The Owen-Withee Blackhawks are officially State football champions.
Meeting Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. in Wisconsin Rapids, the Blackhawks defeated the Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas Titans 50-36 for the 8-man state football title. First in conference with an 8-0 record heading into the playoffs, the Blackhawks capped their 12-0 season record with a win against the Titans (10-2), having defeated Port Edwards, McDonell Central, and Highland to make the championship game. The Blackhawks first ever 8-man football state trophy, acceptance was made by Head Coach Terry Laube, who then passed it off to team captains Dominic Sherwood, Mason Gay, and Colin Fritz to bring to the team.
Coach Laube shared some of what was going through his mind after the awards were presented.
“I’ll tell you what, this is the fourth that I’ve been a part of,” Laube said for state championship runs. “Every group of boys you take through is special. Our theme this year was ‘one family willing to take a risk.’ It sounds kind of different, but risk it all, right? Risk the chance to be great. Risk the moment. These guys found out and that’s truly special.”
Showing emotion over the victory, Laube shared more.
“I think it’s so hard today to get to this moment, this opportunity,” he said. “And when you finally get there you come to realize, and maybe it’s just because I’m getting old, I don’t know. But to spend that time with these kids and to understand how special these moments are and how few and far between they are.”
Laube also praised the offense for taking control of the scrimmage line.
“I’ll tell you what, that offensive line took control of that line of scrimmage,” he said. “And when you’ve got a group of young men and you can tell: they adjusted, they adapted to what that defense gave them and we ran hard behind them. My hat’s off to the coaching staff who prepared them hard this week and you know, they got it done.”
Helping the victory was Mason Gay, with Laube sharing his thoughts on the cross country star turned running back.
“Not a chance,” he said of anticipating how things had turned out. “You know, you bring any cross country kid out onto the ballfield that’s never played the game before and then to see how he’s been embraced by his peers, and they’ve fed off of his success. And you know, again, to see a young man—obviously he’s very athletic. But to go out there and accomplish what he’s done, still learning the game. And every time he comes off to the side he says, ‘hey coach, was I ok there? Did I make the right cut?’ Hey, buddy, you’re doing good. Just keep at it. So just a special kid.”
Having defeated Port Edwards (60-6), McDonell Central (46-19) and Highland (23-21) in playoff competition on their way to the state championship, the journey began earlier this year. Quarterback Dominic Sherwood shared thoughts on the season.
“The beginning of the year we had all the goals about being conference champions, undefeated, and all the way to state champs, and it was an incredible season,” he said. “Everyone bought into it, did incredible.”
As to Saturday, Sherwood said it was back and forth.
“It was back and forth from the beginning and then we took off. It’s just fun,” he said.
Blackhawk running and linebacker Tim Stock shared his thoughts on being a state championship team.
“Amazing,” he said. “It feels great.” Stock also spoke on the coordination of the offense and its contribution to the victory.
“It feels awesome,” he said. “We work hard. We put in hours of work every single Monday. The blocks are awesome. We always have the fuel and never let up.”
Running and cornerback Mason Gay initially joined the team hoping for a starting position.
“Not at all,” he said of being where he is. “I was hoping I’d have a chance at a starting position. So that was really all I thought coming into the season.”
As for winning the state title, Gay was ecstatic.
“Everything,” he said on what the win meant to the players. “I mean we have eight seniors out here. Every one of them loves, loves the sport. Any one of these guys could play it all season. I came out for them to win it with them, it’s something else. It’s the best you could wish for.”
As for touchdowns, the Blackhawks scored first, a touchdown and two-point conversion by Gay bringing the score to 8-0 in the first quarter. The Titans answered with a run downfield on kick return to bring the score to 8-8. The Blackhawks answered with a second touchdown and two-point conversion by Gay, bringing the score to 16-8. From there, it was Owen-Withee to the finish, the Blackhawks offense helping answer Titan attempts to shift momentum. Gay made two additional touchdowns in the second quarter along with one two-point conversion run, as well as a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Stock made a touchdown off a 44-yard pass from Sherwood in the third quarter.
In other game stats, Sherwood passed for 158.3 yards, while Sully Poehler, Sherwood, Brandon Geldernick and Gay logged a total of 373 rushing yards. The defense made a combined total of 58 tackles or team tackles. Led by Fritz with 14 and followed by Sherwood with 10, Stock and Gay made 8 tackles, Winston Poehler made 7, and Talon Mueller made 3. Sully Poehler, Jack Wendler, and Geldernick made 2 tackles each, while Sam Wells and Sawyer Halida each made 1.
Stock shared one last thought on catching the ball from Sherwood in the third quarter, as the Blackhawks celebrated their victory over the Titans.
“I just put my hands up, curled it in,” he said. “It was perfect.”