Archived: Nov 20, 2006

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Camp Randall suspense

State championship nail biters abound

By Zach Clark

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Nobody can honestly say that they’ve seen it all this past Friday at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletics Association State Championship football games.

There were nail biters and blowouts, shootouts and shutouts, and even a few broken records.

In Division 1, Arrowhead (12-2) took on Homestead (14-0). Homestead, which plowed through every team in the playoffs, had no trouble in this game from the very start. They finished the first quarter with a quick 21-point lead. Homestead’s offense went into cruise control after that, scoring 14 more points.

However, their defense remained strong and completed the shutout in a 35-0 win.

Division 2 was a completely different story. In arguably one of the greatest state championship games ever, two undefeated teams squared off. Franklin (14-0) and Brookfield Central (13-1) both competed in a shootout.

Both quarterbacks had an opportunity to show off their arms. Rob Evans of Franklin set several records throughout the game. One record he wrote in the endzone, scoring four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Franklin had control of the game most of the second half, but a Brookfield touchdown and two-point conversion and a late touchdown put the game up for grabs.

This resulted in the first overtime game at state since 1991. In overtime, Franklin quickly scored a touchdown. Brookfield looked as though it was about to respond with its own, but a fumble bobbled into the endzone, and Franklin pounced on it, sealing the victory.

Franklin won its first state championship in school history with a 36-29 victory.

The Division 3 game featuring Greendale (12-2) and Waupaca (12-2) was the complete opposite of the Division 2 game. This one was a defensive showdown. After a scoreless first half, Greendale finally scored three points with a field goal in the third quarter.

However with 3:50 left to play in regulation, Waupaca finally answered back with a touchdown. This ended up being the last score of the game, as Waupaca beat Greendale 7-3.

Franklin wasn’t the only team to set records on Friday. Waupaca set a record with 12 penalties throughout the game.

Congratulations to all of the state contenders on Friday for playing some of the most exciting games in state championship history.

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