By Bud Milroy
Sports correspondent
For the first time in four years, Catholic Central will not be playing in the WIAA Division 7 title game in Madison come Thursday.
The playoff road ended for the Hilltoppers Saturday in Middleton, as the Seneca Indians handed CCHS a 24-8 loss.
“It’s the nature of the playoffs,” said Catholic Central coach Tom Aldrich. “If you don’t bring your ‘A’ game every time out, you could go home.
“Give them credit, they took advantage of their opportunities,” added Aldrich, who has guided his teams to 17 straight playoff appearances. “They’re a good team, but I think if we played them 10 times, we’d win more than we’d lose.
“We didn’t take care of the ball and at times didn’t make good decisions and at this level, it’s tough to overcome.”
The Hilltoppers started well, holding the Indians on their opening possession. After the Hilltoppers got the ball, senior Rayce Wadsworth got the ball on a third and 14, gaining 13 yards to set up a makeable fourth-down play.
But Wadsworth fumbled the ball stretching for yardage on fourth down, and that mistake proved prophetic for how the day would go.
The two teams exchanged defensive stands before the Hilltoppers coughed up the ball for a second time, this time at their own 30-yard line.
Seven plays later – all runs by Seneca’s John Alanis – the Indians had the first score. The two-point conversion made it 8-0.
The Indians would score following another CCHS turnover – this time a bad snap on a punt formation – as Trenton Payne threw to Troy Trautsch for a score and a 16-0 halftime lead for Seneca.
CCHS tried a field goal to open the second half, but a bad snap led to a T.J. Walkington miss from 37 yards out.
Grant Alderman finally put the Hilltoppers on the board with a 22-yard touchdown pass and run from Carson Meinholz, and Kyle Kresken’s two-point conversion cut the lead in half.
But that would be all the Hilltoppers would get. Catholic Central fumbled again after getting the ball in Seneca territory. Two plays into the fourth quarter, Alanis blasted into the end zone on a second-and-goal play and the two-point conversion was good again for what would turn out to be the final score.
The Hilltoppers battled on the ensuing drive, but passes on third and fourth down to wide-open receivers in the end zone missed. More importantly, more than five and a half minutes had elapsed off the clock.
Seneca was able to run the ball out from the shadow of the end zone, pick up a few first downs and force the Hilltoppers to use all of their timeouts in securing the win.
“I’m really proud of how the kids battled back in the second half,” Aldrich said. “But we just couldn’t make it happen.”
Wadsworth led the ’Toppers with 131 yards rushing on 23 carries to cap his season. He also had his hand in nine tackles (four solos, five assists).
Walkington had a pair of receptions for 31 yards while leading the defense with six solo tackles and five assists. Zach Mehring had seven tackles and three assists, while Scott Vrzan added three and eight, respectively.
Alanis’s 43 carries produced 207 yards for the Indians, and he broke the single-season state record for carries in the process.
“He is very quick and fought for every inch of yardage,” Aldrich said.
Overall, the Hilltoppers finished the year 8-5 after starting 0-2 – and reached the state semifinals in the process.
“I don’t think I’ve had a team improve as much over the course of a season,” Aldrich said. “They worked very hard and made huge strides in all phases of the game.
“As a coaching staff, you always have high expectations for your team, but you need the players to do the work,” he added.
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