MADISON – Repeat State Titles were just out of reach for defending State champs, Bay Port (11/3), in their 15-18 loss to Arrowhead Warhawks (13-1) in the WIAA Division 1 State Championship at Camp Randall Stadium on Friday, Nov. 21.
“We’ve got a great community. We’ve got great parents. We’ve got great kids. They buy into working hard, and when you buy into something that’s bigger than yourself, you can do great things. These seniors the last few years played 28 games. They were not shorted at all,” said Head Coach Steven Jorgensen. “I know they’re disappointed with the outcome tonight — we all are. We want to win football games, but I just praise God for this group and what they are and what they strive to be on and off the football field. I’m very blessed.”
The Pirates and Warhawks saw a slow start to the match up as the Warhawks found the endzone and a missed PAT just four minutes before the half.
As the Pirates took the field for the second half, their offense began to turn up the head as quarterback Matt Stevens had a 5-yard touchdown and placekicker Beckett Koerten put the ball between the uprights to take the lead, 7-6 at the end of the third quarter.
“We’re a resilient team. We train to be in those moments. There were just a few too many plays we didn’t make tonight, but we still battled and found ways to have a shot at the end. I thought the best idea was let’s go for it and get the win right now, and like I said, we just came up short,” said Jorgensen of the team’s aggressive tactics with the game on the line.
With 7:35 left to play, the Warhawks burst through the gap in the Pirates defense to put them up 12-7. The Pirates’ defense put up a fight, stopping the two-point conversion attempt to keep themselves in the game.
On the ensuing drive, a Moon reception for an 11-yard dash into the endzone and a successful two-point attempt on a reception by Ethan Orlando brought them even further out front with a score of 15-12 with 46 seconds on the clock.
Though the Pirates defense kept them in it for most of the game, a scramble on the kickoff return led to disaster as the Warhawks’ Ryan Heiman broke through several tackles and took off towards the endzone for a 76-yard return to bring them another 6 points.
The Pirates’ London Cornell stepped up to block the PAT to keep the score at 18-15 going into the final drive of the match.
As the Pirates worked their way down the field, a 31-yard reception by Jackson Otradovec brought them deeper into the Arrowhead territory at the 11-yard line with 1 second on the clock.
In an aggressive decision with the WIAA Division 1 State Title on the line, the offense took the field rather than opting to take the field goal to send the game to overtime.
“We had a play we liked and I talked to the guys and we wanted to go for it. We wanted to try to win the game right there and it came down to one play, 10 yards for the State Championship. I tip my cap to them at the end of the day. I’ll think about that decision for a long time, but I won’t really second guess it because that’s what they wanted to do — that’s what I wanted to do — and so we went for it and we just came up short,” said Jorgensen.
An incomplete pass from Stevens to Brady Suda left the Pirates with a hard-fought 18-15 loss.
“We were confident but we made a lot of mistakes that are not characteristic of our football team. We fumbled the ball, we had some tips that became interceptions, but we battled back and found a way to put ourselves in a position to make one play to win the game, we just came up short,” said Jorgensen. “ can’t be any more proud of this team and the 15 seniors that we had. I’m going to miss those guys and I’m extremely blessed for getting to work with these great young men. I’m just sad that I’m not going to get to coach them anymore.”
Though the Pirates said they felt they had a few plays they wanted back, Jorgensen said he was proud of their effort and to have had the opportunity to be a part of the senior class’s lives for four years.
“I love our guys. I teach. I probably have seen these seniors when they came in as freshmen into Bay Port and I’m with them every single day. I’m their teacher in the weight room every day all year long, even in the summer. I probably see them more than their parents. It’s a bond and we’re together all the time and we fight, we work hard and we try to achieve our goals. I can’t be more proud that we played to the last week and the last second of this season, said Jorgensen.
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