Published: Oct. 31, 2015
Now a reality
Kewaskum cruises into Level 3, will play Catholic Memorial
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
KEWASKUM — Kewaskum’s football team, one by one, checked off
opponent after opponent with relative ease.
After Friday night’s WIAA Division 3 Level 2 playoff game, a
35-12 victory over Whitnall, the Indians have reached the opponent they’ve
wanted for more than a year.
Another stellar defensive outing and another 200-yard
rushing performance by Brandon Thull paved the way for the Indians into the
state quarterfinal for the first time since 2010.
Their opponent? Catholic Memorial.
The Crusaders beat previously undefeated Evansville/Albany,
42-8, on Friday.
It’s the opponent Kewaskum has wanted since the
heart-wrenching 27-21 loss in last year’s Level-2 game in Waukesha.
The powerhouses will meet in a Level 3 game in Kewaskum,
likely at 7 p.m. Friday. Official game time and date was not available at press
time.
“It’s a special time,” Kewaskum coach Jason Piittmann said.
“Anytime you get to November, turn the lights on for practice, it’s special.”
Kewaskum is also 11-0 for the first time since 2008. The
Indians advanced to Level 4 — the state semifinal that season — where they lost
to Waupaca.
“We’re really excited about that, fortunate too,” Kewaskum’s
Zach Thull said about the team getting to Level 3. “We’ve just got to keep
working and working.”
It’s even better the Indians will get the Crusaders, whose
two losses this year were to the co-champions of the Classic 8 — Arrowhead and
Muskego.
The idea, the hope of playing Catholic Memorial lingered far
back in the minds of Kewaskum. Now it’s at the front.
“It’s payback from last year, it’s payback,” Kewaskum’s Ben
Watzig said.
The first quarter was evenly played as neither team mustered
momentum on offense. Part of that was the different defense Whitnall (65) ran,
with four defensive linemen — but none got into a three-point stance.
Both teams had two possessions in the opening quarter and
each had two punts.
“We knew in the first quarter, we had to put some drives
together and cash in on them,” Whitnall coach Jared McGranahan said. “We didn’t
do that (score) and I was hoping that wouldn’t come back and bite us.”
Kewaskum took over possession on its 18-yard line with 11:09
left in the second quarter.
On the second play of the series, a first-and-10 at the
Kewaskum 33, Steven Nurkala took the handoff on a jet sweep around the left
side of the Indians’ offensive line. He got into space and sprinted down the
sideline to the Falcons’ 5 for a 67-yard gain. On the next play, Brandon Thull
finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run and Kewaskum took the first
lead, 7-0.
“It was huge,” Piittmann said. “We had noticed they weren’t
really adjusting to our motions so we called for the jet sweep. It changed the
complexion of the game.” After that, the offense found a spark — and so did the
defense.
The Indians tacked on 28 points in the quarter, while their
defense allowed 29 yards on 16 plays in the quarter.
“Everything started coming together, offensively,
defensively and special teams,” Zach Thull said.
In the third quarter, Kewaskum’s defense held Whitnall to a
three-andout. Then on Kewaskum’s third play of the ensuing drive, Brandon Thull
carried the ball 53 yards for a touchdown and a commanding 35-0 lead with 9:41
left in the third quarter.
Brandon Thull finished with 222 yards rushing on 21 carries
and four touchdowns. It was a slow start for the senior running back. After
eight carries, he had 35 yards rushing. He gained 187 on his next 13 carries —
an average of 14.4 yards per carry.
Brandon Thull’s 222-yard effort also pushed him past the
2,000-yard mark for the second straight season.
During the week, McGranahan compared Brandon Thull to Melvin
Gordon and Brian Calhoun, arguably two of the state’s greatest running backs in
history.
Unfortunately for McGranahan, Brandon Thull didn’t
disappoint.
“He is a tremendous player, one of the best in the state,”
he said. “He has that suddenness and vision. He’s one of the better running
backs to come out of Wisconsin. Kewaskum uses him well, too. They don’t get too
cute using him.”
Going into the game, Whitnall boasted an offense it believed
was good enough to challenge Kewaskum. The Indians’ defense never let that
happen.
Whitnall quarterback Kyle Radavich was 7 of 19 passing for
90 yards and one interception. Going into the game, he averaged 223 yards per
game. Running back Andrew Mallmann had 1,122 yards rushing going into the game.
He had 21 on Friday.
In addition, both players were knocked out of the game
because of injury by Kewaskum’s hard-hitting defense.
“It’s been a lot of fun to watch them progress,” Piittmann
said. “And they’re getting better. It’s not like they’ve peaked. They just keep
improving.”
And it’s not just one player for Kewaskum.
“Sam (Fechter) had a huge first half defensively,” Piittmann
said. “Watzig could’ve had two picks. He was great in coverage. (Josh) Baker
had a great pick.”
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