WIAA FOOTBALL: Catholic Central smashes Shullsburg

Three-hour road trip awaits in round two Friday

By Chris Bennett

Sports Correspondent

The Catholic Central football team scored two first-quarter touchdowns and didn’t look back Oct. 24 in its 38-22 victory over Shullsburg in a WIAA Division 7 Level 1 playoff game at home.

The Hilltoppers (8-2 overall) finished with 414 yards of total offense. Catholic Central rushed for 253 yards and passed for another 161.

“I thought we could move the ball on them,” Hiltoppers coach Tom Alrdrich said. “Offensively, we’ve been doing a nice job as the season progresses, and we’ve become more comfortable with our roles.”

To evoke a time-honored football cliché, the Hilltoppers’ defense bent but did not break. The Hilltoppers allowed 370 yards of total offense to the Miners, but surrendered just 22 points.

“I think it was a gutty performance, overall,” Aldrich said. “They bent but they didn’t break. We had a lot of concerns about them going in. We were concerned about their size – they’re bigger than we are. They’re physical.

“One of the advantages we’ve had most of the time this year is our overall team speed on defense.”

Shullsburg’s size did not matter after four quarters, and the Hilltoppers are on to face Potosi Friday at Potosi. Potosi is near the Mississippi River about three hours west of Burlington and 25 minutes north of Dubuque, Iowa.

Against Shullsburg, Catholic Central’s Jeff Stemper scored on a nine-yard run with 7:12 left in the first quarter and Cole Kresken scored on a 71-yard run with 3:16 left in the first for a 12-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Each extra point attempt failed.

Shullsburg scored its first touchdown with 11:24 remaining in the second on an 18-yard run by Kethan Rood. After a successful two-point conversion the Miners trailed by their smallest deficit of the evening at 12-8.

The Hilltoppers scored twice more in the second quarter and led 24-8 at halftime. The teams played to a 14-14 tie in the second half.

Catholic Central quarterback Ben Heiligenthal completed 10 of 14 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. Cole rushed for 112 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown, and Spencer Wilker caught three passes for 52 yards and a touchdown.

Potosi beat Williams Bay 44-24 Oct. 24 in a Level 1 playoff game at home. Catholic Central and Potosi last played in 2010. The Hilltoppers won 38-6 at home in a state semifinal on the way to a 42-13 loss to Gilman in the Division 7 title game.

“They’re a really good team,” Aldrich said. “They won the Six Rivers Conference. I respect that conference for small school football. They play good football.

“Potosi teams are generally good in size and they have athletic kids. They’re strong. You can tell their kids hit the weight room really hard. We know we’re in for a battle.”

Though the offense gets most of the headlines, do not overlook the Toppers’ defense or camaraderie. Aldrich said this season’s team is a tight bunch that believes in and plays for each other.

“Defensively, you have to get better every game,” Aldrich said. “Teams are plotting and figuring out how to expose your weaknesses. When you get to the playoffs, you’ve got to be able to play defense. That’s an area we need to improve on from our last game.”