'These kids are winners': Kimberly's quest for repeat state football title falls short with semifinal loss to Marquette
SUN PRAIRIE − Sam McGivern was pensive when reflecting on the Kimberly football team's painful 14-7 loss to Milwaukee Marquette in Friday's WIAA Division 1 state semifinal at Bank of Sun Prairie Stadium.
"I think football has a lot of life lessons," the 6-foot-3, 250-pound Yale commit said. "There's beauty in the wins and beauty in the losses. It's the only sport that has you feel such a vast majority of emotions, and I think there's much to learn from that."
McGivern and the Kimberly defense did its best to slow down a red-hot Marquette offense Friday. The Hilltoppers entered the game averaging 44 points in the postseason and were fresh off a 49-0 thrashing of Fond du Lac in the quarterfinals.
Marquette had to earn every yard it gained and had just one touchdown through the first three quarters on Thad Hoffman's 32-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Peter McDevitt in the second quarter.
Kimberly answered that score with an eight-play, 80-yard drive capped with a 33-yard touchdown strike from Carson Pendleton to Bryson Vieth.
Defense ruled most of the second half, with neither team able to break through. Kimberly drove twice into Marquette territory in the fourth quarter but came away with no points.
The Hilltoppers put together the eventual game-winning drive with three completions from McDevitt, a fourth-and-1 conversion by running back Tommy Novotny and a critical pass interference penalty that put Marquette near the red zone.
Novotny scooted 23 yards for a touchdown off the left side of the line to give Marquette the eventual game-winning score with 5:18 remaining.
Kimberly's final drive reached the Marquette 40 and ended on an incompletion.
Though Marquette entered the game with a high-octane offense, McDevitt knew Kimberly's defense was the real deal.
"We knew that they had a great defense," he said. "They’d given up 21 points one time, so we knew we were going to have to be locked in. Our defense played a hell of a game, too."
Novotny led all rushers with 70 yards on 19 carries.
"They continued to be lights out," Kimberly coach Chad Michalkiewicz said of his defense. "Marquette has some explosive players and they bottled them up for the most part, except for the explosive touchdown. You can’t ask for much more than that. Our defense kept us in every single game this year and gave us an opportunity to win and unfortunately we came up a little short."
Said McGivern: "That's how we play defense. We play tooth and nail every single snap. And it's about giving everything but not for yourself, for the guy next to you. I’m going as hard as I can every snap so I can have another week to play with the guys."
Michalkiewicz thought his team moved the ball well but was just unable to convert. He preferred to look at the bigger picture in that respect.
"I think in this moment (state semifinals), that’s a great football team," he said of Marquette. "And unfortunately we’re on the losing end. I think in this moment, it’s more of a celebration of what was just an unbelievable group of kids. I know that Kimberly is never really down and out, but there was a lot noise. 'Is this Kimberly team good? They’re down this year.' So to make a (state semifinal) and a share of a (Fox Valley Association) title, that's no joke. Everybody is disappointed and we wanted to go to Camp Randall next week, but these kids are winners."
Marquette will play Franklin (13-0) for the Division 1 title Friday at 4 p.m. at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
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Michalkiewicz, in his second season with Kimberly and who helped guide the Papermakers to the D1 title last season, said he was "fortunate" for the last two senior classes in Kimberly.
"Last year’s seniors and this year’s seniors are two highest quality of groups that I’ve ever met," he said. "I tell them every week winning is a byproduct of doing things that are going to help you win in life. I want these guys to be great husbands, fathers, business owners, employers and employees. And they are. They’re going to go out and do such great things and hopefully they stick around and contribute to our program. I’m so fortunate to coach these guys and so proud of everything that they did."
Wrightstown cruises to Division 5 title game
Wrightstown advanced to the Division 5 championship game with a 33-12 victory over St. Croix Falls.
The Tigers led 21-6 at halftime after senior running back Payton Vande Hey and junior running back Jaden Kittoe each had short TD runs in the second quarter.
The Tigers pulled away in the second half after a 33-yard TD run from junior Trevor Vande Hey and a 17-yard score from fellow junior Aiden Humphreys.
Wrightstown (11-2) faces La Crosse Aquinas (12-1) in the D5 title game at 4 p.m. Thursday.
It’s the fourth time in program history Wrightstown has made a title game and the first time since winning the D4 championship in 2011. It also won in D5 in 1998 and D4 in 2006.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Kimberly Papermakers football team loses to Marquette in semifinals
