-player team since the mid-point of the season, and Highland was ranked second. Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas finished the regular season ranked fourth.

Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas comes into the game with a 10-1 record, finishing second to Algoma in the Across the Bay Conference. Their only loss was to Algoma, 22-20. Algoma was not playoff eligible this season. The L/SA Wildcats average 31.5 points per game on the season, passing for 350 yards and rushing for 2,801 yards. Senior Calvin Peters is their most potent weapon. He has rushed for 1,347 yards, and Tyler Shallow has picked up 787 yards on the ground.

The 11-0 Blackhawks average 52.6 points per game with 235 passing yards, while amassing 3,478 rushing yards, 66 of them for touchdowns. Leading rusher is Mason Gay with 1,386 yards on the turf, while Sully Poehler has rushed for 777 yards and Brandon Geldernick 603.

On the defensive side of the ball, for Owen-Withee, Colin Fritz is credited with 88 tackles, while Dominic Sherwood has 58, Tim Stock 54, Mason Gay 47, Talon Mueller 45 and Jack Wendler 42.

Ticketing for the game is online, and $11 general admission tickets can be purchased at: https://gofan.co/app/school/WIAA2.

Owen-Withee in State Finals history

All three champion teams since the modern tournament format started in the 1970s have been coached by Laube.

In 1992, the Blackhawks were the Division 6 champs, beating Hilbert 16-14 in the championship to finish 13-0 on the season.

In 1999, Owen-Withee set the Division 6 record that stands to this day of most points scored in a championship game, as the Blackhawks blew out Mineral Point by a score of 54-6 to finish with a perfect 14-0 mark.

In 2014, Owen-Withee won the Division 7 championship against Pepin/Alma by a 17-12 margin. The Blackhawks finished that season 13-1.