Menasha Bluejays embrace underdog role, lead area high school football teams into second round of WIAA playoffs
MENASHA − Is it too early to dub the Menasha football team a Cinderella in the WIAA football playoffs? Does it even make sense?
After all, the Bluejays have traditionally been a contender in Division 2 or Division 3 for the past decade. But there was a lot of head scratching over the team's No. 7 seed placement when the WIAA released its football playoff brackets Oct. 14.
Menasha definitely proved the electronic seeding system was flawed following its 31-8 blowout of Plymouth in last Friday's Division 3 playoff opener. The Bluejays were prepared and ready and welcomed their role as a rare underdog.
"We as coaches mapped (the game plan) all out and what it was going to be like and the kids followed it to a 'T,' " Menasha coach Jeramie Korth said.
The Bluejays (8-2) advance to play at New Berlin West (8-2) on Friday and for the coaches and players, it's also a "DAWGS" mentality − determined, aggressive, warrior mentality, gritty and strong.
A fitting acronym for a team ready to show it is better than its low seed designation.
"That's our motto this year," Korth said of DAWGS. "The strong part of it is really more mentally strong. Physical is also part of it and that's what the kids came up with."
Menasha's offense compiled 243 yards rushing on 33 carries to control tempo in the win over Plymouth. Logan Liegl had 95 yards on 10 carries, including a 64-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Liegl, a junior quarterback, is a two-way threat with 1,474 yards passing and 18 touchdowns along with 546 yards rushing and nine scores. Junior back Elijah Gigl (833 yards rushing, seven touchdowns) and senior Jeremiah Zank (719-9) also figure prominently in the Menasha run game.
The Bluejays defense is rounding into form and held Plymouth to 132 yards of total offense. Korth said the team tweaked the starting lineup over the last month and that the change has paid off.
"We had guys that maybe we always knew could play positions on defense or offense and vice-versa," Korth said. "So we took an Ian Dohms, who was playing defensive end and played linebacker growing up, and we put him and Ryan Johnson back at linebacker. Johnson had been playing fullback for us and now we have two 220-pound linebackers there and we're running sideline-to-sideline. The linebacker that we had there is now a starting safety for us. So we had to move some guys around. We had to prioritize some things and the defense became more of a priority the last three weeks, so now we're hitting our stride there."
New Berlin West (8-2) has a throwback offense with its single-wing running attack. West's main running threats are senior running back Jack Wesolowski (1,577 yards, 18 touchdowns) and junior quarterback Sean Ryan (1,062-17).
"They run something a little like Xavier, Pulaski-like stuff," Korth said. "So we're going to find out how we match up against them. My defensive coordinator (Nick Carlson) is excited about the opportunity to go against that kind of offense. And on defense they run similar that we went against (Plymouth). So we have a pretty good idea what they look like. They're also a bigger team, but that's fine. Our kids were really physical (against Plymouth) and that was the biggest difference."
WIAA second round playoff pairings (Friday at 7 p.m. unless noted)
Predicted winners in bold
Division 1: Stevens Point (9-1) at Kimberly (8-1); Chippewa Falls (5-5) at Neenah (8-2), 6 p.m.
Division 2: West De Pere (8-2) at Kaukauna (9-1)
Division 3: Fox Valley Lutheran (7-3) at Notre Dame (9-1); Menasha (8-2) at New Berlin West (8-2)
Division 4: Winneconne (7-3) at Xavier (9-1)
Division 5: Wrightstown (8-2) at Southern Door (9-1)
Four area teams still alive in soccer
Four area boys soccer teams are still vying for a berth in the WIAA state tournament with sectional semifinals Thursday.
Neenah plays at Homestead in Division 1, Hortonville plays at West De Pere in Division 2, and Xavier hosts Sturgeon Bay (4:30 p.m.) and Kiel plays at St. Mary Catholic (7 p.m.) in Division 4.
Vote for the top athlete: Soccer, volleyball and football standouts are nominated: Vote for Cellcom Post-Crescent high school athlete of the week
Area football, volleyball rankings: Kaukauna, Kimberly lead high school football rankings in Appleton area; Xavier No. 1 in girls volleyball
Girls, boys volleyball sectional semifinals set
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL (THURSDAY)
Division 1: Appleton North vs. Kaukauna at Green Bay Preble; Hortonville vs. Bay Port at Green Bay Preble
Division 2: Waupaca at Mosinee; Fox Valley Lutheran at Xavier
Division 3: Bonduel at St. Mary Catholic
BOYS VOLLEYBALL (TUESDAY)
Kaukauna at Appleton North; Fond du Lac/North Fond du Lac at Kimberly
Neenah girls tennis on Varsity Roundtable
The Neenah girls tennis team, which competed at the WIAA Division 1 state team tournament last weekend, will be the featured guests on Varsity Roundtable on Wednesday. The show is at 7 p.m. on postcrescent.com or on the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin YouTube channel.
SPASH vs. Kimberly football livestream of the week
Stevens Point travels to Kimberly to take on the Papermakers on Friday in a WIAA Division 1 second-round playoff game in this week's USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin football game of the week. The livestream begins at 6:45 p.m. and can be seen on postcrescent.com or on the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin's YouTube channel.
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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Menasha high school football team thriving as Division 3 underdog
