By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
It’s not a stretch to wonder if Badger High School played football or just keep-away in an Oct. 18 Southern Lakes Conference game against visiting Waterford.
Badger ran 75 plays to the Wolverines’ 21 and won 17-7.
The ramifications of the game are far reaching.
For the fifth-ranked Wolverines, according to the latest Division 2 Wisconsin Football Coaches Association state poll, they lost their first game of the season and must share the conference title with Wilmot – a team they routed 47-14 at Waterford on Sept. 13.
Waterford (8-1, 6-1 SLC) could have clinched an outright title with a win.
The Badgers (6-3, 4-3 SLC), meanwhile, avoided missing the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade after defeating the Wolverines.
Lake Geneva Badger coach Matt Hensler said his team would have, statistically, qualified for the playoffs without beating Waterford, but the Badgers wanted something more.
“I think there was a lot of emotion,” Hensler said. “Our kids were excited. Obviously, it’s a rivalry, so it was a big deal that way.”
Hensler also said it was the last home game for many of his players.
The disparity in offensive plays between the two teams tells the story of the game, which Waterford coach Adam Bakken acknowledged.
“Everyone was upset about the game,” Bakken said. “Badger played so well and so hard. For them to run as many offensive plays as they did – we just couldn’t get them off the field.”
The Wolverines’ defense did not play poorly, in spite of spending so much time on the field. Badger averaged roughly four yards per play, and rushed for 293 yards on 72 carries.
“We played very well the second half,” Bakken said. “I think in the first half…Badger plays very physical, and I don’t know if we were ready for it.”
“I think it took a little bit of us getting punched in the mouth to figure out this was a physical game. That’s how it’s going to be from here on out. I hope we learned a little bit from it.”
All of the scoring in the game occurred in the first half. Badger’s Grant Dumez opened the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run with 5:05 left in the first quarter. Dumez converted the extra point for a 7-0 Badger lead.
Dominic Miller rushed for a 55-yard touchdown with 2:33 left in the first quarter for the Wolverines’ only touchdown of the night. Michael Durand’s extra point tied the score at 7-7.
Dumez ran for a six-yard touchdown with 3:18 left in the second quarter, and his extra point gave Badger a 14-7 lead. Dumez kicked a 30-yard field goal with two seconds left in the first half for the final margin.
Tanner Keller led the Wolverines in rushing with 87 yards on eight carries. Miller rushed for 82 yards on four carries.
Badger’s Cole Gabor-Pullen rushed for 108 yards on 33 carries. Dumez rushed for 75 yards on 22 carries and Tannor Garrels rushed for 84 yards on nine carries.
Defensively, Waterford’s Jacob Lilla finished with 16 total tackles. Weston Pittlekow tallied 13 total tackles.
Waterford opens play tonight in the WIAA Division 2 playoffs with a contest against visiting South Milwaukee (6-3).
South Milwaukee finished 6-2 in the Woodland East Conference, which consists of teams in suburban Milwaukee.
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