Demons have big rematch, Toppers happy to be in postseason
By Mike Ramczyk
Correspondent
It was Sept. 20.
The setting was Lake Geneva Badger High School.
The Burlington Demons were looking for a 5-0 start and a pivotal victory over a team they had only beaten once in the last 10 years.
In what was an instant classic and perhaps the most exciting game of the year, the Demons took a 13-0 lead and led, 33-23, before falling behind, 37-33, late in the fourth quarter.
That’s when Dalton Damon worked some magic with 6-foot-6 tight end Dylan Runkel, who leapt over a Badger defender for an 11-yard touchdown catch with 5 minutes to play.
Then, Burlington came up with a big defensive stop to hold on for the 40-37 victory.
In a game that could’ve gone either way, the Demons prevailed thanks to Damon’s 264 passing yards and four touchdowns, two of which went to Runkel, who finished with 104 receiving yards.
Damon added two rushing touchdowns.
Badger countered with 457 rushing yards, led by Grant Dumez’s 203 and Cole Gabor-Pullen’s 174.
The win was huge for Burlington, which ended up 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the SLC, one game ahead of Badger (6-3, 4-3).
Now, the 4th-seeded Demons will host No. 5 Badger in the WIAA Division 2 playoffs Friday night.
Badger has 1,400 students and is one of the biggest schools in Division 2. It had played in the Division 1 playoffs each of the past three seasons.
“Badger is playing well,” said Burlington coach Steve Tenhagen. “We will need to slow their run game down and keep ours going.”
Badger is coming off its biggest win of the year, a 17-7 victory over previously unbeaten Waterford last week.
Burlington snapped a two-game losing streak with a 57-30 win at Elkhorn last week.
The Demons ran for 426 yards, led by Zach Wallace’s 205 and four touchdowns and Damon’s 133 and two scores.
Damon was 10-for-12 passing with a touchdown toss to Runkel.
It was Damon’s first game back after missing two games with an illness.
“It was a good win for our guys after a couple of tough weeks,” Tenhagen said. “We needed to get back on track heading into the playoffs. Dalton played well on Friday night both in the run and pass game.”
“We are healthy heading into the playoffs.”
Fans could be in store for another high-scoring, instant classic.
It’s the 12th straight year Badger has made the playoffs.
Burlington is making its third consecutive postseason appearance.
Toppers back in playoffs
On Friday night at the Topper Bowl, first-place Racine Lutheran jumped out to a 21-7 halftime lead and cruised to a 34-13 victory.
Brandon Pum threw a touchdown to Reid Muellenbach to cut the lead to 28-13 in the fourth quarter.
Lutheran nearly doubled up the Hilltoppers in yardage, 397-203, but Catholic Central showed fight and heart against a superior opponent.
Thanks to a season-changing victory at Kenosha St. Joe’s two weeks ago, Catholic Central clinched its first postseason berth since 2015.
Head coach Tom Aldrich said his team played well against a really good football team Friday night, and he’s excited about this Friday, when fifth-seeded Catholic Central travels to No. 4 Randolph in the WIAA Division 7 playoffs.
The last time the Toppers were in the playoffs, quarterback Ben Heiligenthal and running back Cole Kresken led the way to Level 4, or one game away from the state title showdown at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
This year, Aldrich is hoping for another deep run.
At 5-4 overall, the Toppers are itching to restore supremacy in their storied football program.
“I feel good about this team,” Aldrich said. “It’s a close-knit team that has come a long way throughout this season, and we are really having a lot of fun working together at practices and our games.”
“It will be interesting to see how we match up with other Division 7 teams. We are grateful to be in the playoffs and are hopeful we can make a run.”
Randolph was 7-2 this season in the Trailways Small Conference.
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