Lake Geneva Badger upsets Waterford to win SLC, and Delavan pulls off greatest comeback ever

Our esteemed photographer Earlene Frederick covered the Delavan-Wilmot game Friday night. Here is the EPIC post-game speech by Comets coach Bret St. Arnauld.

It’s the GREATEST VIDEO ON THE PLANET. ENJOY!

It was like something out of an edge-of-your-seat, pulse-pounding Batman movie.

A superhero comes down from the sky when all is lost, the town peoples are hopeless and the invincible villain is on his path of terror.

The police can’t save you, and you definitely are losing all bodily functions.

Your only fleeting chance is a man who can do everything at the press of a button and fix everything. Humanity’s survival depends on this knight in shining armor, the one everyone is looking at for salvation.

OK, enough of my rant, but let’s just Fabias Shipman, Delavan-Darien’s quarterback who returned after missing a game with injury, was that man Friday night in one of the most inexplicable, astonishing finishes in sports history, high school or any level.

I know, the kid didn’t cure cancer or stop global warming, it’s just high school football overall. But tell that to the Delavan faithful after Shipman’s four touchdowns, including one in double overtime to essentially win the game, lifted the Comets to a 47-40, double-OT victory and subsequent WIAA playoff berth after trailing 34-6 in the fourth quarter.

Don’t rub your eyes or put on your glasses. That’s real.

Delavan was down by FOUR TOUCHDOWNS with less than eight minutes left in the football game.

So, with 34 points to take a lead, 40-34, and seven more in overtime, Delavan scored roughly four points per minute. And the 5-foot-8, 190-pound human wrecking ball known as “Ship” (sorry, I just made that up) took the whole, play-hard-because-it-may-be-your-last-game thing to heart.

He scored three rushing TDs in the fourth alone before scoring the game-winner in the second overtime.

The sheer insanity of this box score may give you a better idea. The number “33” is the player number, for Shipman:

1st quarter
Wilmot Run 5yds 21 xp good 7-0

2nd quarter
Wilmot run 5 yds 6 xp good 14-0
Wilmot pass 55yds 14 to 2 xp blocked 20-0
Delavan pass 20yds 5 to 8 xp no good 20-6
Wilmot run 1yd 14 xp good 27-6

4th quarter
Wilmot pass 21yds 14 to 2 xp good 34-6
Delavan run 8yds 33 2pt failed 34-12
Delavan fumble return 52yds 18 2pt failed 34-18
Delavan run 6yds 33 2pt good 5 to 8 34-26
Delavan pass 26yds 5 to 81 2pt good 5 run 34-34
Delavan run 20yds 33 xp blocked 34-40
Wilmot pass 65 yds 14 to 2 xp no good 40-40

OT1 no score
OT 2
Delavan run 4 yds 33 xp good 40-47

Around 10 p.m., I tweeted that since Badger had beaten Waterford, the two along with Wilmot would share the Southern Lakes Conference championship. Multiple people had DM’d me that the Panthers were routing Delavan.

First, this happened on my Twitter:

Mike Ramczyk ‏@mikeramczyk17 13h13 hours ago Burlington, WI
Lake Geneva Badger 14, Waterford 7 FINAL. Badger, Waterford & Wilmot TIE for Southern Lakes CHAMPIONSHIP! @lgbadger @WilmotSports

Wilmot Sports ‏@WilmotSports 13h13 hours ago
34-6 in the 4th over @DDHSAthletics. @lgbadger 14 -7 over Waterford. Looks like another 3 way tie for SLC. All 3 teams for 3 straight years

We were both thinking the same thing, until our freelance photographer, Michael Hall, pointed out the comeback of all comebacks.

Michael Hall ‏@MichaelHallFoto 12h12 hours ago
@mikeramczyk17 I show up at DDHS at half its 0-26… Now 40-40 in overtime @SidelinePsychos #cometfam

Soon, Michael’s excitement turned into flat-out pandemonium.

@mikeramczyk17 @SidelinePsychos I have no idea what I just witnessed… Comet win in double overtime over Wilmot! @SidelinePsychos #Cometfam

It’s one of those games that everyone will remember for decades, Delavanites will tell their future Comets about.

“Back when you were just a little baby star and not yet a Comet, Oct. 17, 2015 HAPPENED,” says a 2035 mother on family trip to Lake Lawn Resort.

I’m getting ahead of myself, but the point is that Delavan was left for dead after losing 55-0 at Waterford just a week earlier. I mean, there was literally nothing. The Wolverines were a steamroller, and the Comets were freshly-laid blacktop.

Delavan TOTALED -30 rushing yards.

Explosive offense always has a shot. And an Ethan Cesarz fumble return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter was the one break Delavan got. If there hadn’t been any luck, Wilmot would’ve held on. That’s how impossible this comeback was.

Delavan went from a destiny of watching the playoffs on cold, frozen bleachers, sipping hot chocolate just to avoid frostbite, to preparing for a playoff opponent and a chance for each player to live out a dream. And it all happened in friggin’ 10 minutes.

Count your lucky stars, or Comets, and feel blessed you saw this game, heard about it or read this story.

Lake Geneva Badger 14, Waterford 7

Speaking of luck, the Badgers certainly didn’t need luck to knock off visiting Waterford in Friday’s de facto Southern Lakes championship contest, but they got some anyway after taking care of business.

“Control the controllables,” one of my favorite, yet short, quotes from Badger coach Matt Hensler from my days of covering Badger, rang true. Badger controlled what they could control by beating Waterford.

Then, Wilmot helped by losing, and the state randomly obliged.

Thanks to its enrollment (1,433 students), Badger is currently the largest Division 2 school after playing the previous seven seasons in Division 1. Wow, what a night for the only school this side of Madison with Bucky Badger on the building.

Lake Geneva didn’t back down from the previously undefeated Wolverines, who seemed on their way to the first 9-0 regular season in school history.

Not so fast, said the entire Badger squad.

In easily their most complete performance of the season, Lake Geneva outgained Waterford, 293-121, and picked off quarterback Sam Allen twice, one a 16-yard pick-6 by Jordan Malone.

Furthermore, Badger only yielded 2.9 yards per carry to big, strong, physical running backs, and to make matter worse, Waterford completed only four of 20 passes.

All of that, and it was still tied, 7-7, at halftime thanks to Jared Krattiger’s power run for the Wolverines.

It stayed that way until the end of the game. Remember, Waterford’s defense is good, but at least for one night, Badger’s was much more stout.

Badger’s Mick Borchert added a pick and seven tackles, and on the offensive side, Mason Dumez was a perfect 3-for-3 passing with 71 rushing yards, and Tyler Vandevelde went off yet again, running for 150 yards for the third time this season. Another time, he totaled 144.

Vandevelde is the real deal, the best running back in the SLC, and his complement, Christian Martinez, sealed the win with a four-yard touchdown after a nine-play, 95-yard drive.

Borchert’s pick came on Waterford’s final possession, as he picked off Allen, and the Badgers ran out the clock.

Lake Geneva players used to tell me Hensler planned for the Waterford 365 days of the year.

That diligent preparation combined with an impeccable veer rushing system keeps Badger a relevant contender each year.

Badger, Wilmot and Waterford will all be in the same playoff bracket.

Don’t be surprised if Badger and Wilmot are seeded Nos. 4 and 5 and face each other in the first round next weekend.